He came to his feet. “I never said I wouldn’t help you. Unfortunately, the Lady is full. I’m sorry, but I simply can’t take on any more souls. Not without risking the lives of the ones on board now.”
Tyler came to his feet as well. “Your riverboat is doing okay now, but just wait. What about the trade agreement we’d discussed? Your fish for my livestock. If Camp Fox has to go on the road, we won’t be able to tend crops or share our livestock. Hell is coming our way, Sorenson. Don’t be so na?ve to think that it’s going to bypass your boat.”
Sorenson headed to the kitchen. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.
The room sat in silence before Tyler finally sighed. “I get it. I know the strain taking on my people would add to an already full boat. I wouldn’t ask if I knew of another way.”
After taking a drink, Sorenson screwed the cap back on, turned around, and leaned against the counter. A moment later, he looked up at Tyler, then at his two men in the room. “As I told you before, I’ll help you, but I can’t take any more onto the Lady.”
Tyler frowned. “Then what can you do?”
Sorenson paced the room. “Awhile back, I came across a decent-sized towboat that’s run aground not too far from here. It’ll work better than any building would for keeping zeds out. I’d been planning to use her for overflow survivors we find. I can mark it down on a map for you.”
Hope sprang from deep within. There was a chance!
Tyler shook his head. “None of my people have any experience running a towboat, especially one big enough to support sixty-plus souls, our livestock, and food.”
“There’s no need for that. That towboat isn’t going anywhere. It’s dead in the water. It ran aground on a small island that goes underwater every spring. A few of her barges have broken off, but there’s enough still connected that should hold you through until the island floods come spring. Even then, she should still hold together for a year or two.”
I watched as Tyler thought for a long moment.
He finally nodded slowly. “It could work. We should only need it for a couple weeks. Until spring, that is, when the zeds might return.”
Sorenson pulled out a stack of papers in the top drawer and headed back to the table. He dropped a paper on the table. A map.
Sorenson opened the map and pointed at an X marked on the water. “Here’s the island you’re looking for. It isn’t far from the mainland, so you’ll have a higher risk of zeds floating ashore, especially with how tiny the island is. But it’s the best I can offer. We’ve already had to start turning away survivors. If we bring on any more, we risk the lives of the ones already on board. I can’t allow that. These people are my responsibility.”
Tyler sat down and examined the map before sliding it to me.
I looked at the small island toward the east side of the river, and not far south of a four-lane bridge. I much preferred the idea of being on the riverboat casino. From what I’d seen of the Lady Amore, they had plenty of space to take on more survivors. Hell, the boat was so large it was like a mountain on the water. The idea of being stranded on an island made me feel like a sitting duck. If any herd spotted us, there’d be no running. “So, zeds can still get to the island?” I asked after sliding the map across the table to Jase and Griz.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Sorenson said. “They can’t swim, but any that fall in the water could wash ashore easily enough. The towboat also likely had a crew of ten or twenty on her when the outbreak hit. That she ran aground isn’t a good sign. She might have been evacuated because I didn’t see any zeds on her deck. Even if she’s not empty, with enough firepower, it shouldn’t take you long to clear her out.
Tyler sighed deeply and leaned back, closing his eyes. I placed my hand over his and he gripped it.