Chapter 38: Standoff: Part II
"They sure are taking a while to find a pair of medical tweezers," Louis chuckled absently. "I feel bad for giving them so much trouble."
Bill, on the other hand, was frowning deeply. It had been ten minutes. Something was wrong. He could feel it. "Take the controls," he said to Louis, going over to the back wall of the cabin and picking up his pistol. "I'm going to find what is going on – "
At that moment, a hoarse shout from outside on the deck caught everyone's attention. "We have your friend! Come out with your hands up!"
"Aw, balls," Francis muttered, looking behind them. "I knew there was something about those two I didn't like."
Louis immediately eased off the throttle, bringing the fishing vessel to a drifting stop in the middle of the river. The three of them grabbed their weapons and rushed out to the deck to find Zoey and their 'rescuers' standing near the edge of the boat.
Zoey's hands were tied behind her back, and John was roughly pushing her along the deck. As soon as he saw the others emerge from the superstructure, he pulled her back and pressed a pistol to her temple. Her eyes widened with fear. Amanda aimed her pistol at Bill, while he, Louis and Francis pointed their guns at the couple.
"Don't move!" John yelled at them. "Drop your weapons! Now!"
They froze where they stood. After everything they had been through, they now had to deal with this?
Bill narrowed his eyes at the sight of Zoey being held hostage. "Let her go."
John bit his lip nervously. "I don't want to do this. No one has to get hurt. Just lower your guns, and put them down on the deck."
Francis sneered at him. "That's what this is all about, huh? You're in desperate need of weapons, so you crafted this little hustle? Get us on board, wait until one of us is alone, and then take them hostage?"
"Just do as he says," Amanda replied evenly.
"I don't think so. We have the superior firepower here. And you're outnumbered. You two don't stand a chance."
"That's true," John replied, pressing the muzzle of his pistol harder against Zoey's head. "But if you try anything, I will kill her."
The tense standoff continued for a few more moments, with people on both sides exchanging nervous glances with each other more than once. Fingers were tensed on triggers.
Zoey's ragged breath hitched in her throat. She could not believe they had trusted these people.
Finally, Bill scowled and threw his guns and knife to the deck at John, Amanda and Zoey's feet.
John motioned with a wave of his gun. "The rest of you. All of your weapons. All of them!"
Francis gripped his shotgun tighter, but Bill shot him a stern look.
"Do as he says."
The stocky biker blanched. "But – "
"Do as he says!"
He and Louis slowly and reluctantly took out their various firearms and knives and placed them on the deck. John roughly pulled Zoey toward the edge of the boat by the crook of her arm, while Amanda kept her pistol trained on Bill.
The war veteran never took his eyes off John. "A word of advice for you two. Never stop running."
"Oh, I'm scared," he sneered. "It's the end of the world, mate. We've got enough problems. Just who the hell are you meant to be to stack up to that?"
"I'll tell you who I am," the old man said, his voice low and dangerous. "I'm the guy you never want to run into again. Because the next time you see me, I'll be there to kill you."
A brief hint of fear flickered across John's face. Suddenly, Francis used the momentary distraction and leapt into action, drawing a pistol he had managed to keep hidden. He pointed it at John –
BANG!
The biker cried out and recoiled as a bullet from Amanda's pistol slammed into him. The force from the impact sent him toppling over the railing of the boat and into the water.
"Francis!" Louis yelled. He looked back to see Amanda realigning her aim at him. "Oh, shit..."
He ran for his life to the edge of the boat and dove overboard as Amanda began firing at him. John looked back to see that Bill had taken advantage of the commotion and was running straight at him. He panicked and did the only thing he could think of.
He threw Zoey overboard. She cried out as she vanished into the dark waves.
John looked back up, expecting to find Bill about to unleash a world of hurt upon him. However, he was relieved to see that the older man readjusted his course and dove into the water after Zoey. With the threat from the other four survivors gone, John surveyed the pile of the guns that they had secured, and found himself questioning what they had come to.
"Go! Go! Go!" Amanda cried, breaking him out of his reverie.
