Sea (A Stranded Novel) (7 page)

Mason was eating moodily. He thought about how distant Emily had been with him and tried to think of how he could bring her around. Mark snorted in laughter bringing Mason’s head up to meet his friend
’s eyes.

“You’re never going to crack that safe
, man. You’re going to have to tap the reserves,” he said with a smirk. Mason looked around quickly to make sure no one was around.

“Give it time. We’re going to be out here for a couple more weeks. It’ll happen
,” he said confidently. Looking his friend over, Mason made a face. “Man, you’re rank. Tim says we can have showers if we do the stop and start method. You could really use one. I could smell you up on deck.”

Mark laughed “It’s seasoning
, man, but yeah, I’ll get cleaned up. So how have things been while I was in pukeland? How’s the Boy Scout?”

Mason shook his head, “David’s not bad. He’s actually a pretty good guy. He’s always up for helping out. He doesn’t talk much but he’s ok
ay. Tim’s been teaching me a lot. The more I learn the better. I’m thinking after we land in Washington, we stick around until he’s gone and “borrow” the boat to take us up into B.C. It will save us weeks of walking,” he told Mark quietly.

Mark nodded thoughtfully, “Let’s keep that on the down low for now. We don’t need the
Boy Scout knowing our plans.”

Mason agreed, David seemed like an ok
ay guy but he was a little too nice for this new world and he’d have to toughen up if he wanted a ride up into Canada. He dumped his plate into the full sink and headed back up on deck passing Lisa as she came down for her turn in the shower.

Mark looked her up and down and smirked. “Hey there
, princess, it looks like you’ve lost some of the shine from your crown.”

Lisa glared at him. “Could you be anymore disgusting, Mark? Really, you should grab the next shower. I just stopped puking and the smell coming off of you is about to start me heaving again
,” she said with disgust and quickly went into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Mark stared at the closed door and brooded. Lisa had always treated him like crap and he’d taken it but this was a brand new world they were in and the rules had changed. He had always been in Mason’s shadow, the popular quarterback’s sidekick. Mark knew he wasn’t good looking or talented enough to be popular so sticking close to Mason in school was a no
-brainer. He got all the benefits of being in the popular crowd without having to do any work, but all that was over now. It no longer mattered what crowd you were in. All that mattered was being strong and smart and ruthless. He planned on being all those things and more. He would deal with Mason as long as they needed this boat but after that he was going to learn that he wasn’t number one anymore. As for Lisa, if she wanted to live, she would need to prove her worth to him. A small satisfied smile spread across Mark’s face as he thought about his future.

The next two days were uneventful. They played cards to pass the time or stayed on deck in the sun relaxing. Emily, Tim and David took turns making meals in the small galley. It was no surprise to find out that none of the others could cook. She found herself organizing and inventorying the supplies again and again. She couldn’t stop thinking about what was to come once they docked. Knowing that they couldn’t just go get food in a store made her nervous and she knew that all the stores would be picked clean by the time they got back to land. David and Tim
pored over the maps that he had gotten at the gas station plotting the best routes through Washington State to the Canadian border. Mason didn’t seem to be all that interested in the maps and Emily thought he was trusting David with it. Mark did nothing. He hardly talked to anyone, but Emily could see him watching everything. It gave her the creeps every time she felt his eyes on her. She used to just think Mark was a mean bully but lately she felt something more menacing coming from him. She tried to stay away from him and she noticed Lisa did as well.

Lisa had reverted back to her sarcastic attitude and the common ground between the two girls seemed to be lost. She spent most of her time on deck working on her tan, wearing a bikini she had found in Tim’s closet. When she had emerged on deck in the small white suit two days ago, all the guys had stared, making Lisa toss her hair and pose like a model.

“I hope you don’t mind, Tim, I found this in the back of your closet and since I didn’t bring my own I borrowed it,” she said with a flirty smile.

“Um, yeah…ok, sure. I
mean, no problem. It was probably left by one of my exes.” He shook his head in amusement.

David looked at Emily and just shrugged before turning back to the wide expanse of ocean ahead of them. Mason was openly staring at her and Mark had a creepy leer on his face. Emily shook her head in disgust at the boys and went and sat with David.

