The Onyx Seed - A Story of Survival by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 17

Suddenly alarmed, she pulled her hand back. “Do you have a rash?” she asked. “No, Marty replied with a tone of urgency. I’m not infected.”

“Are you sure?” Julie asked.

“Yes,” Marty answered. “Neither is Luke.” Julie sat down again. She was exhausted from a week of trying to stay ahead of the military, hiding in the highest depths of the hospital.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “With everything that’s happened, I guess I’m a little paranoid.” Marty nodded patiently nodded, focusing on her every word.

“I guess I could say the same thing, but you’ve been alone for the last week,” he said. “I can’t imagine going through that, especially back in L.A.” Julie momentarily dropped her guard, giving Marty a slight grin of admiration.

“Somehow,” she began. “I think you’d do just fine.” They made eye contact as each became caught up in a moment of tension that neither would acknowledge. Marty took it upon himself to break the tension with a question.

Julie sat back against the seat, giving a tired sigh. “Apparently, the same thing happened everywhere else. I sailed out to one of the islands for a weekend with one of my girlfriends and when we got back, everyone was dead. And then, the military came in and started rounding people up and burning bodies. I’ve been a nurse for a few years now, and I’ve never smelled anything like that.”

“Wait,” Marty interrupted. “There was someone with you? Where are they?”

Julie’s mood became a bit sullen, as her mind wandered back to the disappearance of her friend. “Michelle panicked,” she began tearfully. “I told her they were going to find us. I tried to get her to follow me up into the attic, but she just froze. She never told them where I was.”

She paused to wipe the tears from her eyes. “What do you think happened to them? The people they took?”

Marty took a moment to recall the last newscast he’d seen, just before the power went out. “I think the troops you saw were attached to the CDC and I think they were taking survivors into custody and putting them into isolation.”

Julies’ face was overtaken by disbelief. “They can’t do that, can they?”

Marty nodded with a slight look of seriousness. “Yeah, they can,” he answered.

Julie’s face took on a distant expression. “So, that’s it? It’s over? Everything?” It looks that way, Marty answered. Julie was now left with the sudden realization that the world, or at least her world, was beyond recovery. She saw herself as a strong person. But found she had quickly become caught in a moment of emotional weakness, as she saw any possibility for a future virtually die before her eyes. She brought her hands up to her forehead, her elbows on the dining table.

“I’ve been trying not to think about it,” she said. “I suppose something inside me knew how bad things really were. I guess I was preoccupied with just getting from one day to the next.” She sat up straight, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, regaining her composure and bringing herself back to the moment.

“So, you were in the Army?” she asked. “Yeah,” Marty replied. “I spent a couple of years in Iraq.”

Julie glanced down at the table, not quite knowing how to continue the conversation. “Look, Julie,” Marty began. “We’re both used to being ‘take charge’ people. I don’t see why we can’t combine our skills. Yours are nursing, boating, and navigation. Mine are strategy and survival. I think as long as we listen to each other, we can get along just fine. But you’re going to have to teach me a few things about boats, okay?”

His tone had, by intent, turned slightly humorous in an attempt to keep the conversation light. Julie responded with a broad, bright smile as she nodded her head.

“Okay,” she replied. “But you have to teach me some of those self-defense moves. They taught you that stuff, didn’t they?”

Marty smiled back at her.

“Yes,” he answered. “They did.” Julie glanced off to the side, breaking a tense moment of eye contact.

“So, do you have a plan?” she asked. Marty had a plan from the very beginning. Yet like anything else, it was subject to change. Now, there would have to be a new plan, one that accounted for traveling by boat as well as Julie’s presence.

“Well, at first we had a plan,” Marty began. “The idea was to get to the Adirondacks.”

“Where are the Adirondacks?” Julie asked. “Upstate New York,” Marty answered. Julie seemed surprised by his answer. “You were going to drive from L.A. to New York State through this?” she said. “I don’t know, that doesn’t sound like a very good plan to me. Too many things can go wrong.”

She glanced out of the nearest sealed window at the van.

“And you were going to go there in that? I’m surprised you got here at all.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Marty replied. “And it holds a lot of supplies.”

Julie’s eyes grew wide as her attention piqued. “Supplies?” she asked. “As in food?”

“Well, yeah,” Marty answered.

Julie replied without a moment’s hesitation. “As in real food?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Marty began casually. “The van’s full of it.” Julie had been living off hospital food for the last week and only what was still edible. “Show me!” she demanded.

She got up and sprinted toward the cabin door. “You know,” Marty began. “I’d like to get a little sleep.”

Julie ran back and grabbing Marty by the hand, pulled him out of his seat and led him toward the stern. “Come on,” she said.

Her grip on Marty’s hand was unbreakable as she nearly dragged him out on the deck.

“Wait a second!” he called. “I’ll show you what we have but you’ve got to slow down a bit.” Releasing his hand, Julie climbed over the edge of the boat and onto the dock. Marty followed behind her as she ran for the van. Once there, she searched the side door for a way in.

