The Liger Plague (Book 1) (35 page)

“You believe me, don’t you, Versa?”

“More like I don’t trust our government as far as I can throw them. They lie like thieves and’ll do just about anything to cover their asses. So you may well be innocent, Colonel. Time will tell.”

“I suppose that’s the nicest thing you’ve said about me in the last few days.”

“Don’t start getting all icky on me now. I’m only helping you so you can find the person responsible for destroying my island. Come on, Colonel, we better get moving before those Seals get here.”

Tag stared down at his sleeping wife and daughter before following Versa out to the garage. Looking up, he saw a star-studded sky. He couldn’t have asked for a better night to try to row off this island, but once out in open water, he’d have no idea where to go or how he’d survive. Casco Bay was uncharted territory. He’d have to reach one of the deserted islands and build a shelter and fish for food at night until the time came when he could safely row back to the mainland. He’d take his backpack, some string and a fishing pole, and whatever else he could find in the garage that might help him stay alive.

They made their way out of the house and walked down the fenced-in path until they reached the front gate. He looked around but couldn’t see any of the diseased in sight. Versa opened the gate and swung the door inward, and the two of them walked toward the garage. The fine mist of the ocean gently sprayed his face. Although every inch of his body ached, he limped behind her. The waves crashed intermittently against the rocks, giving him the rhythm of time and place. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the lights of a Coast Guard boat cruising toward the eastern end of the island.

A lone poxer wandered out of the woods and approached the garage. Hesitant to fire his gun for fear of alerting the others, he pulled out his knife and crept over to it. The poxer raised his arms and screamed. Saying a quick prayer for forgiveness, Tag stabbed it through the temple. The poxer’s brain fluid sprayed out on the beach as it collapsed to the sand, its body jerking in spasmodic fits. He pulled out the knife and limped over to the ocean, washing the infected blood off the blade, the handle and his hands.

Versa tiptoed across the sand until she reached the building’s side door. They entered the garage and peered into the darkness. The hum of the generator flowed in his ears. Versa flashed the beam over at the two rafts so that he could see them. They would need to open the garage’s main door and drag the rafts over to the water’s edge. The raft with the outboard motor rested on four lobster traps positioned two feet off the concrete floor. He stumbled past the assortment of traps, tools and oily engines scattered across the concrete floor and quietly lifted the garage door. It went up easily on greased wheels. The driveway ran parallel to the beach, allowing a vehicle to easily turn off the dirt road and pull into it.

Versa moved to the front of the boat and waited for him to lift up the back end supporting the outboard motor. He hoisted the raft by the thread of string running through the plastic rings encircling the boat, and moved out. The raft felt a lot lighter than expected, especially considering the extent of his injuries. They shuffled out of the garage and toward the dock attached to the house, taking small steps in the sand. The dock sat positioned above a small cove of relatively calm water. To the left sat the large, barnacle-encrusted rocks that jutted out into the harbor and provided a modicum of respite from the capricious ocean moods. The closer they got to the restricted cove, the more of the salty foam he could feel spraying over his face.

The passing beam of the headlight flashed over them, instantly causing him and Versa to freeze. Once it passed, they resumed lugging the raft toward the dock. Versa dropped the front end in the shallow water, and he continued to push the back end out over the sand. Once he dropped the outboard in the cove, he scooped out the line and attached it to one of the posts, securing the raft in place. Then he returned to the garage, soaked to his knees, and tossed the two oars into the second raft before dragging it out and setting it on the sand behind the first one.

“It’s time, Colonel. Best go get your wife and daughter so we can take off before them Coasties come around.”

Tag turned to go back inside but saw two poxers stumbling toward him. He pulled out his knife and quickly put them out of their misery. It troubled him that he was easily becoming numb to killing these diseased people, but what other choice did he have? It wasn’t like he was purposefully setting out to massacre them like Reverend Roberts planned to do. He killed in self-defense, out of necessity and to protect his family.