She hadn’t really talked to him since they had set sail. She shoulder bumped him and he gave her a smile.

With a sad sigh, she asked him, “What do you think is happening at home?”

He turned his gaze back out to the ocean and frowned. “I don’t know but I’m sure all of our families are okay. They would be looking out for each other and banding together to get things done. They’re in a really good location. There are lots of farms and the forest for hunting and all the lakes for fishing. They’re far enough from the cities that they shouldn’t get too many people walking in. I just wish I was there to help. More than anything though, I’m mad.”

Emily waited patiently for him to explain. Without taking his eyes off the view ahead he continued. “I’m stuck hundreds of miles from home
; mom and Emma are alone and where the hell is my dad? Who knows where! He should be home taking care of them right now. Sometimes I hate him,” he finished in a small sad voice.

There was nothing Emily could say to make him feel better about his
dad so she just took his hand and gave it a squeeze. She had never met David’s father and from what she had heard over the years, David barely knew him either. His father was a soldier and was away for most of David’s younger years. He had been in Bosnia and Sarajevo where he had seen some horrifying things. When he had finally come home for good, he had tried to be a family man and a good father to David and his sister Emma but it was a struggle. David had told of screaming nightmares and violent mood swings that scared his mom. After he had been home for a year, she couldn’t take it anymore and asked him to either get help or leave. David’s dad had chosen to leave his family.

“I don’t know why it even bothers me
,” David stated. “He was never really there for us ever. Mom’s so strong and she’s always done everything herself but it just isn’t fair! He should be there!” he said in frustration.

“I’m sorry
, David. I wish things were different for you guys,” Emily said with compassion.

“Yeah, me too.”
David turned and looked at her. “What about you? How are you holding up?”

“Truth?
I’m scared. I mean, this is beautiful, and it’s great that we aren’t walking, but I can’t stop thinking about what comes next. I’m really worried and the others don’t seem to even care. It’s like they are on some great holiday. I tried to talk to Mason about home and he just brushed it off like it’s no big deal! Lisa’s great one minute and then the next she’s back to being a diva. Mark…he scares me a little bit,” she confided.

David nodded. “I know what you mean. I tried to go over the maps with Mason and he wasn’t even interested. It’s like he plans on sailing all the way home. I don’t know what to tell you about Lisa. It’s almost like she doesn’t know who she is. Sometimes she’s funny and easy to talk to and then it’s like she puts on this shallow girl act. I mainly just try and stay out of her way. I don’t get Mark at all. He doesn’t even talk to me except to make nasty comments but he’s always watching us. It’s almost like he’s got some secret agenda and he’s just waiting for the right time. I think you should stay away from him.” He was quiet for a while and then tentatively asked, “What about you and
Mason, are you guys still together?”

Emily looked down at her hands. “I just…I guess, I mean…I’m so confused! All the reasons that I liked him seem to
have disappeared. He’s not who I thought he was. I don’t really believe that he loves me but I don’t know what to do! This is a pretty small boat to have to deal with the fallout of a breakup. I guess I’ll just keep things the same for now and hope for the best.” She laughed ruefully. “We have so much to worry about like what’s going on at home and how we’ll get there once we land, that breaking up with my boyfriend seems pretty petty in comparison.”

David smiled, “Yeah, I guess normal teenage stuff’s going to have to take a backseat for a while. I don’t think we should talk about it right now but I think we should consider splitting up when we do hit land. I’m just not sure we can count on those guys and we can’t afford to make stupid mistakes. Think about it
, okay?”

Emily nodded, just one more thing to worry about.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

They had been on the boat for seven days and Emily was in the main bedroom reading one of Tim’s paperback books. It was a very boring mystery but she was desperate for something to take her mind off of her worries as well as find a little bit of privacy. It was hard to be alone with six people onboard and they had all tried to get away from each other at some point. Tim seemed the least bothered and he was very good natured. He always seemed to find humor and was never testy with them. He was such a great guy and Emily was grateful to him for all he had done for them. She just wished that there was something she could do to keep busy. Emily had just reread the same page three times when she heard yelling coming from on deck. She threw the book aside and rushed out of the room and up the stairs to the deck to see what the commotion was all about.