He ran into the superstructure to the control panel and pushed forward on the throttle. The fishing vessel motored off and disappeared into the night.
Zoey thrashed about in the dark, icy water, terrified out of her mind. She struggled to stay afloat, but with her hands tied behind her back, all she could do was kick with her legs.
"Someone, help! I can't paddle – " Her panicked cries for help were cut off as she inadvertently swallowed a mouthful of water. She resurfaced, coughing and spluttering.
Zoey had heard that drowning was one of the most horrific deaths imaginable. With the outbreak of the Green Flu, she had expected to meet her end by various terrible means. Drowning had never occurred to her.
Her strength soon gave out, and she sank below the surface toward the blackness.
The young woman realised that she could see light filtering through the surface of the water above her as dawn approached. The rays scattered and broke through the water in a dispersion of different colours. She was thankful to at least have the privilege of witnessing such a beautiful sight as her last view. Others were not so lucky.
Spots were beginning to appear in her vision from lack of oxygen, and her world darkened as she began to lose consciousness.
I'm coming home, Mum...
In the back of her mind, Zoey thought that she could feel hands grabbing her and pulling her upward. Perhaps it was an angel...?
Bill grasped Zoey with all his strength and swam upward. He broke the surface with a loud, agonized scream.
"I've got you, Zoey, I've got you," he babbled, shivering with the cold.
He held onto her, bobbing about in the water for several moments. When she did not respond, he feared the worst. He looked around desperately and saw that he was floating near the west bank of the river.
At least those bastards had the common courtesy to kick us out and leave us to die near the shore.
Several minutes later, Bill emerged from the water, carrying Zoey in his arms. He laid her down on the gravelly sand and examined her face in the scarce light as the sun approached on the horizon. Her eyes were closed, and her lips looked slightly blue. Hypothermia and water in her lungs. Great, just great.
"D-D-Don't you give up on me now..." he whispered desperately, his teeth chattering from the cold.
He placed his hands on Zoey's chest and pumped. The desperate CPR session on the dark beach would have looked pitiful to anyone passing by. A full minute passed, but Zoey did not stir.
"Damn it, Zoey!" Bill shouted, tears in his eyes. "Don't you dare die on me!"
Two minutes passed, but she still did not stir.
"I promised myself that I w-w-wouldn't let anything happen to you!" the normally hardened man heaved, as he continued to pump her chest. "You have to survive, Zoey! Remember the p-promise that you made back in M-Mercy Hospital, to Joe and Roger, and Trev and Andy!"
He pressed on with the CPR, stopping to pound Zoey's chest occasionally. He did not care about the fact that he was bitterly cold and wet; that Francis and Louis were both missing; that they were all stranded in the cold, dark dawn in the middle of nowhere, with no supplies and no weapons. The Infected could all go straight to hell. Bill would have continued to administer CPR to Zoey all night if he had to.
Suddenly, her green eyes shot open as she coughed up water. She struggled to sit up, coughing and spluttering. Bill sighed with relief and helped her to sit up.
Zoey gasped for a few moments as she regained her breath, and then she looked at him gratefully. "Th-Th-Thank you..."
"Don't mention it, k-kid," he said, his face crinkling slightly as he smiled.
He pulled Zoey to her feet and embraced her in a crushing hug. She closed her eyes and rested her chin on the old man's shoulder, shivering. She was bitterly cold, wet and dripping. But wow, she was alive!
The two of them stood like this for a while, listening to the soft crash of the river waves on the beach. Presently, Bill let go of her and then bent over, seemingly searching for something in the sand. "Let's see if we can do something about that cable-tie..."
Zoey shivered as she looked around, surveying the beach. "Where are L-Louis and Francis?"
"I don't know," Bill sighed. He stood up a moment later holding a jagged-looking rock. "Turn around," he ordered.
Zoey turned her back toward him and he started scraping the edges of the rock against the cable-tie binding her wrists. After a while, she felt the tough plastic bond break.
"Ahhh, thanks," she sighed, bringing her hands back in front of her and rubbing her wrists. She looked around some more, wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," Bill said. He looked at her solemnly. "Kid, we've been left for dead."