Under a Graveyard Sky

“I don’t know,” Stacey said, smiling. “Can you help?”

“I may be somewhat unconfident about your husband’s plan to clear the seas of zombies,” Chris said, grinning, “but I am a past master of galleys the world over.”

“I was just putting some sushi together,” Stacey said. “We caught a big blackfin. I wasn’t sure what people…”

“Please,” Chris said. “It would help me to spend some time in normal conditions. I’m a chef.”

“Oh,” Stacey said, stepping back and raising her hands. “Go right ahead. I’m not even that good a cook.”

“Do you have a primary role?” Chris said, starting to expertly slice the tuna. “I mean, your daughter… Sophie is it?”

“Sophia,” Stacey said. “Or Soph.”

“She’s the helmsman,” Chris said. “The other one is the bruiser…”

“Call it ‘clearance expert,’” Stacey said, grimacing. “I really hate it but it’s what she enjoys and she’s good at it. And I guess you’d call me the ship’s engineer. I’m…mechanically inclined. Mechanical, electrical. I’m just good at it. Geek stuff sort of.”

“I note you’re all armed,” Chris said.

“Is that an issue?” Stacey asked.

“No, I’d say it’s wise,” Chris said. “For myself… I spent ten years under discipline in the RN. Not great discipline, I was a cook, then a chef. But I am familiar with the need for discipline and authority at sea. Especially in small boats. I’m fine with taking orders from your husband, and you, at least for the time being. I even agree with his plan, grandiose as it seems at first glance. But others…” he shrugged. “Keep your weapons.”

“Any particular others?” Stacey asked, quietly.

“Jack Isham owned a small manufacturing company in the States,” Chris said. “Nori?”

“We packed loads,” Stacey said, gesturing to a cupboard. “We figured we’d be eating a lot of sushi. When we ran out of gas for the stove… When we were running out I boiled up a bunch of rice. And it was sushi for the next week until we got this boat.”

“As I was saying,” Chris said, laying out the nori. “Jack is not a bad person. But he insists on being in control. I guess it’s from being his own boss for so long. So he’s not going to just take orders and will, frankly, be a right pain to have around. Tom Christianson was a drug dealer taking a cruise with his stripper girlfriend. They both made it to the boat. She turned. He really didn’t seem to care. Not someone who looks out for others and I suspect not someone to let into your weapons stash.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Stacey said, tapping her pistol. She shook her head. “I guess it was sort of a bad idea for there to be only two of us on the boat, huh?”

“They’re tired,” Chris said, quietly. “They’re getting used to being safe. Somewhat safe, anyway. But, yes, there may be problems in the near future. Sushi.” He presented the expertly arranged plate. “I’ll continue on this. You probably should be near the companionway below and the helm.”

“Got it,” Stacey said, taking the plate. “Why? I mean, not why I should be there…”

“I agree with your husband’s plan,” Chris said. “I’d even say I’m trustworthy enough to arm, but I wouldn’t suggest you believe it until I’ve proven it. And having survived everything I’ve survived, I don’t want to be caught in a firefight.”

* * *

“Sushi,” Isham said. “That’s it?” He took two, though, and stuffed them in his mouth.

“Your stomach has to get used to food again,” Stacey said, sitting down between the group and the helm. And by the companionway below. “Sushi’s surprisingly easy to digest.”

“We’ve been eating a lot of raw fish,” Paula said, taking one and biting it delicately. Her face assumed a beatific expression for a moment. “With rice and nori is exquisite.”

“Anybody who has any energy and a strong stomach?” Steve asked. “Boat’s trashed. Zombie in the engine room. But there are a lot of supplies and we can cross-load fuel and water.”

“I’ll help,” Patrick said, standing up. “I’m not exactly feeling great but the soup helped.”

“Jack?” Steve asked.

“Do I get a gas mask?” Jack asked, taking another sushi roll.

“Sorry,” Steve said. “All out.”

“Then I’ll pass,” Isham said.

“Anybody else?” Steve asked.

“Steve,” Stacey said. “Let’s hold off on cross-load. We have enough stores for now and we know which EPIRB it is. We can always come back. And there are more lifeboats to check. Just leave the EPIRB going and we’ll come back. Let’s get you and Faith back aboard.”

Steve started to speak, then noted where she was sitting.

“Okay,” Steve said. “Sophia, next EPIRB?”

“About ten miles,” Sophia called. “Lifeboat.”

* * *

Faith jumped aboard the inflatable liferaft and cut the wire to the EPIRB with her kukhri. She jumped lightly from the side onto the back deck of the yacht, then bent down and poked the fabric of the raft, holing it.

“I hate the ones that are just empty,” Faith said as the lifeboat started to deflate.

“How many have you cleared?” Paula asked.

“I don’t know,” Faith said, shrugging her shoulders. “You’d have to check the log. Bunch. Clear, Da!”

“Roger,” Steve said. “Next one, Soph.”

“I sort of like the boats,” Faith said, shrugging. She hadn’t bothered to rig up for this one. “Creeping around in the dark looking for zombies may not sound like fun to most people, but it is to me.”

“To each their own,” Paula said, laughing. “I’ll leave it to you.”

“But the lifeboats and liferafts?” Faith said, frowning. “Usually everybody’s dead. And usually cause the zombies got them. What happened with you guys? No zombies?”

“No,” Paula said, her face closing up. “There were infected.”

“So how’d you make it?” Faith asked. “You didn’t have any guns.”

“Right after we hit the water, Chris had us put on light restraints,” Paula said, carefully. “Just light knots. When somebody started to…turn, we could…restrain them.”

“There weren’t any when we got there,” Faith said, then stopped. “I just realized this is something you really don’t want to talk about. Sorry. Me and my big mouth.”

“No,” Paula said. “And, yes. I guess… I’m afraid it would be hard to understand. It’s not something that we even talked about on the boat. Chris and, while he was still with us, a guy named Donnie would…take them out on the aft deck and deal with them.”

“Do I want to ask?” Faith said.

“We never did,” Paula admitted. “The first time Donnie and Chris took a woman, it was Tom’s girlfriend. They went out back and then Donnie came back in and then a bit later Chris. And he just said he’d handled it. That happened nine times. Then Donnie got bitten and he turned. He stayed out on the back deck, tied up, knowing he would turn. He said he’d been special forces and he…he really went out like a hero, you know? And you could hear when he turned and Chris just went out and… Came back. And then it was just Chris. Nobody would help him with them. I…I wanted to but I… I’m not like you.”

“I didn’t get bitten but I screwed up and got a cut,” Faith said, showing Paula her thumb, which still bore the mark of the injector needle. “Then I got into a fight with one on an elevator and the bitch bled all over me. And I got it. But I’d had the vaccine, at least the primer, and I only got a little. So I just got sick. Really sick. It’s the worst sick you can imagine.”

“I sort of saw,” Paula said. “Donnie didn’t go down easy. You know what was really crazy about Donnie?”

“What?” Faith asked.

“He was missing both his legs above the knee,” Paula said, shaking her head. “He said he’d lost both of them in 2001. In Afghanistan. Then went through all the process to go back on active duty and went back to Afghanistan.”