Tainted Grace (22 page)

Once we had all eaten, Nathan had pulled anchor and steered our boat toward
Sucia Island. We had discussed going ashore on the land mass proper, or one of its smaller outlying islands. It had been decided that we’d see what my mind picked up once we were closer. Gus and Boggs had searched high and low for supplies, looking under seat benches and in all nooks and crannies. They found ten life jackets, flares, a compass, several nautical maps, and best of all an inflatable raft with collapsible oars. The four of us would use that to get from the boat to land. There was a ladder and small swim platform off the back of the craft, making access to the raft easier.

Jane and Abbey were below deck to stay out of the cold.
I saw an island coming closer, and was told it was our new home - Sucia Island. It was smaller than I had expected. I found myself wondering if we’d be able to survive on it. The closer we got the more primitive it looked. Trees, cliffs, boulders. Raw land. It was long and from this side looked a little bit like a horseshoe.

“That’s it,” said Nathan above the purr of the engine.
“Sucia Island. I’m gonna cut the engine so Zoe can focus,” he hollered. He slowed the boat and the motor died.

“It looks so small,” said Emilie, echoing my own thoughts.

“About five hundred and fifty acres,” said Nathan. “Not quite a square mile. It has eleven satellite islands, which are much smaller. Zoe, we’re pretty close. Do you sense anything?”

I shook my head no.
“No, but I’m not sure I can pick up the whole island. And remember there’s been a few now that I haven’t sensed at all.”

“We’ll be careful,” said Gus.
“Take it in a grid pattern.”

“Be back by sundown?” Nate asked.

“That’ll be the goal. If you hear gunfire, don’t assume the worst, ok?” said Gus.

Boggs was being particularly quiet.

“Ok,” answered Nate.

“And if we happen to not be back by sundown, assume we’re hunkered down,” added Gus.

“There’s a storm coming,” I said. Everyone looked at me questioningly. “See the sky? If the sunrise is red, it usually means a storm is brewing.”

“Who told you that?” asked Emilie.

“My dad. He was always right, too.”

“The pressure in the air does feel different,” said Nathan.

“Ok, let’s get this show on the road,” said Boggs.

“The raft is self-inflating.
Once it’s ready, we need to keep a rope tied to it for securing to the back of this beauty we’re on,” instructed Gus, who was already laying the rubber raft out and over the edge of the boat. Nathan handed him a length of nautical rope, which Gus tied expertly to a rubber cleat. I watched as he pulled a cord, and the raft puffed up and took its intended form. Gus let it drop down to the water, and then guided it to the rear platform by pulling on the rope.

“Ok, you all ready?” asked Gus.

We all nodded.

“You guys sure you want me to stay here?” asked Nathan.

“I think so, buddy,” said Gus. “Take care of the girls. Have dinner ready.” He smirked.

“Ok, Zoe, Emilie, you have your guns cleaned and loaded? Two each.”

“Aye aye captain,” joked Em.

Boggs, you good with wearing the backpack with extra ammo?” asked Gus.

“You bet.”

“Ok.
Boggs, you want to climb in first? I’ll hand you the weapons, ammo, and help the girls into the raft. Girls, once you’re in stay low so we don’t tip. You can sit on the inflated tubes that run side to side,” instructed Gus. “Boggs, you and I should sit on the back bar and do the rowing.”

“Alrighty,” said Boggs as he climbed down to the swim platform and into the raft.

Nathan handed down supplies, which Gus handed to Boggs. “Ok girls, let’s go,” he said.

Em stepped forward first, climbing down the awkward ladder and joining Gus on the swim platform.
He held her hand in his as she swung a leg into the raft, and Boggs had his hand outstretched to help her the rest of the way in. Gus held a hand out to me next. I set my hand in his and our eyes caught for a brief moment. He squeezed my hand with his, gently, as I stepped into the raft. Emilie was situating herself on the inflatable bench up front, and Boggs held a hand to me. I took it, reluctant to let go of Gus’. I let go of both as I got down onto my knees and scooted forward, situating myself beside Emilie.