“How do you open this?”

She was becoming frantic, having subsisted on very little since the infection took hold of the city. “Julie!” Marty said, trying to get her attention. “Julie, it’s hydraulic! It opens from the inside!”

“Well, open it!” she insisted.

Marty realized just how dire Julie’s situation had been. She’d spent the week, not only alone but largely without food.

“I’m going to,” Marty replied. “But you’ve got to slow down a bit, alright?”

Marty had not yet patched the van’s rear door window, and Julie was becoming more persistent by the second.

Leading her around to the back of the van, he reached through the shattered window and pulled the door latch. Sunlight streamed into the van as Marty opened the doors, revealing a treasure trove of canned food, dry goods, and other supplies. Julie stood in front of enough food to last for two or three weeks. Her eyes widened with wonder and shock as her mouth fell open in disbelief as Marty stepped around behind her. “We’ve got canned fruit, pork, and beans, powdered milk...” Marty began.

“Do you have any razors?” Julie interrupted. “Because I really need to shave my legs.”

Marty knew where everything was and stepping up beside her, leaned forward and retrieved, at least, a dozen razors.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Right here.” Julie’s enthusiasm reached its boiling. And as Marty stood up, she launched herself at him, kissing him deeply on the mouth. His confusion was momentary, as he slipped his hands around her firm, narrow waist. His arousal was immediate as he lost himself to Julie’s warm body pressing against him. He felt her breasts pushing against his chest as he gently pulled her in by the hips. As Julie pulled her lips away from his, she was struck with a dazed feeling and suddenly realized what had just happened. She took a half step back, moving her hands to Marty’s shoulders. Gripping them slightly, she could feel his muscular, well-toned frame. She experienced a moment of embarrassment as her face became flushed with arousal. It was also at that moment that she realized that Marty still held his hands around her waist. They made eye contact only moments after releasing each other from something neither had experienced for far too long.

“I’m sorry,” she began. “I guess I just got a bit... carried away.”

Removing his hands from her waist, Marty struggled to regain his composure and allow his arousal to pass. “It’s okay,” he replied. “Considering how long you’ve been alone.”

“Thanks,” she replied.

Her face and chest still tinged with the flush of arousal, Julie turned back to the van’s ample stockpile of supplies.

“Fuck, I’m hungry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.”

Marty knew she was referring to food, but another part of his mind momentarily strayed elsewhere. Still feeling the heat of passion, Julie began fanning her face with her right hand as her left hand found its way to her hip.

“We need to get all of this on board right now,” she said.

All this time, Lucas had been fast asleep. He had jokingly told them to play nice. And from the last few minutes, it seemed that they had. They began unloading boxes of supplies from the van. Carrying them down to the dock, Marty handed the boxes to Julie, who stood on the deck of the Stellar Storm. As they moved supplies below deck, Marty woke Lucas, requesting his help. Between the three of them, it wasn’t long before everything was on board. The gas cans were stored away from the engine compartment, as per Julie’s instructions. Marty continued to remind himself that he was out of his element and on the water, Julie was the expert. Once below deck, the supplies were organized and stored wherever space could be found. The backpacks were the last things to be brought down. As Lucas began unpacking them, Julie noticed one of the radios and took an immediate interest.

“You actually brought a radio?” she asked. “What were you planning on listening to?” Lucas sensed that her interest was tinged by a friendly degree of sarcasm.

“We actually have two,” Lucas replied. “And they’re multi-band radios that’ll pick up shortwave. If there’s anyone broadcasting out there, anywhere, we’ll be able to hear them.”

She turned to Marty with a grin saying, “You thought of everything, didn’t you?” Julie reached over to Lucas and relieved him of the radio.

“Let’s see if anyone’s out there!” she said. “Actually,” Marty began. “We’ll get better reception at night, and we don’t have a lot of batteries.”

“Oh, okay,” Julie replied. “Oh, that reminds me! Nights can get pretty cold on the water, so we’re going to need more blankets and clothes.”

“Well, we have the sleeping bags,” Marty said. “That’s not going to be enough,” Julie replied. “And you only have two.”

Marty hadn’t thought about making adjustments for sea travel. It just never occurred to him. But Julie was right, if they were eventually sailing up the east coast, they would need to prepare for cooler seas. The next thing on Julie’s mind was food.

“Now, you guys did bring a can opener, right? Because, I’m not going anywhere until I get something to eat.”

Marty checked a nearby cabinet, retrieving a can of pears.

“Pears sound good?” he asked.

“Right now, anything sounds good,” she replied. He tossed the can to her and finding a can opener, tossed that to her as well. Within ten minutes, the can was empty as Julie let out a belch that would have made a biker blush.

“Oh, sorry about that,” she said.

“Well, that was ladylike, wasn’t it?” Lucas commented.

