For Those In Peril (Book 1): For Those In Peril On The Sea (8 page)

They knew we were there and they wanted to get at us but they seemed unwilling to enter the water. It was as if they feared it was too deep. This was just as well as we knew what they didn’t, that the water was sufficiently shallow for them to wade out to the sandbar within a matter of minutes.

The presence of the infected was bad enough, but then the situation got worse. Bill was looking at the tide table, ‘It’s high tide now. If we don’t get off soon, we’re going to be here for another twelve hours.’

‘How far will it drop?’ I was thinking about the shallow water that was the only thing keeping the infected from making it to the sandbar.

Bill looked up at the sky and then at the tide table. ‘It’s near enough a new moon, so three, maybe four feet.’

While it didn’t sound like much, it would be enough to link the sandbar to the island. I looked over to the shore where the number of infected had increased to eight. I didn’t know how much intelligence they retained, but it couldn’t be long before one of them realised the water was shallow enough to cross.

‘Fuck, Bill, if it drops that much, they’re going to be over here. We need to get off fast.’ I looked round at the others and saw the severity of the situation sinking in.

Bill took charge. ‘Right, Jon, get the sails down. Mike, CJ, Jimmy, come with me. We need to shift as much weight as we can from the left hull to the right hand one, see if we can reduce the draft on the side where we’re stuck. Rob, get the dinghy in the water and set an anchor into the
seabed about thirty feet off the stern. Once you’re back, wrap the line round the right mainsail winch and crank it tight. With a bit of luck it’ll be enough to pull us back into deeper water.’

With a sense of urgency, we set to our assigned tasks. Within minutes I was back on the boat and cranking the anchor line around the winch. The boat strained but didn’t move. Bill and I glanced at each other.

‘Should we try the engine?’ I knew if we put it into reverse we might be able to pull ourselves away from the sandbar. It would get us off quickly, but it would make a hell of a lot of noise and that might attract more infected.

‘What else could we do?’ Mike was looking at Bill.

‘We can get off and push.’ There was a hint of resignation in Bill’s voice.

Mike looked horrified at the thought and I felt the same. Trying to push the boat off would be quieter, but it would take longer, increasing the risk one of the infected would work out they could get through the gradually shallowing water separating the sandbar from the island.

‘I don’t think the amount of noise we make is really important. Look!’ Jon pointed towards the beach. The number of prowling shadows had grown to twelve. We were attracting more infected with every passing minute, and it was unlikely the engine noise would attract them any faster than the noise we were already making.

‘Everyone agree?’ We nodded. ‘Okay, here goes.’ Bill held his breath and turned the key in the ignition. The engine exploded into life. In the still of the night, the sound seemed deafeningly loud. Bill slammed it into reverse and revved it as high as he dared. As it roared, the boat strained under us and I felt it shift ever so slightly. It was our first glimmer of hope.

I looked to the shore. There were still only twelve of them. The sound of the engine didn’t seem to be attracting any more but the level of agitation in those already there had increased dramatically. The engine noise seemed to confirm there was something out there in the darkness and they were now starting to test whether they could get through the water.

‘Try it again,’ Jon urged Bill on. He was responsible for us being on the sandbar and he was keen to see us get off again as soon as possible.

Bill revved the engine a second time and the boat lurched backwards by about a foot. I looked at the shore. The shadowy figures were being whipped into a frenzy by the noise, and a few of them were making brief forays into the shallow water. It wouldn’t be long before one of them plucked up the courage and went for it. When they did, they would reach the sandbar in less than a minute.

I weighed up the situation in my head. ‘We need to get off now. I felt it move last time, and I think we can do it. If someone goes into the water and pushes up on the left-hand hull while we run the engine in reverse and crank on the winch, I think that should do it.’

‘Well don’t look at me.’ Jon was making sure he wouldn’t get volunteered for going over the side. I didn’t blame him. It would be risky. If the infected made it across before we got off, whoever was in the water wouldn’t stand a chance.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be the one going into the water
.’ Jon was startled by what I said. It was clear he hadn’t thought I would willingly offer to do something so dangerous.

‘But what about your foot?’ CJ shone her torch onto the deck
. ‘You can’t go into the water bleeding like that. You’ll attract sharks.’

In all the commotion, I’d forgotten about the broken crockery. The cut on my foot was bleeding slowly but persistently.

‘Ah, CJ, I think sharks are the least of our worries right now.’ Bill turned to me. ‘But she’s right. You can’t be getting into the water. If you get an infection, it’ll put you out of action and we need you fit. I’ll be the one going in. You can keep a look out, warn me if any infected get too near. Jon, you take the wheel and deal with the engine, and Mike, you operate the winch.’

Before any of us could stop him, Bill was up at the left-hand bow and over the side. The others just stood there staring after him.

‘Right, places everyone.’ My order seemed snap them back to reality, ‘I’m going to go up front, I’ll shout when Bill’s ready. You all clear what you need to do?’

They all nodded.

‘I’ll come with you. I can bring the gun … you know, just in case,’ Jimmy’s suggestion was a good one and I guessed his greater experience with the infected focussed his mind on such things.

‘No, you stay and help the others. I’ll take the rifle with me’

‘You know how to use it?’ Jimmy looked sceptical.

‘Yep.’

It had been a good few years since I’d got my certificate, but I still remembered the training. The summer after I’d finished my doctorate I’d been lucky enough to get a place on a dig looking for Viking settlements on Svalbard, and it had been a requirement that everyone passed a fairly intensive firearms course because of the polar bears. As it turned out, I was a bit of a natural.

I grabbed the rifle and the spotlight and headed for the bow. Bill was in place and ready to go. I scanned
the shoreline. One of the infected was half-way through the water separating the sandbar from the island. It turned away as I shone the light in its face but it didn’t stop or even slow down. The water was only up to its calves and it was moving fast. I wedged the spotlight so it cast a pool of light on the sandbar behind Bill. Any infected would have to cross into the light to get to him, meaning I could get them first.