“Hey, Sea Sister,” she whispered as she smiled at me.
“You scared?”

“Terrified.”

“We’ll be ok, Zoe. We’ve come this far.” Em leaned her head against my shoulder.

“Em,” I whispered.

“Huh?”

“Your head kind of stinks.”

She chuckled under her breath and proceeded to nuzzle the side of her head against me. “I think we all stink, Zoe.”

I felt the raft give a slight lurch as Nathan kicked us off.
Gus and Boggs each held one of the collapsible oars. The sound of them rhythmically lapping at the water was soothing in a way. Aside from rowing, it was quiet all around us. As we got closer to the beach, a knot was forming in my stomach. My head was still clear of intrusions, but I knew my ‘abilities’ weren’t a hundred percent. The closer we got, the larger the island looked and the calmer the water surrounding us became.

“We’re almost there,” said Boggs.
“We’ll beach the raft to the left, where it looks smoother.” Beaches in Puget Sound are rugged, the sand dark and coarse. “Be ready to hop out the front, and we’ll hand the weapons out.”

“I’ll pull the raft up past the tide line,” offered Gus.
“Zoe, does it feel clear here?”

“
Yeah.”

“Be on guard anyway,” he said.

The raft bounced across some rocks close to the surface then came to a stop once it hit the sand.

“Ok girls,” said Gus.
“Try not to get your feet wet.”

Emilie and I helped each other from the raft and onto the wet sand of the beach.
Waves lapped lightly around us, a small bit of sea foam making an irregular line where the tide was receding. Clumps of dark green seaweed were scattered about and a small crab skittered sideways, headed back into the water.

Emilie was reaching back to grab equipment, and the two of us made a chain of sorts.
She’d hand it to me and I carried it farther in to shore. Boggs joined us to keep guard with one of the shotguns. He walked the edge of the beach, looking into the woods. My mind was still clear, aside from my own deep thoughts.

“Em, mind helping me with the raft?” asked Gus.

Emilie took the opportunity to help with great enthusiasm. She skipped to Gus’ side, ready for instructions.

“Grab the rope, darlin’?
Help me pull it up onto the beach.”

“Sure.”

I left them to their job, and walked toward Boggs. I kept a pistol in hand.

“Anything seem off?” I asked quietly.

Boggs looked over at me and shook his head ‘no.’ “It almost seems too quiet, if you know what I mean.”

“Almost too good to be true.”

“That’s a good way to put it.”

Footsteps behind us caused us to turn.

“Hey, kids,” said Gus. “Let’s get going, huh?

“
Yeah,” said Boggs, who had his eyes back on the tree line.”

“Everything ok, brother?” asked Gus.

“Not sure. Listen close.”

“What am I listening for?” asked Gus.

“I thought I heard a clicking in the distance.”

“Maybe a woodpecker?”

Boggs punched Gus on the shoulder with his fist, just hard enough to let him know to be serious. “Shut up and listen.”

We all grew quiet.
There it was, from two different directions. A clicking, one low and one higher pitched. The hairs on my arms stood on end. My mind was clear, but my gut was telling me we were in deep shit. We stood close to each other, and I could sense the tension from the others. It was an instinctual reaction for all of us, of that I was sure. I scoured my brain, searching for clues that would tell me just what the source of this horrible feeling was. The clicking seemed purposeful, almost a language. My mind came up with nothing, other than ‘danger.’ It was impossible to tell just where the clicks came from, and now it sounded like there were three distinct sets. True to my ears, I saw Gus hold up three fingers, and then point to three different areas he suspected they were coming from. I looked to Boggs, who had his attention split between Gus and the woods. I saw him motion acknowledgement with repeating the ‘three’ symbol.

“Zoe, talk to us,” ordered Gus in a low tone.

“It feels like pure evil,” I said quietly. “But my mind is still blank. I have no doubt it’s the dead, though.”

