The Last Legacy (Season 1): Episodes 1-10 (54 page)

“Let’s hurry then. Lead the way,” Gabe said as he waved his arm. We all crossed the street fast, not wanting to be in the open. Marcus’s steps slowed, each louder than the next like even lifting his leg was too much work. I had to pull him harder to get him to move around.
 

We stopped outside the marina office. Gabe escorted Sandra inside first, then waved the rest of us in. “How are the lights working?” I asked as I looked at the small little bulb.
 

“Battery or solar, I guess.” Scarlet shrugged.
 

“You think that’s the same as the highway ones?”

“Those are solar,” Gabe said, smiling back at me. We stood at the door while Sandra walked around the room, rummaging through drawers. It was very small, just a front desk with lockers behind it. There were two small round tables with two chairs each in the front and a leather sofa against the far wall.
 

“I can’t find anything,” Sandra groaned as she popped open the register with a ping. “Got it!” she whisper-yelled as she lifted a single key on a ring.
 

“That’s the boat key.”

“Well…” Her voice trailed, and I knew that was a bad sign. “It’s the key to the house down there. Liam has the keys. But I knew if I found the key to his garage we could get to them.”

“The sun is coming up,” Gabe said, his voice strained. “We’re losing our cover. Jim knows about the boat. We won’t have much time.”

“It’s right there,” Sandra said as she pointed down by the water. The wooden docks were now perfectly visible in the daybreak. Light oranges shot across the water, reflecting the color and making it stand out against the dark blue waves.

“Let’s hurry.” I took Marcus’s hand, which was a usual reaction for me now. But something was off. His limbs were dragging. I wasn’t strong enough to carry him. “Gabe,” I said, waving him over. “Hold this.” I handed him my backpack and squatted.
 

“You want me to get on?” Marcus asked, even his voice slow.

“Piggy back for the last walk.” I tried to hold joy in my voice. Piggy backs were supposed to be happy. I remembered getting a piggy back from foster siblings, laughing until our sides ached. But this was different.
 

He jumped onto my back, his long legs wrapping around my torso. I reached for my bag, and Gabe handed it over. I hooked it over my shoulders on the front of me, covering my chest, and walked after Scarlet and Sandra, who were already past the first dock.

“Am I too heavy, Miss Lana?”
 

“Nope,” I said, popping the ‘P’. “You’re just perfect. We’ll be able to sleep soon, buddy. I promise.” Gabe helped me down some rickety steps, and we were inches from the water. I staggered as I imagined myself falling into the icy waters. My body shivered. I looked straight ahead instead of down at my toes.

Sandra stopped outside a small little house. It was a sea-foam green, with one window on each side, small enough to see through. I leaned against the side of the house to help hold Marcus’s weight as Sandra jimmied with the lock, popping the door open.
 

“Liam?” Sandra asked as she peered into the place. She stepped through the door and then screamed. But her scream got muffled by something. With Marcus on my back, I couldn’t do much. But Gabe ran into the place. I looked through the window as a man held Sandra, his hand over her mouth.
 

“What the hell, Liam!” Sandra pushed away from him and slapped his chest.

“I didn’t know who the hell was coming in here. You should’ve knocked.”

“I need the keys to my parents’ boat. Now.” She sat in her hip, more sass in her words than I had ever heard, although I only knew her a day, so it didn’t matter much. I mean, how could you really know someone in these circumstances?
 

“Let me come with you,” Liam said as he reached onto the wall where there was a large display of various keys dangling. He held it in his hand, away from Sandra. His dark hair was down to his shoulders in a surfer boy style, stringy yet strangely untangled. He had nice tanned skin, or at least from what I could tell through the window.
 

Sandra glanced over her shoulder at Gabe, who looked through the window at me. We had lost a lot of people lately, so I didn’t see the harm in one more. Although I wouldn’t forge a relationship with him. I didn’t want to lose anyone else I cared about. I nodded.
 

“You can come with us. Do you have any food?”

“A few cans of soup. Some microwave dinners.”

“Bring them.” Liam spun around and emptied a shelf from his desk into a small duffel bag. He threw a jacket over his shoulders and then faced us. Sandra hugged the man, took the key, and walked out the small front door.
 