David was looking out in the distance with the binoculars and Tim was busy dropping the sails to slow the boat down while Mason manned the wheel. She tried to see what David was looking at but the glare off the water made it too difficult. Lisa had lifted herself up onto her elbows from her tanning position but at Emily’s shrug she laid back down, indifferent towards the situation. Tim brushed past her back to the wheel and within minutes, Emily felt the vibrations of the motor as it came to life. She made her way to David and tried to see what had captured his attention again. She thought she could make out something bobbing on the waves in the distance but couldn’t make out what it was.

“What is it
, David? What’s out there?” she asked him.

Without taking his eyes off the object, he explained. “It’s a lifeboat. I can’t see anyone in it but they could be lying down in the bottom of it. We’re going to try and get closer.”

Emily felt a surge of apprehension. On one hand, it would be great if they could help other survivors but on the other hand, they only had so many supplies. She felt guilty at the thought but pushed it aside when she thought of being stuck in a lifeboat for days with no food or water and being at the mercy of the sea.

It seemed to take forever for the lifeboat to come into range. When it finally was close enough to see down into it, they could make out three men lying on the bottom that weren’t moving. Tim had Mason take the wheel and he came towards Emily and David. He stopped and unclipped a long handled paddle
that was in brackets under the cabins windows. As the lifeboat floated closer he reached out and tried to snag it in closer but missed. David helped Tim by wrapping his arms around his waist so he could safely reach out further. It worked but the paddle hit one of the men, pushing him over so he faced up. With a cry of horror, Tim and David stumbled back against the cabin leaving Emily with a perfect view down into the lifeboat. She was completely unprepared for what she saw.

The corpse of the man stared back at her. His face was a dark red and his skin had dried out and pulled away from his teeth making him look like he was smiling maniacally. His eyes were gone and the sockets had sunken deep leaving him with two dark holes. Emily was frozen in place staring at the poor man’s face and she heard herself whimper.

“Man, that’s sick!” came from behind her and the cruel amusement in the tone broke the spell and made her turn away from the ravaged face. She swallowed down the vomit that threatened to rise and looked to Tim and David.  Mark was making disgusting comments about the state of the bodies when the wind blew a gust that was full of decomposing scent. The smell overcame Emily and she had to rush further down the rail to be sick over the side. Tim got control of himself and pushed Mark back out of the way.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he screamed.

Tim was still holding the long handled paddle and he quickly used it to shove the lifeboat away from the Lawless. Once it was far enough away that he couldn’t reach it anymore, he dropped the paddle onto the deck and rushed over to the wheel, shoving Mason out of the way. He brought the engine up and motored them away from the lifeboat. He kept taking big gulps of air and Emily had never seen him so pale.

Mason came up to her and threw his arm around her shoulder. “Was it really nasty?” he asked.

Emily shoved his arm away and snapped at him, “Yes, it was nasty because those men were dead!” She turned and looked at Mark with his smirk and Lisa still tanning like nothing had happened. “Can’t you people get it through your shallow selfish little minds? This is real. It’s not a movie or a video game or a freakin’ vacation! Those men are dead and we could be next! You all think this is a big joke! Well, I’m scared and you should be too because being popular isn’t going to keep you alive,” she yelled at them before she had to rush to the rail to empty her stomach once again into the sea. She didn’t think she would ever be able to get that poor man’s face out of her head.

Mason came up behind her and rubbed her back. “Emily, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make light of them. Everything’s going to be ok
ay. Don’t be scar…” instead of finishing the word, he gasped.

Emily scrubbed the tears from her face and looked up at him to see what had surprised him. Mason was shading his eyes looking out past her in the ocean. She turned around to see what he was looking at and what came from her throat was an agonized moan. Her eyes scanned the way ahead and she had to stop counting at twelve when the tears blurred her vision. She pushed past Mason and stumbled back down the stairs. Emily couldn’t bear to stay on deck as they sailed through the cemetery of lifeboats ahead.