Roxanne's Story (Book 1): Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse (35 page)

Roxanne sat down on her bunk to take her boots off, “Terry I don’t want you to be afraid of New Orleans. We won’t dock if we see Ze’s on shore. We will not be putting ourselves in unnecessary harm, nor are we stupid. If there are Ze’s on the shore we just keep going and stay on Jenny.”

“Lucky and Brandon seem to be nice men,” Terry said. “They both said goodnight from the doorway. You said they were gentlemen and I can see that. I feel safe with them around.”

Roxanne stood up and turned around to face Terry on her bunk. “The one called Lucky, he’s mine. Hands off.” Lucky heard this and clamped his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Terry sat up and protested, “I’m not interested in any man right now, Roxanne. I’ve had enough of men for a while.”

Roxanne went over to snuff out the lamp, “Just putting it out there. I’ve had trouble before and I don’t want to kill another woman because of it.” The room went into darkness as she put out the lamp. Lucky turned over and put the pillow over his head so Roxanne wouldn’t hear his chuckling.

Roxanne and Lucky looked at one another and grasped the cabinet railing behind them as Brandon raised the anchor. They had followed the same procedure and not eaten breakfast before their journey, but this time Mutt was not housed in the lower cabinet on the bridge. Roxanne had tied Mutt to a rope so short that he could not move from her hip where she had attached the end to her belt. Both Roxanne and Terry wore life jackets although Roxanne had protested saying that she had learned enough swimming to get her to shore.

It had rained the night before and the creek was swelling again which Brandon was thankful for. He had been worried all night that Jenny’s bottom would drag and break open. It wasn’t long after Brandon started Jenny when the creek narrowed and they hit faster water again. Jenny began to roll from side to side as the creek smashed against it banks and was thrown back in again. Brandon could see the first hair-pin turn coming up but Jenny’s speed was manageable this time and he was able to use the paddlewheel to help him make the turn. The rushing water gushed over the deck when he made the turn, throwing Jenny sideways but he was able to avoid the rocks.

“Woo-hoo,” Terry let out a yell. “This is like a rollercoaster ride! Nice going Brandon!”

They kept at this pace for another hour, being tossed from side to side watching the water roll over the deck at times, but Brandon was doing a good job of keeping her intact and was boosted by Terry’s admiration of the fun that he was providing her. Finally Lucky said, “Jesus, does this creek ever end? Or at least widen to a calm spot where we can stop for a while?”

“Martha only mentioned the railroad tracks as a stopping place,” Brandon shook his head without taking his eyes off the creek. “Then the two hair-pin turns on the second day. She didn’t mention a third day so I’m hoping we will only be on the creek for a short time after the last turn. Yesterday my arms were exhausted by noon and I certainly don’t want to do this until nightfall.” There was a loud scraping sound and Jenny lurched violently to the left. “Shit!” Brandon yelled and reached over to raise her paddles. “That was the hull. If I notice any change in how she handles then we’ve got a leak.”

They waited with baited breath expecting Brandon to tell them that they needed to prepare to abandon ship. Roxanne knew that she could not recognize if the boat was damaged unless one end tilted badly and did not stabilize again. She found that she was concentrating on how many times they leveled out and not on how many times Terry gave a yelp of excitement with her childish pleasure.

It seemed an eternity before Brandon said, “Last turn coming up and I need to put her paddles back down so hold on.” Brandon lowered them to the speed of docking so they wouldn’t hit bottom but he could see that it wasn’t slowing them enough to make the turn. He took a chance and dropped them lower to use as a brake. This time they were prepared to be thrown but Jenny did not jerk as hard as that first hair-pin turn of the day before. Only Mutt lost his balance and would have gone flying across the room except for the rope that kept him from sliding more than a foot from Roxanne’s feet. He decided not to get up and stayed down on his belly.

It was another hour before Brandon said, “I think I see open water ahead.” Jenny shot out of the creek like a bullet, almost going airborne and landed with a splash in calm water. She rocked from side to side, then stabilized and began to slowly paddle forward. Brandon turned around to look at the crew and everyone started laughing and patting him on the back.

But their joy was short-lived as they began to hear an occasional “thump” against Jenny’s hull. Brandon quickly looked over the bow and his face went white. “Jesus, what are those? Are those bodies?” Lucky and Roxanne ran outside the bridge to the railing and looked down immediately covering their nose from the stench. The water was the color of grey with a thick film of white matter floating on the surface. Above that was a wavering haze of fumes. They saw a few bodies around the boat and then looked up to scan the surface surrounding them where they saw hundreds of bodies, some still moving, the closer ones reaching an arm out toward them. “Oh God,” Roxanne whispered, her face going white.

Lucky turned her away and led her back to the Bridge. “We can’t stay here,” he said to Brandon. “This water is infected. We can’t live on it or fish in it. We need to move on.”

Terry began to cry, “I told you, I told you!”

“Right now we need to make sure we don’t get stuck on anything,” Brandon said. “If one of those bodies gets caught in the wheel we can’t dive under to pry it loose. Roxanne, you and Lucky get two poles and go to the bow. Use the poles to push off any body that looks like it may go under the boat. I’ll see if I can find a way through this where they aren’t so many.”

Roxanne told Mutt to stay on the Bridge with Brandon and tied a kerchief around her mouth and nose. Then she grabbed one of the hooks used to haul in fish and leaned over the rail. It was difficult on some of the zombies because they were so bloated or decomposed that the pole went through them. Roxanne kept looking up at her surroundings but could not see shore in any direction and then realized that the dead bodies were creating a foggy mist that hovered over the water. More than anything she feared infection not knowing what chemicals a zombie’s body would give off. Sometimes they had to yank the pole out of a zombie’s hand that was still alive enough to grasp it. She felt the boat turn to her left and hoped that Brandon had a better view from the Bridge.

