Page 75 of Whispers and Warriors
Liam nodded solemnly. “I’ve seen those uniforms before, Captain. Long before the bombs fell. There’s no mistaking them. That little white logo of the plane always stuck with me because I didn’t understand it.”
Chris stepped forward, his mind already shifting to the practical implications of this discovery. “Captain, have you ever been attacked like this before?”
The captain met his gaze, her expression deadly serious. “No. In all my years at sea, both before and after the apocalypse, we’ve never faced an assault of this magnitude or level of coordination.”
A heavy silence fell over them. The ship, which had once seemed like an impenetrable fortress, now felt vulnerable, exposed to an enemy they had grossly underestimated.
Liam broke the silence, his voice thoughtful yet urgent. “Captain, I know it’s not my place, but I’m a navigator first and foremost. I suggest we change course. Even if it adds time to our journey, we need to find a way to replenish our supplies, especially if we’re going to be dealing with more attacks like this.”
Chris nodded in agreement, his mind already running through the potential risks and rewards of such a move. Changing course would be a gamble, but it might be their best chance of staying one step ahead of their mysterious adversary.
To his surprise, the captain didn’t immediately dismiss the idea. Instead, she considered it for a long moment, her brow furrowed in concentration. Finally, she looked up, her decision made.
“You’re right, Liam. We can’t continue on our current path, not with this new threat on the horizon. We’ll alter our course, find a way to fish for food and gather resources where we can.”
Chris and Liam exchanged a glance, both equally shocked by the captain’s agreement. It was a testament to the gravity of the situation that she was willing to deviate from her carefully laid plans.
Chris turned back to the captain, his voice solemn yet resolute. “I’m so sorry you and your crew have been caught up in this mess. But hopefully, with this change in course, you and your ship can lie low for a bit.”
He ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, before fiddling his fingers over the scar on his cheek. “It’s clear someone was watching us, tracking our movements. Thank god we took down that helicopter before it could report back our location.”
The captain nodded grimly, her shoulders sagging under the weight of the day’s events. “We’ll do our best to stay off the radar, but I fear this is only the beginning. Whoever is behind this attack, they have resources beyond anything we’ve seen since the world fell apart.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to brief my crew on the change in plans.”
As she strode away, Chris couldn’t help but admire the woman for her strength and resilience. In a world where so much had been lost, it was people like her who kept the flame of hope alive. Even if she’d failed to do so back in the states.
He turned to Liam, clapping a hand on his good shoulder. “Come on, let’s get back to the others. We have a lot of work ahead of us if we’re going to make it through this in one piece.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Emma’s feetwere nearly silent against the metal deck as she walked Ranger around the ship’s perimeter, the familiar clang of their footsteps the only sound in the eerie silence. The air reeked of bleach and death, the aftermath of the recent attack still lingering despite the crew’s efforts to deep clean the ship. The once vibrant community on board the ship now moved about with guarded steps and haunted expressions, the memories of the carnage etched into their very bones.
A week had crawled by, yet every direction she turned, her eyes were assaulted by the sight of dead bodies scattered carelessly throughout the mess hall. The horror clung to her like a relentless shadow, and though she never spoke of the relief she felt at not witnessing the devastation topside, the haunting images she did encounter were seared into her mind, never to leave, just another flawed stitch in the fabric of their journey’s blanket.
In the days that followed, life on the ship settled into a new normalcy, one where every shadow was a potential threat, and every creak of wood the harbinger of doom. The attack had left its mark on the crew and passengers alike, but with the livesthey left behind, they were able to adapt. Drills were held more frequently, security protocols tightened, and nightly debriefings became a ritual.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in a brilliant tapestry of reds and oranges, Emma stood at the ship’s railing, Ranger at her side. The sea stretched out before them, vast and unyielding, a symbol of both the dangers they had overcome and the ones that lay ahead.
“We’ll make it, won’t we, Ranger?” she whispered to her canine companion. He looked up at her with an incredible wiseness in his light eyes and his tail thumping in a familiar rhythm. “Yeah, I think so, too,” she agreed, her grip on the railing tightening. “We’ll find a way to make this new world our own.”
The seas were calm now, the salty wind whipping through the rigging the only indication of the ship’s forward momentum. The crew worked tirelessly to mend the sails and patch the hull, while those injured in the skirmish were tended to in the makeshift infirmary. Captain Novak seemed to never sleep, overseeing what repairs and recovery efforts they could do with steely determination, ensuring her people were cared for and the ship was brought back to seaworthiness.
As Emma rounded a corner, she spotted a small, trembling figure huddled in an alcove, a blanket pulled tightly around its small frame. It was a child, no older than seven or eight, that looked up at her with wide, terrified eyes. She couldn’t imagine growing up in the way the world was, that little boy was far braver than she would ever be.
Ranger tensed, and then went to spring to kiss the child but Emma gave the leash a tug.
“Hey there, it’s alright. We won’t hurt you, I promise. My name is Emma, and this is Ranger, my dog. I think I’ve seen you before with your sister, but we’ve never met.”
The child studied Emma with mistrustful eyes for a long moment before cautiously extending a shaking hand to pet Ranger’s head. Ranger gave what Emma believed to be a young girl a doggy grin, his tail thumping against the deck in a reassuring rhythm. Tentatively, the child emerged from its hiding spot, revealing a small, malnourished frame, clad in rags that were once a uniform from before the world fell.
Emma’s heart ached at the sight, but she maintained her warm demeanor. “There, that’s it. Ranger and I are here to hang out if you want. I know it’s been hard since things got scary.”
The child’s lower lip trembled, but a nod was all the response she received. Gently, Emma scooped the shivering form into her arms, Ranger walking at their heels as they made their way down to the mess hall.
Two more weeksand the world looked the exact same outside the small porthole window. An endless expanse of steel gray sea churned back and forth. Another two weeks where the memories haunted her sleep, but at least she could close her eyes while she was awake and no longer see anything but the back of her eyelids.
She hadn’t minded the extra days when the plan was explained, but she was tired of the sea.