She raised a middle finger to him and belched again as Marty turned to Lucas and began laughing quietly as Lucas grinned in amusement.

After Julie sipped the last of the oil from the can, the discussion turned to where they might find more supplies. Lucas suggested they find a camping store, as they’d been so successful finding supplies in L.A. Marty looked to Julie for suggestions. After all, she was the only person among them familiar with Corpus Christi. If there was any place where they could get what they needed, Julie would know. “A camping store,” she said.

Not many people in Corpus Christi went camping, considering the abundance of the surrounding desert. “I don’t think there are any camping stores around here. There’s a lot of boating stores but no camping stores.”

There seemed to be very few options, but there was one that appeared to be both convenient and practical. “I know where we can go,” Julie began. “And it’s not very far away.”

“How easy is it going to be to get to this place?” Marty asked.

“Well, considering I spent a week hiding there, I’ve already got a way in.”

Marty nodded as Lucas suddenly realized where they were planning to go.

“Wait a second,” Lucas interrupted. “You want to go to the hospital?”

Remembering the events at L.A.’s county hospital, Marty tried to ease Lucas’ concerns, yet still convey the importance of utilizing any available resources. “Luke,” he began. “We really need to do this, and we need to come back with as much as possible.”

“Well, I’m not fucking going,” Lucas responded. He had quickly become agitated and was adamant in his refusal.

“Can’t you take the van and load that up? I’ve seen too many dead people for one lifetime, thank you very much.”

Julie gave him a sympathetic expression, realizing that he’d been traumatized by the sight of more death than he was able to comprehend.

“Luke,” she said quietly. “We’re going to the hospital where I used to work and there’s no one there. We can get in and still stay away from the parking lots.” She paused as Lucas’ anxiety began to build. Marty tried to be reassuring as well.

“Luke,” he began. “We’re just going to get in and get out, but we could use your help, and we can do this a lot faster if all of us go. Then, we can come back and get out of here, okay?”

Lucas knew Marty was right. The more people went, the faster it would get done. He also realized that this was a demon in need of slaying. He closed his eyes and taking a deep breath, found a temporary place within himself to bury his fear. Collecting his resolve, he agreed to go. And as soon as the supplies were secured, they went to the van and left for Christus Spohn Hospital. Lying near the edge of the shoreline, Christus Spohn Hospital was relatively small. At its back was a specialized surgical center that, in the world of before, handled mostly outpatient cases.

The campus took up an area of two square blocks and sat a stone’s throw from Emerald Cove. Julie directed Marty to a loading dock at the back of the hospital so as to gain entrance through a relatively isolated area. She also wanted to spare Lucas the sight of the hospital parking lots, as the military had made use of its property as well. Lucas considered waiting in the van, but another part of him did not want to be alone. They climbed up onto the loading dock and entered the hospital through a service door. Julie led the way to a tunnel on the ground floor that connected several departments to the hospital main corridor. Corpus Christi, like so many other places, was without power. Leaving the hospital in darkness. And without proper ventilation, the air had grown heavy and stale. After nearly a week, the smell of decomposition still hung in the air, forcing Lucas to cover his nose and mouth.

“Can we hurry up, please?” he asked. “We’re going down to the laundry department,” Julie replied. “It shouldn’t be too bad down there.” Marty anticipated they’d be going to a few places that would be completely devoid of light and made it a point to bring the flashlight he kept in the van. Halfway down the tunnel, Julie opened a door leading down another tunnel. Then a stairwell. One floor down, they found themselves in a hallway. Following it down to its halfway point, they entered another door to find themselves surrounded by freshly laundered sheets, blankets, and scrubs. Everything had been organized into eighteen-inch stacks and bound together in plastic wrap.

“Okay,” Julie began. “Just grab one of each and get some medium and large scrubs.”

“Even pillowcases?” Marty asked. “Anything,” Julie answered.

Marty noticed how quickly Julie could think on her feet. How calm she was under pressure and immediately came to admire that quality. “Let’s get back to the ground floor,” she said. Again, she led them through the bowels of the hospital and returning to the tunnel on the ground floor, Julie was stopped by an idea. “Wait here,” she said.

Borrowing Marty’s flashlight, she disappeared down a side tunnel leading to the morgue and returned with a gurney.

“Put everything on here.”

The wrapped laundry was haphazardly stacked on the gurney.

“Now, we need to go to the pharmacy.” Lucas, upon hearing this, hesitated. “I thought we were leaving after this,” he said in an anxious tone.

Having begun pushing the gurney, Julie turned to him, saying, “I’m sorry, Luke, but we have a couple more stops to make.”

Lucas began to escalate in his anxiety. “I just want to get the fuck out of here!” he yelled. They stopped momentarily near the end of the tunnel, just before the main corridor. Julie approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder and immediately felt his muscles relax. Sometimes a simple touch is all the healing people need.

“Luke,” she began. “I know you don’t want to be here. I worked here for four years and right now, this place creeps me out, but there are things we need that we can only get here.”

