Fight the Tide (16 page)

“Mom!
Mom
!” Jacob’s voice tore over the harbor, and Abby shook her head desperately.

Parker ripped his gaze from Abby’s and looked across the bow to see Jacob at
Bella
’s wheel some distance away, turning on the engine. He went up on his knees. “No! Stay the fuck over there! Turn it off! Don’t fucking move, Jacob!”

He obeyed, shutting off the engine. “Is my mom okay?” he shouted. “Mom?”

“I’m looking after her! Stay there!” Parker realized Jacob and Lilly couldn’t see Abby on the deck beyond the cabin’s low roof. “Don’t move!”

“Craig and Lilly…” Abby gasped for air, an awful gurgling sound in her throat, her eyes glistening as she grasped Parker’s arm.

He knew he had to get away from her in case she turned before she died, but he couldn’t fucking do it. She shoved his hand away from her thigh, letting her blood empty out faster. He clutched her fingers. “They’ll all be okay. Jacob will be okay. We’ll take care of him. I’ll tell him you love him. We’ll keep him safe.”

As her breathing hitched and sputtered, he told her the prettiest lies he could, making promises he desperately wanted to keep. Her other hand reached up to claw at her throat, and Parker wished he could give her water at least. Then he realized she was tugging at her necklace, a delicate little silver dove that was probably from Tiffany’s.

“
Jacob
,” she moaned. “My baby.”

“I’ll give it to him. I understand. It’s okay, Abby. It’s okay.”

A tremble went through her, and she shuddered with staccato gasps, more time elapsing between them until they stopped, her blood still pouring out, a warm pool around Parker’s knees.

“Mom?” Jacob cried.

Parker stared into Abby’s unseeing eyes, useless fucking tears falling from his own. “Stay there!” he choked out. “Jacob, stay there.” Parker forced his head up, assessing the threat from the remaining infected on the pier. The ones in the water had apparently drowned, or at least he fucking hoped so.

The sun still beamed down, waves lapping at the beach. His chest heaved, nausea roiling through him, bile stark and ugly in his throat. It had been a minute, maybe two. Three at the most. He’d just been standing on the pier, thinking how perfect the morning was. He’d been right there, and Abby had been smiling, and—

Wishing he could somehow fix it and knowing it was done, Parker turned back to Abby. Hand shaking, he closed her eyes and then reached behind her neck. It took at least five tries before he could unclasp the silver chain. He tucked the necklace into one of the pockets in his cargo shorts, zipping it closed carefully.

Standing, he almost stumbled, and he spread his legs to get his balance. He looked across the bow to where Jacob and Lilly trembled at
Bella
’s stern. Lilly made a high-pitched whimper that skipped across the water, and Jacob stared, his shoulders rising and falling, his lips parted.

Parker could feel Abby’s blood dripping down his legs, wet on his hands as well. Looking down, he saw he was virtually covered in it. Lilly quivered at Jacob’s side, and he slung his arm around her. They both looked unbearably young as they stared at him across the bobbing waves, and even though Parker wasn’t even nineteen, he felt so fucking old.

Shaking, he croaked, “Stay there.”

After pulling out one of the thick plastic sail covers, he wrapped Abby in it securely, the unceasing gnashing of the infected on the pier like nails on a chalkboard. Caught by the wind, Jacob’s sobs echoed with the plaintive cries of the circling gulls.

C
raig’s confused shouts
faded behind him as Adam raced toward the water. There were infected there—not many by the sounds of it, but enough. Rising above their din were sobs, and Adam couldn’t focus enough to pinpoint whose. The thudding of his own heart was deafening.

He raced down the pier, machete in hand, tearing through the creepers, his fangs extending and hair spreading. Their heads thudded down, and he skidded to a stop at the edge of the wooden planks. Parker was bleeding. He was in the other boat, and he was covered in blood. Adam roared, his claws springing out and hair thickening.

