“Mr. Smith,” Paula said, shakily. “He was just…”
“He was just being Jack,” Steve said, pulling back the hammer. “Mr. Isham, there is no controlling legal authority, period. Now I’ve said, as soon as I can find a place to put you, I’ll move you off this boat. You can go ashore. But if I put a bullet in your head right now, who can gainsay me nay?”
“Wh…what?” Isham stuttered. “Can you just put the pistol down?”
“No,” Steve said. “That’s the problem, you see. I can’t put it down. Because I can’t trust you, Jack Isham. Because you are a revolving pain in the ass, want to be the boss and contribute nothing. Why, exactly, shouldn’t I put you over the side? You’re just consuming stores that others need and everything about you tells me you’re a threat to this boat, myself and especially my family.” He pulled the pistol back, decocked it and holstered it.
“I swear to God I won’t try to take over your boat,” Isham said. “I mean, if you’re mad about me not helping…”
“‘If it’s all volunteer, where can I get off?’” Steve quoted. “You’ve said repeatedly that you’re not interested in helping others, period. You dominate and wrest for control…”
“You’ve been talking to Chris too much,” Isham growled.
“I didn’t have to have Petty Officer Phillips’ confirmation,” Steve said. “I don’t care who or what you were before this plague. What you are, now, is a passenger on my boat. I am the captain, the chief, the boss, the head guy. And given the situation, I cannot afford or abide any threat to that authority. So, Mr. Isham, you will need to swallow your pride, swallow your sarcasm and understand that you are under discipline on this boat or I will, I assure you, put a bullet in your head and put you over the side. Do you understand.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Isham said.
“How ’bout me?” Faith said, coldly. “Cause I really, really think you’re a prick.”
Isham felt the barrel of her pistol against the back of his neck and blanched.
“Ah,” Steve said. “That you can believe I see. Now, I’m going to give you some words to say. And if you cannot say them, then Faith will pull the trigger.”
“Please let me pull the trigger,” Faith said. “I bet you dollars to donuts this guy’s hurt plenty of people in his time.”
“I…” Isham said.
“Repeat after me,” Steve said. “I, Jack Isham…”
“I… Jack Isham…”
“hereby swear…”
“Hereby swear…”
“To do my level best…”
“To do my level best…”
“to quit being a prick…”
“to quit being a prick…”
“to follow the orders of the crew…”
“to follow the orders of the crew…?”
“without the question mark, Mr. Isham and, yes, that includes the young lady with the gun to your head…to follow the orders of the crew…”
“to follow the orders of the crew…”
“of the rescue boat Tina’s Toy…”
“without backtalk…”
“or sarcasm…”
“to the best of my ability…”
“until I can get the hell away from these nutjobs…”
“So help me God.”
“You can holster, Faith,” Steve said.
“Damn,” Faith said, decocking and holstering.
“For everyone else,” Steve said. “I was a para in the Australian Army. I am a combat veteran long before this current brou-haha. I am a naturalized American citizen. Immediately prior to the plague, I was a history teacher. I actually understand these times because they have been common in history. Oh, not zombie plagues but similar situations. Once we have more than one bloody boat for people to be on, we can determine who gets the boat and who goes on it. And we’ll do that by vote. Not that you get a vote about taking this boat anywhere. But when one comes open, anyone who fears for their safety with we mad people, or who is unwilling to aid in this Great Endeavor can move to that boat. Or, as I’ve said repeatedly, when we approach shore you can take your chances. But until I’m assured that you are not going to mutiny, do not become a security threat. Do I make myself very clear? A chorus of ‘yes, captain’ would be appropriate.”
“Yes, captain,” the group said.
“Aye, aye, captain,” Chris said from the galley. He was spinning a rather large knife. “I’ve got asahi coming up if that meets with the captain’s approval?”
“Thank you, Chris, that would be superb,” Steve said. “The next boat that we come to, if there are no security threats, you’ll be clearing the EPIRB Mr. Isham. Clear?”
“Yeah, sure,” Isham said nervously.
“Clear, Captain or Aye, aye, captain,” Steve said, trying not to sigh. “There really is a reason for it. So… Try it again…”
CHAPTER 18
“Toy, this is Cooper.”
“Cooper, Tina’s Toy, over,” Sophia said.
Sophia sometimes thought about complaining that she was on the helm about fourteen hours a day. She, like, never got a break. The problem being, she knew she loved being at the helm.
They’d picked up two other boats and six more survivors. Isham, Christianson and four others that volunteered to leave had been put on one of the yachts and told they could go anywhere they wanted, don’t let the door hit you in the ass and don’t get in our way.
Chris was now running the Daniel Cooper, a 75' “flush deck trawler.” It wasn’t as cool looking at the Toy but Sophia had to admit it had more room. And it had taken less of a beating from zombies.
“Uh, Captain Chris wants you to come over here…”
“Where is here and why, over?” Sophia asked.
“There’s a big boat here. He says it’s a Shewolf job.”
“Give me your location, over,” Sophia said, trying not to snort. She was actually at fault for the nicknames. She’d been talking to Paula, at the helm as usual, and telling some stories from Da’s old days. His old para nickname of Wolfsbane had come up. That got changed to “Captain Wolf.” Then people started calling her, Sophia, “Seawolf.” So now it was “Papa Wolf” or “Captain Wolf,” “Mama Wolf,” “Seawolf” and “Shewolf.”
She took down the coordinates, then another voice crackled over the speaker.
“Seawolf, Cooper, over,” Chris said.
“Roger, Cooper,” Sophia replied.
“Need to talk to your Da, over.”
“Da,” Sophia said, keying the intercom. “Cookie’s on the horn. Says there’s a boat that’s a ‘Shewolf job.’”
“I hate you!” Faith yelled from the saloon. She was engaged in cleaning some of the guns.
“It’s not my fault your adopted,” Sophia sang out.
“I’m not adopted,” Faith said.
“She’s not adopted,” Steve said, walking onto the bridge. “Cooper, Toy actual, over.”
“Got a big job here, Toy. Forty, fifty meter tug. Zombies, plural, on deck. Lots of corridors. Not our cuppa.”
Steve had supplied Chris with some weapons to clear open boats but not something like that. Besides, he’d expressed an unwillingness to do serious clearance. “I was a chef not SBS.”
“Roger,” Steve said, thinking about it. “We’re about to clear a purb. We’ll vector after that.”
“Roger. We’re on to other clearance then?”
“Roger. Continue clearance. We’ll handle the big job.”
“Better you than I. Cooper, out.”
“Shewolf job?” Faith said. “Big job?”
“You are about to get your wish, I think,” Steve said. “Big ocean going tug. Hundred and fifty feet or so. Zombies on deck.”
“Which means zombie city,” Faith said, excitedly. “Boo-yah!”
“You’re too weird not to be adopted…”