Julie paused in an attempt to read Lucas’ response. “And the faster we get this done, the sooner we can get back to the boat, okay?”

Lucas had previously decided to conquer this particular demon. However, he wanted to fight this battle in small doses and was not made aware of long they’d actually be there. Had he known, he might have chosen to stay behind on the boat. “Alright,” he said. “But, can we please hurry?” We’re going to do this as fast as we can, Julie replied. Starting out again, Julie gave Marty a glance of concern. As a nurse, she was well aware that some people harbored a fear of hospitals and had seen many leave against medical advice. But instinct told her that Lucas’ fear was based on something else. Something deeper.

They rounded the corner, wheeling the gurney to the right. Julie had her own mental list of what they needed and their next stop was the hospital’s pharmacy. The inpatient pharmacy was about a minute’s walk away, located very near the lab. Again, they turned right and passed the doctors' lounge, turned left, and found themselves facing the front entrance of the pharmacy. The door was activated by key card. But with the power out, the lock had been engaged by default. They would have to find another way in.

“What about this?” Marty asked. He walked over next to the door to what appeared to be a pickup window.

“It looks big enough,” he continued. “If we can just get through the Plexiglas.”

He raised a hand, tapping on it several times. “It’s actually pretty thin.”

His mind considered several ways he might breach the glass. Using his fist would be too risky. He knew that any injury would be magnified by their situation or any other circumstance of survival. This would not be as easy as shattering a pane of laminated glass. Plexiglas doesn’t shatter when struck. It bends and wobbles back into place.

“Wait a second. I’ll be right back.” Marty walked back down the hallway a short distance to the hospital’s lab. He’d gotten a brief glance through the door on their way to the pharmacy and thought it might hold something of use. Not surprisingly, the oversized room housing the hospital’s lab was dark and devoid of any activity. Entering its main down, it became obvious to Marty that its staff had not been there for several days. Although he assumed that they, too, had died of the infection, he resisted the urge to go exploring. And the overwhelming silence of the hospital was already beginning to wear on his nerves. Just on the other side of the doorway were several small black carts, each holding a red plastic box filled with various tubes, needles, and syringes. Taking the cart nearest him, he removed the red box and placed it on the floor. It took only seconds for Marty to wheel the cart around the corner and back to the pharmacy, where Julie and Lucas were waiting. The cart was small and light enough that Marty thought he might be able to break the window and climb through. “Going shopping?” Julie asked.

Marty picked up the cart and held it back behind his right hip.

“You might want to cover your faces,” Marty replied. Julie and Lucas quickly retreated into a nearby corner, turning their faces away from the window. Marty launched the cart at the window and was surprised at how easily it fractured. Unlike laminated glass, the Plexiglas window shattered into large sheets that could be easily managed. He continued using the cart to clear away the pieces that still clung to the inside of its aluminum frame. “I think that’ll do it,” he said.

Julie was the first to wander over and examine the shattered window.

“Nice job,” she said.

Although Lucas was still tense, he managed something of a sense of humor, saying, “Yeah, he’s pretty good at breaking things.” Marty looked back at him dryly.

“Alright,” he began. “The next time something needs to get smashed, you can do it.”

Lucas nodded with a grin.

“You’ve got a deal.”

Marty crawled the window frame and jumped off the stainless steel counter onto the tiled floor of the pharmacy. He made his way around a tall metal bookcase and opened the door where Julie and Lucas were waiting. They rolled the gurney in while Marty held the door open.

“Okay,” Julie began. “We’re looking for painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. I’ll find them and you guys put them on the gurney, got it?” She began searching the pharmacy with the idea that drugs would be stocked alphabetically. As Julie found bottles of the drugs she was looking for, she set them in the hallway, making it easy for Marty and Lucas to find them. Having found a couple of empty boxes, the bottles were placed in them and carried to the gurney. By Marty’s watch, they left the pharmacy forty-five minutes after breaking in.

“Not bad guys,” Julie said. “Looks like we make a pretty good team.”

A smile came to Lucas’ face. He had begun to wonder about his usefulness, knowing nothing about survival and even less about nursing or anything involving medicine. He was a former college sophomore who knew how to hotwire a car. It wasn’t much, but it was a skill that had already proven useful. Now, Lucas was in desperate need of acknowledgment and up to this point, Marty tried to be encouraging whenever the opportunity arose, but he was a bit more focused on their survival. He certainly didn’t see Julie as a big sister, yet the warm voice of a beautiful woman seemed to do wonders for the tension he felt and provided him with a small boost of confidence as well. Marty, however, had a much different reaction to Julie’s voice. And there would be times when, even during the quietest moments, his mind would be filled with the sound of her voice.

They rounded the corner into the hospital’s main corridor.

“This way,” Julie directed.