“I feel it too,” echoed Emilie.

A succession of several guttural clicks sounded, closer this time.

“Do you think they’re trying to lure us in?
To the woods?” I asked. My voice sounded shaky.

“Possibly,” said Gus.

I was the first to see it, out of the corner of my eye. It was on the far end of the beach, slithering from behind a large piece of driftwood. It was almost snakelike. I turned my body to face it, my movement causing the others to turn. The hideous thing on the beach hissed at us. It appeared almost human, but the position of its arms was alien to me. Its shoulders were bent backward, elbows aimed upward, palms with its fingers pointed behind it. Joints weren’t meant to twist like that. Its chest was off the ground, bared breasts threatening to scrape the sand. The creature was naked, its pelvis dragging behind it. I had to do a double take as I noticed what almost looked like a tail trailing behind.

“Boggs, focus on the tree line.
You too, Em. Zoe, you’re closest. Shoot it. Now. It’s trying to distract us.”

I raised my pistol obediently, aimed at the thing’s head, and fired.
As the shot from my gun rang out, the creature fell onto its face and was still. The woods went quiet for several long moments. I looked beyond the fallen monstrosity to the woods, and carefully stepped forward. I didn’t dare get within reach of it, in case it was still dangerous. I skirted around to look at it from the side and saw that it was actually trailing the remains of its own legs. Both limbs had been stripped of flesh, its feet were long ago removed, and all that remained were chunks of muscle, tendon, and ligaments from hips to below the knees. The tissues were bleached grays and tans, like a turkey neck that had been boiled for far too long. A piece of shiny, deep green sea grass was wrapped around its thigh and stood out in stark contrast with the faded coloring of the monster.

I looked up and stepped back at the same time that the clicking began again.
The highest pitched set of noises sounded like it was straight in front of me. I looked up, my gun aimed at the sand, and watched. It was there, crouched by some low growing bushes, still as can be. It was actually camouflaged, its pale skin covered in what appeared to be mud. Fronds from ferns were in front of it, making the effect particularly astonishing. It was capable of hiding, obviously in more than one way. My mind was still void. I whistled, long and low. The thing in the bushes responded with a new set of four clicks. I heard another set of clicks to my left. I could tell it was dead from its clouded over eyes. I raised my pistol, aimed, and fired. A shriek sounded to my right as the cammo-zombie fell forward. I turned to the new sound, and was thrown off guard when a similarly camouflaged creature was running at me full speed. I tried to cock my pistol, which jammed. I found myself suddenly on my back, the Runner sitting upon me. Through wide eyes, I watched it open its mouth unnaturally wide in a snarl that made me go cold to my core. The creature’s mouth was rotten. I saw only a shredded stub of a tongue, darkened and broken teeth, and maggots feeding on what looked like a piece of flesh that was stuck halfway down its throat. Its eyes were sunken and wrinkled. It appeared as if the top layer of the eyeball had sloughed off, leaving sickening ulcerated black pools as irises.

“Zoe, stay flat!” I heard Gus scream.

Suddenly I knew what I had to do. I reached up with my hands and pushed on the chest of the creature to lift its head high. My hands broke through its ribcage, landing on the rotten flesh within. It was cold and damp and reeked of Hell itself. I wanted to vomit. I made no progress with lifting it up for someone to shoot. My hands had come to rest on its shoulder blades, allowing me to just barely keep its snapping jaws from reaching my face. I forced myself to take a deep breath, shifted my hands to find its collar bones, and pushed harder. I got angry. Angry enough to move the corpse a couple of inches higher off of me. At long last, a shot was fired and the creature fell limp on top of me.

Within moments, the rotten body was rolled off of me.
I was helped up, and then the others stepped away from me. I looked down at myself and saw that I was covered in gore. Whether it was old blood, cavity fluid, rotten muscle…I had no way of knowing for sure.

“Stay back, Boggs,” said Gus.
“We have to make sure she’s ok.”