But Parker was on his feet at the wheel, backing up the boat to the pier, and he didn’t seem injured somehow. There was so much blood, and—

Through the rage jackhammering, he focused on the thing near Parker’s bloody feet. A long shape, wrapped in a tarp, surrounded by blood.
Oh God.
He glanced at
Bella
, taking in Lilly at the back, standing there gaping. Jacob was on his knees beside her, his head down.

“Adam!”

Blinking, he realized Parker was there, the boat by the pier’s ladder. There was so much blood, filling Adam’s nose with its metallic, too-sweet stench. But it wasn’t Parker’s. Relief shuddered through him, followed hotly by grief for poor Abby. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, taming the wolf, becoming human again. When he looked again, the world was a little duller. “Are you hurt?”

Parker shook his head. “She’s dead. The kids are alone over there. We have to…do things. The right things. What are we supposed to do? Fuck.” He was trembling, and Adam climbed onto the boat to take him in his arms.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

Craig approached at a run, and when he reached the end of the dock, he surveyed the scene mutely, breathing hard through his mouth. “Abby?”

“I’m so sorry.” Parker shook his head. “It happened too fast. I couldn’t—I’m sorry.”

A tremor rocked Craig, his face crumpling. “Please, God. No.” His shoulders shook, and for a horrible moment, he seemed ready to break right in half as he slammed to his knees.

Adam and Parker stood uselessly as Craig sobbed. Then he jerked up his head, staring out at
Bella.
Wiping his face roughly, he took a few deep breaths. “Okay. Let’s handle this.”

So they did.

Adam went back for their dropped supplies and the dinghy, and then they sailed the boats back out to sea, Parker still in his bloody clothes behind
Saltwater
’s wheel. Lilly wept in her father’s arms, and Jacob curled into a ball on
Bella
’s bow. Adam could hear his soft whimpers, and a howl clawed at his throat, claws and fangs pushing to be released, the wolf’s impotent fury and sorrow almost overpowering him.

He got Parker clean and into fresh clothes, not able to bear the sight of so much blood on him. Abby was still wrapped up on the red-splashed deck, and they refused to let Jacob see her, keeping the kids on
Bella
. They all gathered there, shell-shocked, both of the boats anchored.

Jacob wrapped his arms around his belly, his eyes red and puffy, but his voice surprisingly strong. “We have to bury her today. We’re not supposed to wait. I remember when my grandpa died. It’s supposed to be quick.”

Since he could hear that flies had started to buzz, Adam wasn’t going to argue. “If you want, we can bury her at sea.”

Shuddering, Jacob shook his head violently. “No. That’s not the way we’re supposed to do it. We have to do it right. Do you think it’ll make a difference that there’s no rabbi?” He dropped his head, and when he looked up again, his eyes glistened with fresh tears. “I don’t know any of the hymns. I barely learned the stuff for my bar mitzvah last year. We hardly ever went to synagogue except on holidays.” A sob burst up. “I cheated at Hebrew school. I’m sorry!”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay.” Craig took hold of Jacob’s shoulders, his voice gruff. “God will understand. I promise.”

Adam could feel Lilly’s gaze on him, and he gave her a small smile. She whipped her head away and edged closer to Craig.
Shit
. The kids had been some distance away when he’d lost control on the pier, but she’d clearly seen enough to scare her. He’d have to tell them the truth about himself, but another day.

The corner of the tarp covering Abby fluttered in the warm breeze on the other boat. The sun was lower in the afternoon sky, and sweat beaded on Adam’s neck. He wished they could google Jewish funeral rituals, but of course that wealth of information was lost now. If the world somehow recovered and the power came back on, would Facebook and websites all still be there waiting, as if they’d only been asleep?

He mentally shook his head, refocusing. He had to take care of everyone. He couldn’t space out.

In the end, he and Parker went ashore on a small spit of a peninsula. Adam ran through a forest, racing a mile before he found a shovel in a rickety storage shed. He ran back, and in a stand of trees, out of sight of the water, he powered out a grave from the earth while Parker kept watch. The others would likely be too shell-shocked to think about how quickly he’d dug, and he wanted to get Abby in the ground before too many flies buzzed.