“It should be at dock three. You remember?” She cut her glance to Scarlet, who nodded.
 

“Daddy always brought us to Mystic for pizza.”

“Here we are,” Sandra said, grabbing her sister’s hand. I hiked Marcus up my back and trekked down the wood planks. Gabe came over and took my backpack from my arms, helping lighten my load. Taking my elbow, he guided me onto the dock.

“Maybe you should walk a little, Marcus.” Gabe reached up and helped him down my back and onto the dock. His legs wobbled, but he righted himself. I took his hand and helped him along the dock while Gabe walked behind us.
 

“This?” Gabe sneered.

“It’s not fast, but it will work.” Scarlet turned and glared at Gabe.

“It’s like a paddleboat!”

“It’s a pontoon boat, and it’s comfortable. It will get us down the coast.”

“Whatever.” Gabe made the jump from the dock to the boat and threw both of our bags on one of the seats. He reached out his hand, helping Scarlet up first, and then Sandra. I lifted Marcus under the armpits and handed him off to Gabe. I jumped across, then Liam behind me.
 

The stuttering engine made me whip my head towards the wheel and driver’s seat. Sandra had one hand on the top curve of the wheel, the other hand on the key, which was in the ignition. She twisted it, and I held my breath hoping the boat would start, but after a few seconds of sputtering, it fell silent.
 

“Miss Lana.” Marcus grabbed my side, but I pushed his hand off. “Miss Lana.” He yanked on my shirt, trying to get my attention. But I couldn’t draw my eyes away from Sandra failing to start the damn boat. “Miss Lana!” Marcus yelled.

“What?” I turned and glared at him. He pointed behind him. I glanced up, and my entire body stilled. Dozens of eaters were flocking towards us. With the rising sun behind them, shades of purple and blue cast the eaters in an eerie glow.
 

The leader of the pack stumbled as the rest of them pushed against his back, trying to get to us faster. He tripped off the side of the dock, splashing into the water. Two more followed him in, whether by accident or not, I wasn’t sure.

“Sandra, you better get this thing moving,” I ground out as I grabbed my handgun from my back pocket.
 

“Oh shit,” Gabe said when he saw the eaters. He, too, got his gun and stood beside me, pushing Marcus back so he was behind us. “Hurry, Sandra.”
 

The eaters were getting closer. With each step forward, a few fell off the dock, but even more carried on, inching towards us. We’d never make it if they could get onto the boat. We were stranded on a little island that just wouldn’t float away.
 

“It’s just not catching.”

“Can’t you pump the brakes or something?” I grit out as I fired off the first shot. The eaters could touch the boat they were so close now, their fingers clawing at the siding. I wasn’t going to risk them getting any closer, or myself falling off the side. The bullet soared right through the eater’s skull. It hit another one on the shoulder, but like usual, it did nothing to slow him.

Gabe shot his handgun from beside me. The noise made me flinch, squeezing my eyes shut. I cut my glance his way, and he nodded. I fired round after round until the gun clicked. I squeezed the trigger again. The same clicking sound.
 

“You’re out of ammo,” Gabe said. He pressed some button on his gun and the back handle fell down into his palm. “I only have a few more left, too.”
 

“What are we going to do?”
 

The eaters piled towards us, pushing and shoving to be first in line. It seemed like an endless supply of them. My stomach heaved, but I swallowed my fears down.
 

Just then, the most beautiful sound occurred from behind me. The engine caught, stuttering to life. Sandra screamed and jumped up. I looked over my shoulder as she leapt into Scarlet’s arms and danced.
 

“We need to go!” I said as I kicked an eater off the edge of the boat. The entire siding was no longer white, covering in thick red blood. Gabe ran to the back of the boat and began to untie it from the dock. He grabbed the top of a post and pushed off, putting a foot between us and the dock.
 

Eaters jumped into the water after us. I didn’t know if they could swim or not, but after a few seconds of them not coming to the surface, my guess was they had sunk to the ocean floor. I sighed as Sandra turned us around, heading down the river to get to the sound, I assumed.

I sat on one of the bench seats and patted the spot beside me. Marcus ran over and laid himself along it, taking up the majority of the plush leather. I ran my hand down the side of his face as he easily fell asleep. I pulled off my jacket and draped it over his body.