Finding them still asleep on the couch, he helped Monica and Taylor to their feet, making sure to keep the blankets wrapped around them. Rather than escort her down the walkway, he picked up Monica and carried her through the gate, gently setting her down in the front of the raft. Then he went back inside and carried Taylor out as well, setting her down behind her mom and providing just enough room for Versa to maneuver the outboard. The two women sat back against the bottom of the boat, exhausted. He draped another blanket over their bodies despite the fact that it was still summer. It could get very cold along the coast, especially at night when the ocean breezes blew in. Versa wore a baseball cap and grimy blue windbreaker she’d found in one of Cooper’s closets. Once they were all settled in, Versa sat on the bench, positioning herself in front of the outboard motor.

“Wait until I get picked up before you head out. Then start paddling like crazy out to one of them small islands with no people on it.”

“Thanks so much for all of your help, Versa. And please take care of my family.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll take care of your family fine.”

Tag waded into the water and gave Monica and Taylor a hug goodbye. They stared up at him painfully, unable to articulate their thoughts into words because of their illness.

“I love you so much, hon. We’ll be together soon. I promise.” He kissed Monica and moved over to his daughter. “I love you, baby. Please take care until we see each other again.”

“We don’t have all day, Colonel.”

“I’m done here. Take care of yourself, Versa.”

“Break a leg, Colonel,” she said, pulling the cord. The outboard motor started right up. “And don’t even think about giving me a hug.”

“I’ve already learned my lesson.”

“See you on the other side. Good luck proving your innocence.”

She steered the boat out of the shallow cove and made her way toward the middle of the bay. The raft climbed over swells and in a matter of seconds disappeared into the darkness. Only the fading sound of the outboard could be heard whining above the din of waves hitting rocks, which to his ears started to sound more like explosives going off. He climbed upon the rocks and ran along the water’s edge to try to see if he could follow the raft’s path. A helicopter buzzed over the island, but it didn’t seem to notice them. Fearing he might be seen, he climbed off the slippery, seaweed-covered boulders and headed back toward the gate.

He went back inside the house and grabbed his backpack and one of Cooper’s grimy windbreakers. Moving over to the window, he stared out at the water and saw a Coast Guard cutter cruising toward Portland. If he left soon, he just might make it. He turned to head back out to the garage when he heard a phone ringing somewhere inside the house. He searched around the futon, trying to find out where the ringing was coming from. As diligently as he looked, he couldn’t locate it. He entered one of the smaller bedrooms and saw clothes, trash and various items piled high to the ceiling. It appeared that Cooper had been a serious hoarder. The ringing was coming from this room. He pushed his way past all the piles of clothes and stacks of magazines and newspapers, throwing things out of his way. The more he pushed into the room, the louder the ringing got. He stopped when he came to the closet. Tossing aside some of the packages in front, he pushed his way toward where the ringing continued to chirp.

Tag grabbed the door handle and pushed, but the pile of trash in front of the door prohibited him from opening it. He reached down and threw the trash onto the crowded bed until the door eventually swung open enough for him to look inside. The ringing got louder. The closet space was dark, and he could barely see inside. He reached up and pulled the chain, and the room lit up. What he saw shocked him. The cell phone was on the floor next to Cooper, who sat bound and gagged and staring at him with a crazed expression. Tag squeezed into the closet, squatted down, and ripped the tape off the man’s mouth. He picked up the phone and answered it, but the line instantly went dead. He’d been purposefully led here to find the old man. So why had Versa lied to him? Had Cooper balked at her plan of taking both rafts?

“Are you all right?” Tag asked, cutting loose his hands.

“I’m fine. No need to make a fuss over me,” Cooper said.

“What the hell happened?”

“I have no idea. All I know is that I woke up inside this damn closet with my hands bound, my mouth taped and my damn head hurting.”

“Versa said that some poxers killed you as you were heading out toward the garage.”

“Obviously not, as you can see that I’m still alive and kicking. That damned woman must have done this,” Cooper said, pulling himself up and out of the closet.