‘Now!’ I shouted and raised the gun into a firing position. I heard the engine roar and felt the bow rise as Bill pushed up from below. The boat moved slowly but surely. I steadied myself and sighted the infected with the rifle. I thought back to the firearms course. Breathe out, hold your breath. Don’t pull at the trigger, just a slow, gentle pressure. As the infected moved into the light, I made out the now-ravaged remnants of a human face. I heard
it as it threw back its head and howled. I’d already killed two infected, but this was different. The first had been an accident and, with the second, I’d reacted instinctively. Now I had time to think and as I did so I could feel my hands start to shake. I did my best to remember that the infected weren’t human any more, that they weren’t really people. I thought about what they would do to Bill, to all of us, if I gave them the chance. I felt my hands calm and I knew it was time. The training, the natural fluency I’d felt when I’d first learned to fire a gun, all came flooding back. I lined up the shot, squeezed the trigger and saw its head explode.

On hearing the gun, Bill paused and looked up at me. I could see he knew what it meant. He redoubled his efforts and the boat inched agonisingly slowly away from the sandbar. I steadied myself and scanned across to the island. Another infected emerged from the darkness, mouth open, screaming, running towards us. I pulled the trigger and missed. A second shot and I winged it. It slowed but only momentarily. A third shot and I brought
it down but didn’t kill it. By this time another two had joined it on the sandbar. I took aim more carefully and despatched both of them. The injured one was now slowly dragging itself over the sand towards us, still making the same awful sounds. At the speed it was going it posed no immediate threat so I left it there.

I looked back to the island and froze. There were now so many shadowy figures on the shore that all I could see was a seething mass pulsating in the darkness, and more were appearing out of the bush with every passing second. All the noise we were making was attracting infected from across the island. The only reason we hadn’t noticed this before was that it took them time to get to us. I wondered again where they had all come from.

I heard splashing in the darkness. Looking round, I could make out three shadows running through the shallow water and saw another on the sandbar. These ones were silent, concentrating all their energy on reaching us. I fired, disabling but not killing them. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to hold them off much longer.

‘Bill, you need to get back in the boat now.’ He looked up but kept pushing. ‘Come on, we’re pretty much off. The engine will be able to take it from here.’

‘Not quickly enough.’

‘I can’t hold them off much longer.’

Bill ignored me and gave one last heave. I could see his face turn red as he strained and then I felt the hull finally break free. I saw the look of relief on Bill’s face and then it turned to fear. Jon hadn’t realised we were off and the engine was still running full in reverse. The boat leapt away from Bill before he could try to get back on board. I shouted, but Jon couldn’t hear me over the sound of the revving engine. I turned back towards Bill. There were four infected closing on him and the sound of splashing in the darkness told me more would soon emerge into the light. I fired at each of them in turn, bringing three down and killing the fourth.

By now Jon had realised we were free and he was trying to bring the boat back to pick up Bill. There was a sudden judder and we were floating dead in the water some twenty feet from the sandbar and from Bill. The water was deep enough here that the infected wouldn’t be able to get to us but we couldn’t get to Bill before they did.

Bill realised something was wrong. He turned and looked at the horde of infected running towards him. The closest would be on him in seconds. I saw him decide to swim for it, but the time it took him to reach this decision was a fraction too long. Just as he started towards the water the first one attacked, pinning him to the ground. He was doing his best to fight it off but I could see he was losing. I raised the rifle and shot the infected in the body, throwing it backwards and away from Bill. He tried to scramble to his feet but before he could do so another was on him and then another.

I aimed and pulled the trigger again. The rifle clicked, the magazine was empty and I’d not brought any more of the bullets forward with me. Through the rifle’s sight I saw the fear in Bill’s eyes, but no pain, the adrenaline that would be rushing through his body must have kicked in. More infected were arriving all the time and while he was still fighting, he was never going win. I didn’t know what to do. I watched until Bill disappeared under a mass of writhing, snarling figures. The last I saw of him, he looked straight at me, pleading with me to do something, but there was nothing I could do.

I walked slowly back to the cockpit to find out what had gone wrong, the gun held loosely in the crook of my arm. As I did so, I glanced back and saw a squabbling mass of infected where Bill’s body lay in the pool of light still being thrown onto the beach from the front of the boat. Those that couldn’t get to Bill were prowling the water’s edge, searching the darkness, trying to locate the rest of us. I turned my attention back to the cockpit. CJ and Jimmy were looking over the transom while Mike shone a torch into the water. Suddenly Jon appeared, climbing up the dive ladder, a knife in his hand. He looked surprised to see me standing there.

‘Anchor rope got caught in the propeller. When we broke free, we couldn’t get it in fast enough and it got tangled. Where’s Bill?’

At this the others turned, aware of my presence for the first time.

‘He’s still on the sandbar.’

‘We need to get back, pick him up. Get the engine started.’ At Jon’s order, Mike turned the ignition. The others were leaping into action but all I could do was stand there.

‘I can’t see him. Oh my god. They’re everywhere. Why aren’t you shooting them?’ CJ had run forward and was searching the still illuminated shoreline, ‘Where’s Bill? Is he in the water?’

‘Bill’s dead. They got him.’ My voice sounded distant, almost as if I was listening to someone else speak.

‘Fuck!’ Jon pounded his fists onto the wheel.

‘Oh god,’ CJ was close to tears. ‘How could you let that happen? You were meant to be protecting him.’

‘I ran out of bullets.’

‘I knew you couldn’t handle it,’ Jimmy’s voice dripped with disdain. ‘I should’ve come up front with you.’