“Thanks for taking me, guys. I was nervous for a second there. But I really appreciate it,” Liam said.
 

Truthfully, I had forgotten the guy was still here. He was quiet, but in a different way than Jim—more in a shy way instead of closed off.
 

Gabe patted my thigh as he sat down, shaking his head. “You okay?”
 

I bit my lip to hide my anxiety. I shook my head, and his face fell. “We’re safer now. You did the right thing.” He took my hand in his and squeezed it.
 

“I’ve been with him so long. It just hurts. I thought maybe he’d find us and come.”

“I know.” Gabe let me put my head on his shoulder. I stared across the water at the hordes of eaters still walking into the water. They were so stupid. The boat was noisy, calling to them, begging them like a witch’s spell to come towards us.
 

“Guys, look at that,” Scarlet said as she pointed over our backs. I turned with a lot of effort and saw the orange flames flicking into the blue sky.
 

“Is that my house?” Sandra asked.

“Sure is,” Liam answered.

“Who did that?” I shook my head. It still didn’t make sense.
 

“It must’ve been Jim.”

“Wait, Jim did this to us?” Scarlet asked.

“Let’s not talk about it tonight. How much gas do you have?” Gabe asked Sandra, steering the conversation away from Jim and the destruction behind us. But I couldn’t ignore it. I still wanted to defend him despite the fact that he betrayed us. I stared at the mesmerizing fire, destroying the house from the ground up.
 

Was Jim in there? He couldn’t be. We were so fast when we left. He shouldn’t have been able to predict our movements. But why would they burn the house down? Maybe they convinced Jim to desert us sooner. Maybe they decided to flush us out into their trap by starting a fire.
 

It didn’t matter.
 

The bottom line was that Jim was a fucking fraud. He got me to trust him so I’d sleep with him. But that wasn’t even the bad part. I could handle being used for sex. Ten, twenty days ago before the world had completely collapsed, that was normal. Men did that.
 

But getting me to trust him, open up to him about my life, tell him things I didn’t think I’d reveal to anyone else, that was fucked up. He knew how badly he’d hurt me. But that was his plan all along. It had to be. I couldn’t imagine any other scenario being true.
 

He must have known that his brother was following us. Thinking back, I guess he didn’t appear surprised when Scarlet went missing. He wasn’t surprised by the letters on the 7-11 window. God. I should have prepared for this.

“Stop thinking so hard,” Gabe whispered in my ear.

“I feel so stupid.” I bit my lip harder, stopping the tears that wanted to jump from my eyes. But it was embarrassing, falling for a man in the midst of a war. He was a traitor. I was more embarrassed by how much I cared. How much hurt he caused.
 

“Don’t. He tricked us all. But we’re still here. Look at that boy. He needs you strong.” I followed Gabe’s gaze to Marcus, who was soundly sleeping. Gabe was right.

“Thanks.” I kissed his cheek and then leaned back down on his shoulder.

“Are you two, like, together?” Liam wrinkled his nose at us. “Oh. That’s your son, right. He kind of looks like you two. Got your light skin, but darker hair.”

“He’s not ours,” Gabe said with finality.

“Sorry.” Liam raised his hands like a surrender. “Just trying to get to know you all.”

“Why don’t you tell us about you?” Gabe suggested.
 

Liam sat on the bench across from us and wrapped his arm around Scarlet. These girls were comfortable with the guy, and I found it a bit disconcerting.
 

“These are my cousins.” He smiled as he looked over at Sandra, who was sitting down in the captain’s chair, her forearms along the wheel. She blew him a kiss and then focused forward.

“Sandra took me in after I got into a snowboarding accident. Fractured my spine, and all. I was headed to the Olympics, and it all got thrown away by a stupid ice patch. Anyway, she got me the job down at the marina, and I told her I’d wait for her.” He turned to Sandra. “I went to check on you.”
 

Sandra looked back at him with soft eyes, and he swallowed. “The house was overrun. Eaters were all over the lawn, and the front door was wide open. I figured you left or were gone. I had nowhere to go, so I got some food and stayed in the warming hut. Best thing ever was seeing your faces.” He kissed Scarlet on the cheek. “Are we heading to Uncle Carls’?” he asked them.