So much for escaping into the Gulf of Mexico. He’d have to find another way to reach Santa Marie Island and Gillian.
Maybe he could try the roads. That had to be safer, right?
The Trident was where he last saw it, next to Song Island, with the long strip of white beaches on the other side. A small boat drifted off the stern next to the swim platform, where the beautiful people gathered to soak in the sun and take a dip when the wind moved them. At the moment, there was just Maddie’s small figure facing him, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun. He couldn’t tell if that was a smirk or a grin on her face as she watched him near.
Keo felt another pair of eyes and looked up at Blaine peering back down at him through his rifle’s optic. He lowered the M4 and waved from the rear of the upper deck, and Keo, feeling like a failed college student returning home to mom and dad, waved back.
“We figured you had something to do with all that shooting,” Maddie said when Keo sidled his boat alongside the yacht. “What happened? You ran into more old friends?”
“Not quite.”
“What happened to your arm?”
“Mosquito bite.”
“Must have been a big ass mosquito.”
“You have no idea.”
“And my boat?” she frowned. “You putting holes in my boat, Keo?”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter.” Then, “Where’s Lara?”
“Up here,” Blaine called down. “You need a doctor?”
“No, I just need to talk to her. What’s happening up there?”
“Lara’s doing what she does,” Maddie said.
“I don’t know what that means,” Keo said.
“She’s looking for a way for us to survive tonight.”
“Did the Rangers show up yet?”
“Not yet.”
“When are you expecting them?”
Maddie looked anxiously down at her watch. “I have no idea, but it shouldn’t be long now.”
Or maybe they’re already dead. That seems to happen a lot to people out there these days.
But he said instead, “Yeah, they’ll probably be here soon.” He picked up his line, said, “Heads up,” and tossed it to Maddie.
He found Lara in the captain’s cabin behind the bridge on the upper deck of the Trident, looking at a large map spread out on a table in the center of the room. Sunlight poured in through two curtainless windows, and she looked up when he knocked on the open door.
“What happened to the bridge?” Keo asked.
“We found the eighth guy,” she said. “Or, actually, he found Blaine.”
“That explains the mess.”
“Yeah.” Then, “What happened out there?”
“Soldiers. I guess they weren’t keen on me leaving.”
She looked from his face to his bandaged shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’ll live.”
“How many were there, and where?”
He walked inside and slumped down on a felt armchair. Clothes were strewn about the floor, others draped off the large queen size bed behind her. The place looked and smelled heavily lived in.
“A handful of shooters at the channel,” he said. “It doesn’t look like they want anyone leaving this place. You can assume they’ve got people on the roads, too. Maybe even technicals.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“The last thing. Technicals?”
“Machine gun-mounted vehicles. Usually trucks. I saw a couple of soldiers with machine guns back at the staging area. Along with the M4s, I’m guessing they’re flushed with weapons, probably from one of the state armories in the area.”
Lara didn’t say anything for a while. He saw that mind of hers turning again, absorbing this new information and slotting them in order of importance. It was kind of impressive to see someone who was obviously smarter than him working in real-time.
“You think the Trident’s appearance had something to do with why they’re cutting off the Gulf?” she finally asked.
“They probably heard the commotion from last night and realized there was a possibility you might take off in that direction.”
Which means if I had left when I was supposed to, I would be at Santa Marie Island right now, on the beach with Gillian.
He sighed, and added, “Of course, they probably had no idea you were going to fight to the death to keep the island.”
“I don’t have a death wish, Keo,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed with him.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m not the one with a bleeding shoulder.”
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Go let Zoe fix it up anyway. You’re no good to me bleeding to death. Flesh wound or not.”
“You assume I’ll still be here by nightfall.”
She was already looking back at the map. “Call me Captain Optimism.”
“Maybe we should get you a captain’s hat, too.”
“Go, Keo, before you bleed to death on my fancy new boat.”
He got up, but instead of leaving, he walked over to her. “Maddie says you’re looking for a way to save everyone.”
“She’s being overly dramatic.”
“So what are you doing?”
“Looking for a way to save everyone.”
He chuckled. “What’ve you come up with so far?”
He looked down at the map. It was spread out with the Gulf of Mexico and its surrounding areas, including the southern United States, with Mexico to one side and the Caribbean Islands on the other.
“Are you staying?” she asked, not looking up at him.
“It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice. At least, not today.”
“How bad is it?”
“It’s a choke point, Lara. The channel’s wide and deep enough for a large boat like this, but it’s tight enough that a half dozen men with assault rifles could make it difficult for anyone attempting to run through it.”
She didn’t respond; her mind churned silently next to him.
He nodded at the map. “So, what’re you looking for specifically? Maybe I can help.”
“Maybe you can. I’m guessing you’ve traveled more than me.”
“Other people go out of the country for vacation, but I go in country for mine. That should tell you something.”
“You’re an odd one, Keo.” Then, “I’m looking for someplace to take everyone just in case we have no choice but to abandon Song Island. God willing, we won’t need it.”
“I didn’t know you believed in God.”
“I don’t.” She hesitated, then, “At least, I didn’t use to.”
“But you do now.”
“Maybe.”
“‘Maybe’?” He smiled. “You either believe or you don’t, Lara.”
“I’ll let you know when I figure it all out. Anyway, you have any ideas?”
“When was the last time you left the States?”
“I went to Paris when I was twenty-one for summer vacation with my roommate.”
He was going to ask, “What happened to your roommate?” but of course he already knew the answer, so he kept his mouth shut about that and said instead, “You thinking about sailing this thing to Gay Paree?”
“You got any better ideas?”
He scanned the map, noticing just how close the Texas coastline was to his current location. He could easily have reached it by boat. So easily…except for those soldiers waiting to pick him off in the channel.
So close, yet so far.
He looked past the Gulf and moved into the Caribbean Sea. There was Cuba and Jamaica, and nearby, a familiar spot of land that he recognized. It was hard to forget one of the few places where he almost died.