Their next stop was central sterile supply. They stocked up on gauze, bandages and medical tape as well as anything else Julie thought they needed. While there, Marty grabbed a stainless steel cart, as the gurney was near overflowing with linens and medication. Having filled the cart to capacity, they made their way back to the main corridor and across to the cafeteria. The smell of spoiled food lay thick in the air. Wrapped sandwiches had become wet with condensation while baked good had gone stale days ago.

The only light entering the cafeteria shown through its exterior windows, while the kitchen lay in perpetual darkness. Marty brought out his flashlight as they entered the tile-lined kitchen. The beam of Marty’s flashlight bounced and jumped from one surface to the next, providing a kaleidoscopic illumination from both tile and steel. Finding the storeroom, they encountered a treasure trove of canned food and prepackaged pastries. They stood in front of the open storeroom with wide eyes, as though they had discovered King Solomon’s mine. “Where the hell are we going to put all of this?” Lucas asked.

“We don’t need all of it,” Marty said. “We just have to take what we need.”

“Guys,” Julie began. “I think we need another cart.” They didn’t have to go far to find one. Hospital meal trays were almost always transported in large, stainless steel carts. And in a hallway behind the kitchen were several carts lined up like shiny steel locomotive cars. Wheeling the largest of them back to the kitchen, Marty and Lucas, again, retrieved cans of every size from the floor as Julie chose what she thought they needed. Wandering off slightly to a collection of prepackaged pastries, Lucas felt his stomach grumble as something caught his attention. “Shit,” he whispered to himself.

Picking it up, he cradled it in his hand and returned to where Marty and Julie were still gathering canned food.

“Hey,” he began. “Look what I found!” He held it high, as though he’d taken a head amidst the clamor and the glory of battle. In his hand, he gently held a white wrapper containing a chocolate-covered pastry, its center filled with a delicate white cream.

“Hey, guys,” he said excitedly. “There're tons of Ring Dings back here!”

“What!?” Julie asked intently.

She had been standing on a plastic milk crate when she stepped down and quickly walked to Lucas. “Where did you find this?!”

She reached out for it as Lucas reflexively pulled it back.

“Oh, no,” he reacted with a grin. “You get your own fucking Ring Ding.”

Her voice took on a tone of urgency as Lucas pointed to the cache of Ring Dings that lay just around the corner, hidden beneath the shadows.

“I think we should take a break.”

She followed the direction Lucas pointed towards and discovered a display rack filled with the well-preserved pastries. Grabbing one from the rack, Julie took a few steps toward the nearest wall, turned her back and slid down to a sitting position. She tore into the wrapper and with the first bite, a flood of chocolate induced pleasure surged through her brain. The world seemed to be, at least, temporarily shut out as her skin leaped up in a wave of goosebumps. “Oh, my God,” she said.

Her words were muffled by the first mouthful of chocolate and cream.

“That...is so good. Almost as good as sex.” She let out a deep sigh of satisfaction as she completely immersed herself in what had become a lifelong vice.

“God, why didn’t I see these before?” Marty stood watching as Lucas and Julie sat on the floor, surrendering themselves to the decadence only a committed chocoholic would understand. Julie retrieved enough of her senses to realize that Marty was staring at both of them.

“What!?” she asked. “God, what is wrong with you?” She reached over and picked up another Ring Ding, tossing it to Marty.

“Relax, have a Ring Ding.”

Marty sat down next to her and slowly began tearing open the wrapper.

“So, what’s next?” he asked.

“What’s next?” Julie replied, between mouthfuls of chocolate and cake.

“What’s next is that we get all this stuff together, weigh anchor and get the hell out of here.” Like Lucas, her mouth and fingers were now covered with chocolate.

“Oh,” she continued. “And we’re taking all of these, too.”

They could find canned food anywhere, but Ring Dings would be hard to come by, so Julie made an executive decision to stock up on them. Even if the chocolate coating began to melt, a Ring Ding was still a Ring Ding. Having filled two carts and the gurney almost to overflowing, they made their way back to the loading dock where the van sat undisturbed. Lucas, wanting to show off, jumped off the loading dock and into the driver’s seat.

“What’s he doing?” Julie asked.

Marty stepped over next to her.

“We don’t have keys for this,” he said. “But, we wouldn’t be here if Luke hadn’t hot-wired it.” Julie looked at him with disbelief as Lucas started the van.

“Luke can hotwire a car?”

Marty nodded his head.

“Yeah, I was surprised, too.”

Julie looked back at the van as Lucas raised the hydraulic door.

“Well, that’s a handy skill to have.” Lucas turned off the engine and stepped out with an expression of great personal satisfaction. “Alright, I’m impressed,” Julie said. Marty stood scanning their surroundings, having suddenly become uncomfortable about where they were. The intensity of his expression caught Julie’s eye.

“Marty, what is it?” she asked.

Lucas also noticed his expression and began searching the area in every direction. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I guess I’m just not comfortable being out in the open like this.”

“Marty,” Lucas began. “Come on, you’re freaking me out. Do we have company or not?”

