HAYWIRE: A Pandemic Thriller (The F.A.S.T. Series Book 2) (54 page)

‘Wait,’ begged Christov, speaking through the pain. ‘If you do this, how are you different from me? What does this make you?’

Ben brought his face close to Christov’s.

‘It makes me a husband.’

Ben rolled him over the edge.

Christov shrieked in agony as he tumbled down into the frothing water below.

A second later, his trench knife followed him.

‘There,’ yelled Justin. ‘I see three people!’

Craigson steered the lifeboat toward the bridge.

Justin had spotted three figures on the bridge. Two were standing. One was sitting.

Please let that be Mom
, thought Justin
.

Craigson shaded his eyes. ‘The water’s full of debris.’

‘Go right through it!’ yelled Justin.

‘He’s right,’ agreed Myers. ‘That’s what the lifeboats are designed for.’

Craigson plowed the lifeboat straight into the floating debris field, smashing through like an icebreaker.

‘Mom!’ Justin yelled when he saw her face.

She yelled his name back.

Only the front section of the bridge remained above water now, but not for long.

‘Hurry,’ Justin yelled at Craigson. ‘Get us in there!’

Craigson wove the boat around the larger obstacles and knocked aside the smaller. He expertly guided the boat right up to the survivors as the entire bridge began submerging under their shoes.

Captain Coleman lifted Justin’s mother over. Justin and Myers pulled her onto the lifeboat.

Her legs were covered in blood-soaked bandages.

‘There,’ she pointed. ‘Put me down there, Justin.’

‘What happened to your legs?’ he asked.

‘It’s nothing,’ she said. ‘I can barely feel it.’

Justin lowered her onto the seat, but he couldn’t stand up. She was holding him too tightly, kissing his hair.

‘I thought I’d lost you,’ she cried.

 Justin hugged her back. ‘I told you I’d get you off the ship.’

His mother cupped his face. ‘And you have. Just like you promised.’

Coleman climbed into the boat after First Officer Bryant.

‘Shut the windows and strap yourselves in,’ ordered Bryant. ‘Everyone put on a life jacket.’

Craigson relinquished the pilot’s seat to Bryant.

Justin reached above his mother and checked their windows.

The entire lifeboat suddenly lurched. Everyone either jerked in their seats or stumbled on their feet.

‘What was that?’ asked his mother, strapping on her life jacket.

 ‘It didn’t feel like anything hit us,’ replied Justin. ‘It felt like something pulled us.’

Coleman and Bryant both looked at Justin. They obviously sensed the same thing.

Craigson pointed out his window. ‘We’re too large to get pulled down with the ship, right?’

Bryant strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and said, ‘The water around the ship is full of ropes and cables. They could pull us down.’

Justin felt the boat lurch again. This time it lurched backward.

‘Damn it,’ cursed Bryant. ‘Everyone hold on. Something has tangled our propeller.’

Bryant pushed forward on the throttle.

The lifeboat’s engine revved.

The boat didn’t move.

Not forward anyway.

The rear section of the lifeboat began tilting downward. Justin felt himself tilting backward in his seat.

‘It’s pulling us down,’ Justin yelled. ‘We have to get off!’

As the boat’s rear deck was pulled down, the front lifted straight up and out of the water.

Justin unclipped his seatbelt. Yet again he had to escape a lifeboat, but this time he needed to get his mother off too.

We’ll have to go out the window. Right now, before the entire boat is dragged under water.

The lifeboat stood almost vertical in the water now, like a rocket ready to take off.

Coleman leaned across the aisle and pressed Justin back into his seat.

‘Bryant,’ Coleman called. ‘Are you sure it’s tangled around the propeller?’

Bryant sat above everyone now. He turned in the pilot’s chair. ‘It’s dragging us backward. It has to be the propeller!’

Coleman nodded.

‘We’re staying in the lifeboat,’ he announced. ‘Everyone buckle up and hold on. Bryant – put the engine in reverse and give it everything you’ve got. Maybe we can untangle whatever has us.’

