January 16, 2013

• +-XZA-+ The Boat

  ~Tales of Tokyo~

  Part One: OutBreak

  Part Two: Hack & Slacker

  Part Three: Hi I’m Jamie

  Part Four: Follow The Rules

  Part Five: For Reals

  ~Pony Tales~

  Part One: Note From Mom

  ~Fallen Saint~

  Part One: Dans Last Post
  

  Part Two: The Beginning of The End

  Part Three: The Fallen Saint

  Part Four: Garbage of The Dead

  Part Five: The Bell

  ---

  Part Six: Dead Men Tell No Tales

  They camped out in the relative safety of the container for the rest of the night and at the first pale light of dawn jumped down into the prow of the boat.

  It seemed to have been the last hope of some other survivors and was well stocked with both fuel and some extra supplies. For a moment both Bede and Margo half expected the owners to come running from across the dock, but once they searched the lower deck they discovered what had happened.

   

  Within the hold a large supply room had been setup, strewn across the floor were cans of food, guns, ammunition and four bodies. One a young woman was slumped by the wall a bullet hole in her head, she lay as she had fallen her right hand pressed over a dark red bite mark on her wrist.

   

  In front of her was a man crumpled to the ground over her legs, his torso was scattered with bullet holes from a shotgun that lay on the body of the third corpse, an older woman who had been thrown back against the bulk head by the impact of the mans hand gun.

   

  The final body was sat in the corner a pistol still hooked loosely in his right hand where it had fallen when he fired it through the top of his own head.

   

  They stared at the scene for a few silent minuets, before Margo turned and walked out without saying a word. Bede dropped to his haunches and looked around the hold.

  “Not yet” He said clenching his jaw and standing, he paused again for a moment looking over at the young man slumped in the corner, ‘Not yet’ he thought and stooped to grab the legs of the older woman.

   

   

  The trip south was surprisingly quiet and easy, they stayed away from the coast but never too far for fear of bad weather. The boat was easy to handle and the food was plentiful, they didn’t talk much for the first day or two finding it hard to shake the experience of the city, but eventually as the miles slipped by they relaxed and discussed the next step.

   

  “I just don’t think it’s worth it, you saw how bad Edinburgh was, and now you want to go to London?” Margo said rubbing her face with her hands then crossing her arms hugging her self tightly.

  “I know, I know it sounds crazy to me too…but I made a promise” Bede rested his head back against the bulk head looking up at the soft orange light of the storm lantern swinging above them.

  “I don’t think that in this situation you can really be blamed for breaking your word!” Margo said with a tone of exasperation.

  “What if I’d said that in Edinburgh?” Bede shot back lifting his head off the wall and staring into Margos eyes. “I almost didn’t come for you, you know…when I saw how bad it was” He added.

   

  Margo sighed “Aye but when you did you almost got killed” She said resting her head in her hands and speaking towards the table.

  “Yeah I know” Bede gazed into the middle distance as he recalled the glorious shower of broken glass that had heralded Margos approach in the truck that had saved his life. “Look you don’t owe me anything, we’re even as far as i’m concerned. But if we are on our own then you’re basically gambling with every second, you stumble, or get too tired and sleep unprotected, or eat something and get sick and that’s it. You’re done. But if we are together and we keep finding more people we can trust, then…then we have the odds in our favour.”

  He paused and re-focused on the top of Margos head, her pale blonde hair white gold in the orange light.

   

  “Okay” She sighed and lifted her head, looking back at him her face heavily lined with fear and tiredness.

  He got up and helped her out of her chair, holding her tight against him as they walked towards the small bunks. “It’s going to be okay Margo, the only good thing about all this is it’s made things terribly simple, all we have to do is survive. Thats it. ‘Immortal until Death’…always thought would be a good t-shirt” He chuckled as he squeezed her shoulders.

   

  As she slept Bede went back on deck for first watch, all around him the sea glinted with white grey and inky black blue, off in the distance he could make out the pale ghostly coast slowly slipping by. For as far as he could see both north and south there wasn’t a single light, nor even the distant dirty orange glow of a far off city centre, beyond the rhythmic thrumming of the boat engine and crashing waves against the hull it was as if the entire UK was silent, a quietly resting corpse waiting to be awakened.

  • 12:23 pm
  • 4 Comments