“Guys,” Julie said. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?” They packed the van up to the roof and lowered the hydraulic door. Lucas sat between the seats as Marty started the engine. With Julie in the passenger’s seat, they drove back to the dock. Upon arriving, they spent the next few hours unloading and organizing everything they had procured from the hospital. Lucas, in spite of his fear, was none the worse for it. He realized that his demons were largely the product of the trauma brought on the sight and smell of burning flesh, as well as the memory of seeing Maria’s lifeless body casually being thrown to the fire. Although he felt confident about confronting his fear, Lucas would never completely conquer it. Instead, he would seek to constantly distract himself from it.

As the last of the canned food was being stored, Julie went up to the wheelhouse. The Stellar Storm had a fifty-five horsepower engine for maneuvering into and out of the dock. Once it was clear of the basin, the sails would be let out and the wind would carry them into open waters. But there was a problem. Julie was unable to find the key, and without it, the Stellar Storm would be little more than a well-equipped cork.

“Shit,” she said.

She went below deck and continued her search. “Son of a bitch!”

“What is it?” Marty asked.

Julie was now looking frantically through the drawers of the kitchen area.

“I can’t find the key to the engine,” she answered with obvious frustration. “And without it, we’re stuck.”

Marty approached her, interrupting her search. “Hang on a minute,” he said.

“Marty,” she snapped. “We need that key!”

“I know,” he replied. “Hang on a minute.” He turned towards Lucas, who was organizing scrubs by size.

“Hey, Luke,” Marty yelled.

Lucas closed one of the cabinet doors and walked toward them.

“What’s up?” he asked.

He could clearly see that Julie was upset over something.

“What’s wrong?”

“Luke,” Marty began. “Do you think you can hotwire a boat?”

Lucas gave it a moment’s thought as Julie looked at him hopefully.

“I don’t see why not,” he answered. “It’s just a switch.”

Marty nodded with a slight grin.

“I was hoping you’d say something like that. You want to take a look?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lucas answered.

“Great!” Julie said. “Come on.”

She grabbed Lucas by the wrist and led him up to the wheelhouse, where she pointed out the engine console.

“Can you start it?” she asked.

He examined the console, noticing that it was held together by both screws and bolts. “Is there a toolkit here?” he asked. Julie rushed below deck and within a few minutes, returned with a small set of tools. “That was quick,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, I found them while we were putting everything away,” she replied hurriedly. Lucas dismantled the ignition panel and traced the wires back to the fuse box. The arrangement bore some similarity to that of a car, but the differences did not deter Lucas in his efforts to start the boat’s engine. After rerouting one particular wire leading to the fuse box, the engine began to sputter. He tried again while pushing the throttle forward and the engine roared to life. Julie was both thrilled and greatly relieved, jumping in place like a child on Christmas morning. She bent down and gave Lucas a quick kiss on the head as he began reassembling the ignition panel, leaving the wires in place so as to keep the engine running. Marty suddenly appeared at the cabin door, having heard the engine start. “Goddamn!” he said. “I knew you could do it!” Luke! Julie yelled, over the sound of the engine. Cut the engine! I’ve got to check on a couple of things!

Lucas quickly dismantled the ignition and disconnected the wire from the fuse box, allowing the engine to sputter to a halt.

What’s wrong? Lucas asked.

Before we leave, I have to check on how much water we have.

The Stellar Storm carried a maximum water capacity of two hundred and twenty gallons and a one hundred and twenty-four-gallon tank of diesel. Julie checked the gauges and found the water tank at half its capacity, while the fuel tank was full. “We need more water,” she said. She went up on deck and searched the docks for a water pump. At only five feet from the stern, it was in a convenient location. Most recreational boats were of similar design, so the water tanks inlet ports could usually be found in roughly the same place. Once the water tank was filled, Julie asked Lucas to start the engine as she took the wheel. At a slow speed, she carefully backed the boat out of its slip. Steering it away from the dock, Julie put the engine to one-quarter speed and forward. The propeller slowly churned against the water as the bow forced its way through the quiet ripples of a calm sea. Leaving Yacht Basin, Julie increased the engine’s speed to half, carrying them out into Corpus Christi Bay. Another thirty minutes found them in the Gulf of Mexico. It had been a long day and as they began to wind down; it was decided that they would drop anchor about two miles off the coast and bed down for the night. Julie wasn’t anticipating any other boats in the area. But, as a precaution, she turned on the boat’s signal light. Below deck, Lucas had returned to the stern bedroom, exhausted by his confrontation with death. Once again, Julie and Marty sat at the table in the dining area. The sun was approaching the western horizon, filling the cabin with an eerie orange light. Julie looked at Marty with an inquiring expression. “You two are pretty close, huh?” she asked. Marty was rapidly being overtaken by sleep when Julie’s question shook him into a temporary state of wakefulness.

“Oh, yeah,” he answered. “Um, his mom died of cancer. His brother was killed in a gang war and his father just disappeared.”