Craig insisted on being the one to retrieve Abby’s body in the dinghy, carrying her tenderly, his jaw clenched and eyes dry. Jacob stood with his head bowed, staring at the ground. The sun was setting as they gathered around the long hole.

Jacob had remembered the rabbi giving them little black ribbons to pin on at his grandfather’s funeral, and Craig had cut slices out of a black T-shirt. There were no safety pins, so they held the little pieces of fabric. Adam tried to think of something to say. He thought of the awful day of the memorial for his parents and sisters. He hadn’t wanted to bury them in pieces after the truck had sliced them in half, and fortunately his parents’ wills had stipulated cremation.

But he’d still had to sit through a service, the church jammed full of neighbors and kids from school, their parents, teachers, and people he only vaguely recognized. His sisters had been popular at their high school. Adam’s friends had come too—rows of little boys and girls, shifting uncomfortably in their formal clothes and shiny shoes.

All those people, and Adam had been the only one left in the world who’d actually known his family. He’d been betrayed by his parents’ secrets in the end, left so horribly alone.

Parker’s hand stole into his, and Adam realized his eyes were burning with unshed tears. He tried to give Parker a reassuring look, but surely failed. Parker just squeezed his fingers gently, and Adam held on. Probably too hard, but Parker would never complain.

Craig was talking, his voice quavering ever so slightly from time to time. He spoke about how kind and smart and good Abby was, and how much she loved Jacob, and how lucky he and Lilly were to have known her—lucky enough to get some of that love.

Lilly wept quietly, clutching Craig’s hand, and Jacob stood too still, his hands at his sides, the piece of black fabric locked in a fist. He stared into the grave. There was a spot on the tarp where blood had soaked through, and Adam wished they could cover it somehow.

Craig cleared his throat. “I don’t know any Hebrew prayers, but I know God is good, and that Abby is safe in heaven. That she loved and was loved, and that we will never forget her. Amen.”

There was silence now. Adam needed to say something, but his mouth was too dry, any words shriveled and out of reach. Parker was good at talking—and sometimes so bad at it, Adam thought with a swell of affection that nearly toppled him. But before Parker could say anything, Jacob was on his knees pushing handfuls of dirt into the grave.

They stood there watching him, sharing an uneasy glance. Craig put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder, but Jacob shrugged it off, desperately asking, “Will they find her here? They might dig her up.” His voice was high and reedy. “They can’t find her. We have to hide her!”

“It’s okay, they won’t. We won’t let them,” Parker said, dropping to his knees as well. He helped push in the dirt.

They all followed suit, even Lilly. Adam tucked away his piece of black fabric, focusing beyond the sounds of breathing and hearts thumping dully, making sure they were still alone. Across the water, he could hear another boat, this one running on a motor that sounded quite big. He pushed dirt as he listened and peered at the low waves, but the boat passed by, too far away to be seen, even by him.

When the grave was full, they hunted for rocks to cover it, to keep Abby safe. It was only after that Jacob realized he’d dropped his makeshift ribbon somewhere below the stones, and he sobbed, apparently convinced of his failure.

“It’s okay,” Parker said. “It’s with her. It’s like a little piece of you.” He tentatively reached for Jacob, as if to pull him into a hug, but Jacob wrenched away, turning his back on the grave.

“We have to go now. Can we go?” he rasped.

“Yes,” Craig answered. “We’ll go now.” He reached into his pocket and took out his own piece of fabric, staring at it for a few moments before letting it flutter to the churned-up ground.

The rest of them followed suit, Lilly carefully tucking hers beneath a rock like a little secret. Jacob was already walking back to the dinghy, his shoulders hunched, and it was over.

*

“Mind if I
join you?”

Adam had heard Craig come up from downstairs and tread quietly to the bow, where Adam sat on one of the benches built into
Bella
’s sides, his eyes closed to the cool moonlight. He opened them. “Of course not.” Craig sat wearily, and Adam asked, “How are you holding up?”