Brandon was starting to sweat, feeling responsible for getting them into this mess. Terry continued to weep behind him but Mutt stayed at Brandon’s legs as if encouraging him. Brandon had also noticed the mist hovering above the water, making it more difficult to navigate. He frantically looked from side to side hoping to see fresher water when it appeared that there was open water on his left. As he entered that portion of the lake the mist cleared and he could make out the shoreline with a landscape of buildings. He breathed a sigh of relief and called in Lucky and Roxanne.

“We need to make plans,” Brandon said. “This portion of the lake is clearer, but not safe nor suitable. I know we haven’t eaten all day but I have lost my appetite. I know that the Inner Harbor Canal runs off the Lake and that will lead into the Mississippi but I don’t know where it is. I can cruise along the shoreline and hope that we find it today, or find a safe place where we can dock for the night and take up residence in a building somewhere.”

“Why don’t we get closer to shore first,” Lucky said “and see what the situation is. We’re too far away to see if there is zombie activity on land and we don’t know if we’ll run into more patches of mist. That was some horrible stuff we went through, possibly dangerous to our health.”

As they got closer to the shore they could see heavy zombie activity on the streets and wharves with no break in the herd to allow them to sneak on land. As they went further along the shore they could tell that someone had tried to fortify access to the lake by lining up vehicles on the street to protect the wharves. It appeared to have worked since the wharves in this section of the city did not have Ze’s on them although they were crowded behind the buses and cars.

“I could dock at one of the wharves,” Brandon said, “but it makes me nervous that a herd of Ze’s are just on the other side of those vehicles.”

“Look at all the boats though,” Lucky said. “All types of boats and not all of them were made to dock at these wharves. It looks like a gathering of some sort, prearranged to meet here.”

“Or,” Roxanne said, “because they couldn’t get off the lake anywhere else. Possibly were trapped here by the mist; couldn’t find the canal you’re talking about Brandon. Or perhaps the gates were closed to the canal.”

“I told you not to come here!” Terry wailed. “I never should have followed you. I should have gone home.”

“Shut up and listen!” Lucky hissed. “Do you hear that? It sounds like people calling. Keep on course Brandon.”

He opened the cupboard behind him and took out a rifle wrapped in plastic and Roxanne’s holster and gun that was wrapped in the same manner. Roxanne’s raised her eyebrows since she had packed these things in the raft. “It was just a feeling, Roxanne” Lucky said. “Put it on and we’ll go on deck. Bring your staff too.” The staff was one thing that she had kept with her on the bridge. “Whoever it is, I want them to think that we are fully armed and to be reckoned with.”

They went out on the bridge and saw that they were approaching a two-story casino built on a floating platform on the lake. There looked to be about thirty people on the balcony and patios all waving at them, instructing them to come their way and dock. No one had a rifle or shotgun but the balcony hid whether anyone was carrying a sidearm. There was a mixture of men, women and children and then suddenly someone shouted, “Roxanne! Roxanne!”

Roxanne was shocked to hear her name called and quickly scanned the crowd looking for anyone she should recognize. Then a figure started running down the stairs to the lower platform waving his arms and jumping up and down. “Caleb!” Roxanne screamed. Behind him Roxanne saw Morgan running, trying to catch up. Roxanne looked at Lucky who was grinning then she turned and yelled into the bridge, “Brandon! Do you see that? Can you dock? Can you dock?” she was beside herself with joy.

“I got it Roxanne,” Brandon said. “Hold your horses.” Morgan, Caleb and another man wearing a Captains hat ran to the end of a wharf and motioned for Brandon to pull in. The Ze’s behind the bus became frantic with the sight of humans and a few of the vehicles started to rock from the herd building up behind them.

The man with Morgan noticed the heavy activity and frantically waved Brandon in. “Quickly, quickly we need to get out of sight. They will calm down once they don’t see us.” He caught the rope that Lucky threw to tie off the boat. “Leave your gear here. You can come back for it tonight when they can’t see you. Say your hello’s inside. Quickly,” he said as he reached out for Roxanne’s hand and was startled when a dog appeared and jumped on the wharf behind her. “Morgan, take them in and get them settled.” He reached out for the second rope that Brandon threw to tie Jenny down.

“Don’t leave me!” Terry screamed.

“Shush Terry,” Brandon said. “We’ll go together.” Once the man had Jenny tied down Brandon took Terry’s arm and together they jumped to the wharf. The man took Terry’s other arm and they ran up the wharf to the stairs to enter the casino.

Morgan was laughing and hugging Lucky and Roxanne who had tears streaming down her face. She hugged Caleb to her, Mutt jumping all around them. “As soon as someone said there was a woman with a staff,” Morgan said, “I ran out hoping it was you but expecting to be disappointed.”

Caleb stepped away from Roxanne wiping his eyes with his sleeve, “I’m crying like a damn fool,” he said. Then Brandon walked in. Neither Morgan nor Caleb knew that Brandon was piloting the boat since he was in the shadows while inside the bridge. “Brandon!” Caleb shouted and ran to him. Morgan walked over laughing and slapped Brandon on the back, shaking his hand.

In all the confusion no one noticed that a crowd had gathered. Once Caleb ran to Brandon, Roxanne stood up to hear remarks which not only confused her but plummeted all her hopes that they had found shelter.