“So, you decided to look after him?” Julie asked. “Yeah,” Marty answered. “I guess I’ve been kind of a big brother to him for a while. And when everything fell apart... I just couldn’t leave him on his own. I’ve been trying to teach him a few things about survival but I’m not exactly a very good teacher.” Julie was now looking at him with a caring expression.

“Marty,” she said. “You did a good thing. You probably saved his life.”

Marty nodded, knowing she was right and that Lucas would likely be dead without him. “So,” Marty began. “What about you? You don’t seem like the average Texas girl.”

“Well,” she began. “My parents moved out here years ago when my father took a job with an oil company. Then, one day, he was out on a drilling platform and there was an accident. You could hear the explosion for miles. At least it was quick.”

“Shit,” Marty replied. “I’m so sorry. What about your mom?”

Julie paused to gather her words.

“Oh, right,” she answered with a bit of hesitation. “You know,” Marty interrupted. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. It’s really none of my business, anyway.”

Julie shook her head with a gentle smile. “It’s okay,” she replied. “It seems like it’s been so long since I’ve talked to anyone. Anyway, my mom died of the infection. I sat in an attic window and watched them throw her body on the fire, right there in the front parking lot.”

She brought her hands up and wiped her eyes as they began welling up with tears.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; the sight of all those burning bodies and the smell finally drove it in. I woke up the next day in the hospital’s attic. I thought I’d been dreaming the whole thing until the smell hit me again. Then, I knew it was real. All of it.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to regain her composure as a tear gently made its way down the softness of her cheek. “Shit,” she said. “Look at me. I’m a fucking mess.” Julie continued wiping the tears away from her face and eyes as Marty sat astounded by her ability to keep her head together through an entire week of solitude. Especially after watching her mother’s body thrown to the pyre. She suddenly changed the tone and direction of the conversation as she sat up straight and folded her hands on the table in front of her. “So, what did you think of my tough girl act?” Given the previous conversation, Marty found himself momentarily confused.

“What?” he asked.

Julie tried her best to put on a convincing smile in an attempt to ward off the pain that had risen so dangerously close to the surface.

“You know,” she said. “The gun?” It took only a moment for Marty to mentally change gears and recall the day’s earlier events. “Oh, that,” he replied. “You had me convinced and I have to admit, no one’s ever snuck up on me like that.”

Julie grinned slightly as she realized that she had, in fact, gotten the upper hand on him. “But I swear to God, I didn’t know it was loaded.”

“Yeah,” Marty replied. “I believe you. But you scared the shit out of me.”

Julie covered her mouth, trying not to laugh at his expense. She dropped her hands slightly as a grin came over her face.

“And I thought Luke was going to shit his pants,” she whispered.

A slight grin crept over Marty’s face as well. “Well,” he replied. “I almost did.” They began giggling like school children, finding humor in a situation that almost anyone would find terrifying beyond words.

“But I’ll give you this,” he continued. “You really know how to keep your head together.” A puzzled look came over Julie’s face. “Back at the hospital,” Marty continued. “I’m not sure that I would have gone in there by myself.”

“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” Julie asked, teasingly.

“It’s not the dark that bothers me,” he answered.

When he returned from Iraq, he brought with him the idea that under every rock was something foul. The darkness is harmless. It’s what lies hidden within it that poses a threat. But, what threat could be hiding in an abandoned hospital, where the only things inhabiting it were the confused souls of those overtaken by a sickness that burned through an average city at the speed of a cough? Certainly, the only threat that lay in front of Marty was what his mind could conceive. At the time, there were no life and death decisions to be made. However, that would change and there would be moments when the opportunity to form a plan would be replaced by the need for quick thinking, when the briefest hesitation could result in catastrophe.

As the night closed in, Marty and Julie continued their conversation beneath a small ceiling light mounted over the dining table. The moon faded into view as the constant motion of the sea scattered its reflection across countless wavelets dancing beneath an onyx sky. Speckled with the frozen glimmer of a nocturnal star-scape. The scene could have flowed from the pen of a poet, or the brush of a master painter, had it been set on the stage of an idyllic world. But the world had never been such a place, even before the infection slaughtered nearly every inhabitant on the planet.

“So, why us?” Julie asked.

“Why us what?” Marty answered. “Don’t tell me you’ve never thought it,” Julie replied. Marty responded with a puzzled look.

“Why did we survive? Why aren’t we dead?” she continued.

Marty had considered this question as he and Lucas prepared to leave Los Angeles Instead, he chose to quickly pushed it back beneath his conscious mind. He came to the conclusion, early on, that these questions should be avoided. That there were too many things to do. That survival was more important than the philosophical implications of their circumstances.

“I don’t know,” he answered.

Having experienced war, Marty had his doubts regarding God, fate, and miracles. From his perspective, there was only one certainty. You either lived or died. There was no great cosmic meaning, no divine plan. Sure, there are accidents, but they can almost always be explained through cause and effect and usually, the cause was human interference, not divine intervention.

