Page 41 of Waves of Fury

Tyler grins at me. “You should see me or Jesse when we try to pilot this thing.”

Kyle, who’s seated nearby, joins the conversation. “I don’t know where we’re going, but if I don’t see ocean water ever again, it’ll be too soon.”

Slowly, Tyler helps me to a kneeling position. He doesn’t let go of my hand, which I’m grateful for. Earlier, I might’ve been embarrassed for my employees to see me holding his hand. However, now I don’t give a damn. I need his strength too much to care about what people think.

For as far as the eye can see, ocean surrounds us. The tops of our once great city that clung to life, chin barely above water, has drowned. San Francisco is nothing but a place that once was. I’m not sure it’ll ever be home to anyone but sea life ever again.

The engine cuts off abruptly, but we continue to coast on the momentum we’d created. It doesn’t take a genius to know Aaron is probably preserving fuel. We’re not out of the woods quite yet.

Since there’s nothing to see but more water—and I’m sick of looking at it—I turn back around and sit on my ass. My side burns and I’m feeling new bruises all over from taking hits against underwater debris during our hasty escape. I scan the group of survivors crammed on the boat.

We have our original crew—me, Tyler, Hope, Elise, Gerry, Kyle, and Barb. There’re also Tyler’s brothers, Jesse and Aaron, plus another guy wearing a shirt with the same logo Aaron wears. There’s another family too. A father, a little older than me with graying hair, a mother around my age, a teenage girl, and a boy around six or seven. And, of course, our survival mascot…a Chihuahua.

So many lives were lost this weekend.

Friends, families, pets.

The loss of not only a great city but an entire population of regular people is gutting. All I can hope for is that the people who made it out of San Francisco and the other affected coastal cities make an effort to live the best life possible in honor of those who no longer can.

I tighten my grip around Tyler’s hand.

I know I’m going to do my damn best.

Tyler

Exhaustion finally steals Kellen away from me. He falls asleep sitting up and even snores audibly. I smirk as I gently guide him down to his good side, using my thigh as a pillow for him. While he sleeps, I move his arm and peel his soaked jacket, dress shirt, and undershirt away from his skin to assess his wound.

Blood pulses from the reopened gash. I locate the first aid kit and quickly clean it with the alcohol wipes. He doesn’t even flinch. Once I’ve gone through all the motions and bandaged him back up, I put away the kit in my bag and then lean back to rest.

Since we’re drifting, letting the wind push us eastward, Aaron abandons his perch at the helm to come sit near me. It’s no longer raining, but the wind is fierce. Everyone is quiet—either sleeping or staring off into space, lost to their own thoughts. Even Jesse is sleeping, curled close to the teenage girl with Pretzel between them.

“Pretzel’s not the only stray you picked up,” Aaron says, smirking at me.

It’s then I realize my fingers are stroking through Kellen’s hair. I pluck them away so I can shoot my brother the bird. God, it feels good giving each other shit again.

“You’ve got a few yourself.” I motion to the family. “They were your client?”

He nods, a pensive expression crossing over his features. “The father is Dan Kravitz. He’s a dentist. The other three are his wife, Judy, and two kids, Hailey and Silas.”

“Seems like you, Jesse, and Wayne took care of them. You’re all still alive and well.”

Aaron frowns. “It was scary as hell for a while there.” His jaw clenches. “You have no idea how difficult it was to flee the Bay Area rather than head right for it in hopes to rescue my little brother.”

Knowing he was just as worried about me makes my chest ache.

“Wayne had to physically restrain me,” Aaron admits, bitterness on his tongue. “It’s also why he has a black eye.”

My gaze drifts to where Wayne sits, head tilted back and mouth hanging open while he sleeps. His eye is bruised, but he’s a brute of a guy, so I’m sure he handled the punch just fine.

“Wasn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine from my end either,” I grunt, suppressing a shudder. “Had I not got stuck in the elevator minutes before the tsunami hit, I’d have been toast.”Like Tabby.

Aaron’s jaw works as he considers my words. His eyes water, which makes my own burn with emotion. We miraculously survived this catastrophe and somehow were reunited. Just like the last catastrophe we faced when Dad killed Mom. We’re survivors both in and out of the apocalypse.

“You were right,” Aaron admits. “You had a bad feeling and—”

“If you’d listened to me, we wouldn’t be here right now.” I pin him with a firm glare. “You’re the big brother for a reason. Your instincts matter too.”

He relaxes at my words. “To think this is the one time Jesse’s bullshit attitude actually worked in his favor. If he hadn’t been suspended from school…”

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