The Infected Dead (Book 3): Die For Now Read Free Page B

shirt. Talk about something that could bring a man to his knees in a hurry.
    “Jean,” said the Chief, “I believe Ed said there was some good news? I’d like to know if this cloud has a silver lining.”
    Jean released her grip and gave everyone a satisfied smile. I was rubbing the sore spot on my chest as I said, “When we pull the cable across, we might be able to get it under the hull of the Russian ship to protect it. If we don’t, it would just become the world’s biggest trip line. There would be all kinds of junk getting snagged on it.”
    “One thing at a time,” said the Chief, “but it’s worth keeping in mind. That reminds me, we need to find out if the nets collapsed under the weight of the Russian corvette when it sank, or if the ship stayed close to the surface.”
    “Why is that important?” asked Kathy.
    Bus had apparently been thinking along the same lines, because he answered for the Chief.  
    “It would be better if it sank and took out the nets with it. There’s still a lot of explosive ordinance on that ship, and if it’s poking out of the water, there’s always a chance someone will be curious about the weapons and munitions.”
    “For a doctor, you have some interesting ideas,” said the Chief.
    Bus gave him a sly smile and said, “Chief, I wouldn’t be too worried if you told me you knew a few things about surgery.”
    The Chief returned the smile and said, “Bus, let’s put our heads together and figure out how to get that line laying barge up the coast.”
    Over the next few hours the Chief and Bus discussed a variety of plans. Jean decided to fix us a big breakfast, and Kathy was studying the camera views of the island. She was alternating between the ship and a sudden increase in the number of infected that had found their way onto our side of the moat. The only thing she could come up with that would explain the increase was that they were washing up on shore from something that had happened at sea.  
    Tom had followed Allison when she sulked away to the lower levels, presumably to talk with her about why she was mad. I got the impression he knew why she was upset, but it didn’t do him any good to start by telling her she was overreacting. I had never been an authority on the subject of women, but I was smart enough not to try to defend myself by telling a woman she was overreacting. That was right up there with saying to calm down or relax.
    Kathy gave us the news that the ship was starting to disappear below the surface. There’s something so morbid about a sinking ship that we all had to stop what we were doing for a few minutes to watch. Maybe it’s the finality of it. There’s no coming back from it once it disappears from view. It occurred to me it was a lot like watching someone die. You knew it was over, and there was nothing you could do to bring them back.  
    I looked at Jean and thought to myself how I couldn’t bear to ever see that finality. She saw me look at her, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing.
    The Chief, on the other hand, had a grim expression. When a fellow sailor sees a ship sink, even a Russian ship with a dead crew, they all become shipmates for a few moments. There is a measure of respect passed from the survivors to those who disappear below the surface with the ship.
    We gave the Chief the few moments of silence he needed, and when it was over, he said, “We have our answer to one end of the problem, but now we have another one to solve.”
    Any one of us could have asked him what he meant, but we waited for him to finish his thought.
    “How deep did it sink?” he asked. “Did it take the nets with it, or did it get suspended on them? Before we pull the line across the moat we have to know.”
    Kathy said, “I hope you aren’t thinking about going out there again, Chief. If you dive between those nets, you know what you’re going to find. Those things can survive under water, and by now there must be hundreds of