“Maybe we’re immune. You’re the nurse, what do you think?”

Julie gave him a puzzled look.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole about it,” Marty continued. “I just don’t think it matters. Maybe there are just some questions that can’t be answered.” Julie’s response was silent and thoughtful. “I think the only thing that matters now is that we’re here, we’re alive and no one’s hurt,” he continued. Julie nodded in agreement.

“Not to change the subject,” she began. “But, what’s going on with Luke? What is it with him and hospitals?”

Marty leaned back and took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“Before we left L.A.,” he began. “We went to county hospital, thinking that we could find out what happened to everyone.”

“That seems reasonable,” Julie responded. “Yeah,” Marty continued. “So, I decided to investigate a little.”

He paused again to organize his words. “I’m sorry. I got a little ahead of myself. There was this girl we worked with. Her name was Maria and Luke was just head over heels for her. One day, she went missing. Turned out her and her family had been taken to county. We went there later that night just in time for Luke to see them throw her body on the fire.”

Julie was aghast and brought her hands up to her mouth as her eyes teared up.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah,” Marty replied. “They didn’t even put her in a bag. She was still wearing a hospital gown. Still had an IV in her arm. They just carried her out and threw her on the fire like she was a bag of garbage.” Julie sat across from him, unable to find words for her reaction.

“I wish I’d known,” she said. “Oh, my God, I wish I’d known.”

“Julie,” Marty reacted. “It’s not your fault. We need the extra hands and Luke knows that there are some things that have to get done. Yeah, he’s young, but he’s not a little kid and by this time, I’m pretty sure he knows how bad thing are. He’ll be okay.”

By the end of the conversation, Julie had her elbows planted on the table with her palms on each side of her forehead. She had clearly been overtaken by guilt about something she was unable to foresee. Marty reached out and placed a hand on Julie’s arm. Ordinarily, he was not the sentimental type, but he’d begun to feel a deep sense of connectedness with her. “Julie,” he continued.

She felt the warmth of his hand as they made eye contact.

“He’s going to be okay.”

Removing her hands from her forehead, Julie reached down and squeezed his hand. She nodded as reason slowly began to replace her feelings of guilt and personal responsibility.

“You’re right,” she said through eyes reddened by tears. “We need the help and there’s too much to be done.”

She released her grip on Marty’s hand and, once again, wiped dry her tear-filled eyes. She let out an exhausted sigh and dropped back into the seat. “I need to get some sleep,” she said. Standing up, she sidestepped her way out from behind the dining table. But right before making her way down to the bedroom at the boat’s bow, she hesitated and darted back toward Marty, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

“What was that for?” he inquired. Taking a step away from the table, she looked back at him with a gentle, appreciative smile. “I don’t know,” she answered. “Just for being here, I guess.”

She turned and walked down the aisle of the cabin. And as she closed the bedroom door behind her, glanced back at him with a look of expectation. Marty, however, wanted Julie to have her space, knowing that nothing good could come from such an emotional moment.

Marty sat alone at the table for what seemed like only a few minutes. He thought about how things had unfolded and just how far they’d come, from the dark mortuary of Los Angeles with scattered pyres of cold, charred flesh to living aboard a yacht with a beautiful woman who seemed genuinely attracted to him. He felt the boat gently rocking from side to side like the slow rhythm of a pendulum, guided by the unending cycles of shifting tides and the motion of the sea. Above him, the small dim overhead light still illuminated the dining area with its muted, eerie glow. He thought about everything that had happened since arriving in Corpus Christi and still wondered how Julie managed to sneak up behind them without making so much as a whisper. The conversation that had just passed between them played itself over in his mind as he relived the sensation of her soft, warm lips quickly placed against his. With this, another moment played itself out on the stage of his memories, as they stood at the back of the van, their bodies pressed together as Julie kissed him firmly on the mouth. He did realize that her reaction was exactly that - a reaction, nothing more. However, it was the look she gave him just before closing the bedroom door. He wasn’t quite sure what she was keeping behind that expression. Maybe she had been alone for too long and felt overwhelmed by the sudden arrival of the living. But he was exhausted and decided that the contemplation of the previous week of his life was not going to cost him a night’s sleep. He found the unfolding cot on the other side of the cabin. And retrieving two of the blankets they’d recovered from the hospital, removed nearly all his clothes, curled up beneath the blankets and drifted off. The gentle swaying of the Stellar Storm propelled him into a quiet world, devoid of the shadows and specters of those lost to the venomous fires of biological resolution. Where Marty had gone, they could not follow. In his waking life, he would occasionally feel them pushing their way into his soul, with angry jealousy of the life he continued living. His Army training had prepared him to make quick life and death decisions. Everything was done by the numbers. But as he would later discover, all the training in the world would not make him immune from the outcome of the experience of the last week.