‘The engines won’t last long,’ warned Bryant.

‘I know,’ replied Coleman. ‘Just do it.’

Bryant shifted the engine into full reverse.

Justin refastened his belt.

The engine roared. The entire boat shook. The window beside Justin slid underwater. Their lifeboat was now halfway submerged. Justin and everyone else lay backward in their seats like astronauts prepped for take-off. Through the front windshield Justin saw the sky and clouds and then...

Spuuuush!

Water blasted into the lifeboat from a hundred different places.

‘Stay in your seats!’ Coleman instructed. ‘No matter what happens, everyone stay in your seat. It’s our only chance.’

The engine suddenly cut out.

Justin saw water engulf the front windshield. The lifeboat and all its passengers were completely underwater now.

‘I’ve lost the engines,’ yelled Bryant. ‘We’re still tangled!’

A large chunk of window seal burst free beside Justin. More water came spraying in, stinging Justin’s skin with the force behind it.

‘Justin!’ Coleman ordered. ‘Brace that window with your hands. Push against it! Everyone. Push against the windows. Don’t let them collapse into the boat!’

The entire lifeboat groaned around them as the water pressed relentlessly inward.

Justin heard his Mom over the noise. She reached back between the seats and grabbed his leg.

‘I love you, Justin.’

Justin couldn’t answer. All his strength was focused on bracing the window from collapsing into the lifeboat.

But human hands couldn’t overcome the incredible pressure bearing down on the lifeboat as it descended deeper into the ocean.

CRRRAAANNNCH!

The terrifying sound came from behind Justin.

The sound could only be the rear section of their lifeboat collapsing under the pressure. Water would engulf them in seconds.

Justin took a deep breath and braced himself in his seat.

Here it comes....

Justin was thrust back into his seat as the lifeboat suddenly jolted forward.

Water didn’t flood the cabin.

The loud noise wasn’t the lifeboat tearing open.

It was the propeller tearing right off the boat.

Justin realized Coleman had been waiting for this.

The boat shot upward through the water like a missile.

‘This is it,’ Coleman yelled. ‘Everyone brace yourselves!’

Justin grabbed the back of his mother’s chair as the lifeboat launched from the water and flew into the air. He felt weightless for a few seconds and then...

CRASH!

The boat slammed back down into the water.

The impact tossed Justin around as the boat pitched and rolled violently underneath them.

Bryant looked over his shoulder.

‘Everyone all right?’

Justin nodded. Everyone else seemed okay too.

Bryant pointed at Myers. ‘Climb on deck and launch the inflatable raft. Justin, get your mother on deck in case we need to abandon ship. Captain Coleman, please start broadcasting our coordinates on the emergency frequency.’

‘What are you doing?’ asked Coleman.

‘Starting the pumps,’ answered Bryant.

‘Are we sinking?’ asked Justin.

‘It depends how much of our hull tore away with the propeller,’ replied Ben.

Myers called from the outer deck. ‘Captain. Quickly. I see other boats!’

Both Ben and Coleman reacted. Ben grabbed a pair of binoculars. Craigson helped Justin move his mother onto the outer deck.

Less than half a mile away, dozens and dozens of lifeboats were cruising toward them.

‘I thought we left them behind,’ said Coleman.

‘I turned the ship around,’ explained Ben. ‘Before they set off the explosives, I plotted a new course back to the lifeboats.’

Justin looked at all the wreckage bobbing on the surface.

‘It’s hard to believe the ship is really gone,’ he said.

‘It’s for the best,’ said Coleman. ‘What happened on that ship can never happen again.’

Ben nodded.

Justin knew it wasn’t that simple. He watched his mother. She was studying her wounded legs.

She thinks that any chance of her walking again was lost with the ship,
Justin realized.

He pulled the acid drive from his pocket. The countdown read:

Remaining Time: 00h: 04m: 12s

He held it up for everyone to see.