“Did you two have an argument?”

“Why in the world would I have a jaw-down with that obnoxious woman?” he said, straightening himself out. “We kept the doors locked and all the lights off. No one else could have possibly entered this house. It had to have been her. Those two girls were passed out the last time I looked in on them. There’s no way they could’ve mustered the strength to overcome someone like me. Hell, they could barely stand, and I’m well over two hundred and fifty pounds.”

“Which leaves only Versa.”

“Why would that dumb bitch do such a stupid thing?”

A bad feeling started to come over Tag as he thought about all the small coincidences that had happened over the last few days. Could she have been the one responsible for releasing this plague? The idea sounded so ridiculous that for a second he found the notion crazy. Who else could have disabled Cooper and tied him up in this closet, and then placed a cell phone next to him? She’d clearly lied about it, and she’d known his every move on the island. And what about the fact that she refused to wear a face mask and miraculously still had not come down with the pox?

By the time he looked up, Cooper had left the room. He sprinted past the piled-high trash, hitting his shin on one of the legs of the bed frame, causing him to collapse into a pile of garbage. He cursed at his clumsiness and limped out into the living room. As soon as he entered it, he saw Cooper sitting in front of the small TV and watching the live coverage of this event, which was now being billed as ‘The Liger Plague.’ The sweeping flash of radiance from the harbor lighthouse swept through the room and briefly illuminated everything inside it. Tag suddenly remembered that he was supposed to begin rowing off the island. Or had even that plan been a trap as well? Peering through the front door, he saw a couple of poxers making their way out of the woods and down to the water’s edge. The thought of his family out there with that imposter scared the shit out of him.

“These sick bastards are moving again,” Cooper said, shaking his head.

“What’s going on?”

“Those Navy Seals have landed and have already started rounding up the infected. The government’s releasing some early footage of the siege on Cooke’s.”

“Jesus! We have to get off this island before they get here, Cooper. If we don’t leave right now, they’re going to throw me in jail for life.”

“I’ve got some rafts in the garage you can take.”

“Versa and I already pulled them out and placed them on the beach. She’s taken my wife and kid on the raft with the outboard motor and is now heading toward the mainland as we speak.”

“You better hope that miserable bitch is heading there,” he said. “Because them Coasties will grab her before she gets very far.”

“That was the plan. She was trying to create a diversion so I could row out to one of the smaller islands and escape detection. Still, I don’t get it. If she was the one who cracked you over the head, then why is she trying to help me?”

“I don’t know nothing about nothing anymore, Colonel. It’s too late for me to survive this hell, so you better get a move on if you’re going to make it. Come on, I’ll help you get off this island before them Seals get here.” He picked up his rifle and started for the door.

“Help me get off the island? Hell, Cooper, I’m fully expecting you to come with me.”

“I’m a bitter old codger who’s lived here forever. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving this place. I was born on this mean spit of land, Colonel, and I’ll die on it when the time comes.”

“Don’t be such a fool, Cooper. You got a lot of years left in you.”

“Fool? This has been my home for sixty-nine years, Colonel, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to live out my life anyplace else. Rather die here than do that. My father grew up here and so did his father and his father before that. Whole line of Coopers lived here going way back. So if it ends with me, then so be it.”

“Sure I can’t change your mind?”

“There’s nothing you can say or do that’ll change it, so you better get going before you die next to me.”

“Thanks for all you’ve done for me and my family, Cooper. You’re a good man.”

“I’m just a man like you, Colonel. You can thank me by finding the person who done this to the island. Now be off with you.”

They headed out the front door and walked along the pathway toward the front gate. A group of poxers roamed along the edge of the woods. As soon as they heard the latch lifting, they turned and staggered toward the beach. Out in the bay the Coast Guard vessel flashed its beam along the surface of the water, alerted to the sight of the raft trying to escape. One of the crew members shouted out a series of orders over the loudspeaker, and Tag knew instantly that the raft carrying Versa and his family had been spotted.