The Toll by W. .J. Hegarty

Author:W. .J. Hegarty [Hegarty, W. .J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Zombies
Published: 2019-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Adrift

Vanessa awoke to suffocating smoke filling the cabin. Lillian lay beside her, seemingly unfazed by the putrid cloud as some others scurried by in a mad dash for the exit. Fumes stung her eyes. The stench of burning plastic and chemicals filled her lungs. She could hear Miller from somewhere across the cabin near the exit, calling out for everyone to come toward the sound of his voice. Lillian began choking. The small fit forced her awake as Vanessa helped her to her feet. They stumbled toward Miller, the sun barely visible behind him, a dim beacon of hope. As they approached the exit, Miller grabbed Vanessa by the arm and yanked the pair to safety, flinging them out onto the sun-drenched deck and into Soraya’s waiting arms. Soraya led them toward the front of the boat, away from the smoke and out of the way of those frantically searching for the fire’s source.

“I can’t breathe,” Lillian choked out, panic-stricken.

“We’re okay. Come on.” Vanessa led the frightened girl away from the fumes and to the relatively clear deck of the boat. She caressed the girl’s back. The rhythm of her hands gave the illusion of air circulating in Lillian’s lungs. Vanessa’s grandfather taught her that when she was a child. When she was only seven years old, she hit her head while jumping into a pool and swallowed what felt like half the water. For nearly thirty minutes afterward, her grandfather rubbed her back, magically pushing air back into the little girl’s lungs. It was a simple lesson, but it was one Vanessa never forgot. Mind over matter. A psychological hoodwink, as it were. She used the same technique on Lillian, and within a few minutes, the girl’s hysteria had passed.

Ryan tumbled out of the darkness, in the process nearly bowling over Ayn, who leaned back, coughing hard into her clenched fist. Each fit doubled her over in pain.

“Just breathe. You’re alright.” Ryan helped steady the girl.

“Dammit, I was finally asleep, too.” She coughed. “Been feeling like crap for days. Now this?”

“I know what you mean. I was finally alone in the bathroom, just me and my thoughts, when the place filled with smoke.”

“Gross.”

“That may be the case, but I got you to stop coughing, didn’t I?”

Bernie emerged from the smoke-filled cabin. He wore a wet shirt around his head, a makeshift filter from the acrid fumes. He coughed and waved the cloud from his face. As he approached Miller, he threw the damp shirt to the deck to better take in the fresh air. “Fucking thick in there, boys,” he said while clearing his throat. “Fire’s out. Wasn’t as bad as it looked to be honest.”

“You sure about that?” Miller referenced the thick white smoke still pouring from the cabin. “It doesn’t look like the fire’s out from where I’m standing.”

“Positive. The smoke’s making it look worse than it really is.” Bernie plopped down on the deck, spent. “It’ll dissipate shortly. Lots of rubber and plastic down there putting off all that shit.

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