When we reached the galley, Clutch stopped, lifted himself on his crutches, and turned to me. “You got this?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”
He started to climb the stairs to the bridge while Jase and I headed inside and down to the crew quarters. I propped my rifle against the wall, and helped Jase strip out of his gear and boots. His fingers were shaking too much to unbutton his shirt, so I took over, gently brushing his fingers away. Once he was down to just his pants and a t-shirt, I opened the utility closet near the shower and kicked on a generator hooked up to a small, tankless water heater Wes had brought on board. Within seconds, warm water came out of the shower. Jase stepped under the spray without bothering to take his pants off and stood, leaning against the stall.
I went to his bunk and sifted through his trunk for a change of clothes.
“You don’t need to stick around for me.”
“It’s okay,” I said, putting on a smile. “I’ve got nothing better to do.
He lowered his head under the spray. “To be honest, I could use some alone time,” he said after a bit.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you above deck.”
I waited for a moment before taking a step back. “Okay, but I’ll be here if you need me for anything. Anything at all.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine,” he said all too quickly with that deadpan tone.
I wasn’t surprised that he was closing himself off, but I was still disappointed. I sighed. “I’ll leave your clothes on the chair.”
With that, I set his clothes down and headed back through the crew quarters. I heard shouting and I ran up the stairs, through the galley, and onto the deck.
One of the scouts was pointing to the river. “The Lady Amore is a couple clicks to the south, heading our way!”
Tyler was running down from the bridge, followed closely by several others. Clutch, being so much slower, brought up the rear. I caught up to him quickly. “Sorenson’s here,” I said, though I knew he’d already figured that out.
“We need to be ready for a fight,” he said as he settled into his chair. “Do you have all your gear?”
I winced. “Shit. I left my rifle below decks with Jase’s stuff.”
“You might need your rifle for this one.”
Griz’s voice came over the loudspeaker from the bridge. “All scouts report to the deck. Everyone else, please go to barge Number One immediately. This is not a drill.”
“I’ll be right back,” I told Clutch and headed back to the galley, only to have Jase nearly run into me.
“You left this.” He handed me my rifle.
“Thanks.” I checked my rifle and slung it over my shoulder.
“Is it the riverboat already?”
My body shook with anger. “Yeah,” I replied, and I narrowed my eyes. “Let’s go.”
We ran to meet up with Clutch and Tyler. Griz was just coming down from the bridge. He held an extra rifle and looked around. “I guess none of you need one.”
Clutch, who already had his Blaser on his lap, grabbed it. “I’ll take a spare.”
“Do you see Tack yet?”
I jerked around at the voice to see Deb right behind me.
“You should be in the barge right now,” I said.
Deb’s lips tightened.
“Or you can stay,” I quickly added.
I turned my attention to the incoming riverboat. We were in a shallow part of the river, which meant a few zeds washed up on the island every day that we’d have to dispatch. It also meant that the Lady Amore couldn’t get very close without hitting the river bottom, which was the first perk I’d seen about being on a boat that didn’t go anywhere.
Deb’s hand flung over her mouth. “Oh, God.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Deb pointed to the riverboat. “No.”
Every pair of eyes followed.
There, on the bow of the riverboat, Tack was strung up like its figurehead. He hung limply, a dark clump of bloodied hair hinting that he couldn’t be alive.
“No, no, no,” Deb cried out and then collapsed.