Apocalyptic pirates 4, p.5
Apocalyptic Pirates 4, page 5
It was coming from the dock.
Chapter 4
My heart leaped into my throat.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I had cleared the rest of the path and leaped onto the dock. My feet thudded onto the boards, and all of the blood froze in my veins as I saw the sight before me.
Our yacht was covered in dragons.
They were smaller creatures than the ones we had seen up until now, about the same size as a full-grown Labrador, but they were somehow even scarier than a pack of rabid raccoons. The smaller dragons we’d seen before had been better at flying than their larger counterparts, and these guys were even more agile and darted around in the air with a scary level of ability. The whole time, they let out warbling screeches that sent a violent shiver down my spine, and their beady little eyes flashed with pure bloodlust.
Nothing so tiny should be this fucking scary.
These must be the babies from the nest we’d seen up on the roof of the hotel. They were small, but they were terrifyingly quick and agile, and there must have been at least eight of them swarming over the yacht. It was honestly hard to count with how fucking fast they were scrambling around. They just seemed to be everywhere at once.
Shannon and Ally were crouched under the overhang of the cockpit and using it as a kind of shelter as they attempted to repel the baby dragon invaders. They were firing, but the dragons were moving so quickly, I doubted Ally was able to hit much.
Shannon fired and took one of the babies out of the sky. It screeched even louder than the rest and tumbled into the water with a splash, and it bobbed up and down in the waves while the water turned red around it.
One rabid-looking baby was up in the rigging and flapping around the mast with its claws ready to rip a hole right through the sail.
I swung up my rifle and aimed right at it.
The bullet whizzed past the baby’s head. It hissed like a fucking viper and swung its head around as it tried to pinpoint where the shot had come from. Its bright orange eyes spotted me, and it dived right at us without even a second of hesitation.
“Holy fuck!” I barely had time to aim before it was on me.
All I could see was its outstretched claws and dripping fangs coming right for my face. I fired on pure instinct, and the baby dragon screamed at a pitch that nearly deafened me and dipped in the air. The psycho creature spiraled round and round with one wing hanging down uselessly at its side. I dove out of the way, and it overshot the dock and plunged headfirst into the water.
Even after that, I could see it thrashing wildly beneath the surface before the little creep finally died.
A cold sweat had broken out on my forehead now, but I was aware of shots being fired behind me as Letty and Dia also joined the conflict.
Shannon had taken out three of the little fuckers on her own, and there was enough space now for her to duck out from the cockpit and maneuver on deck. She swung around and fired as the remaining four babies flapped and screeched around the yacht like those weird little monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.
I took careful aim and fired. My first shot missed, but my second took out one of the dragons, and it crashed down onto the deck, where it twitched its odd, gangly limbs around for a minute and then lay still.
Ally was up and out of the cockpit, too. She was firing with more energy than accuracy, but one of the babies screamed as her bullets found their mark. It flapped desperately to try and stay in the air, but a bullet sped over my head and hit the beast in the back of its bony neck. Its head snapped back, and it crashed off the edge of the guard railing before splashing into the water.
“Great shot!” I yelled.
I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to see which one of the women had taken the winning shot, but they were both looking at each other in bemusement.
“It wasn’t either of us,” Letty panted.
The words made my stomach drop, but I had no time to think about it any further.
There were only three more baby dragons left. I had one of them in my sights– an extra small one that couldn’t have been much bigger than a housecat, but somehow that didn’t make it any less freaky. It was a sickly yellow color, and it kept zipping here and there around the deck and flying in to try and claw at Shannon before darting away again. It reminded me of a fucking flea, but with massive fangs and a single-mindedness that made my blood run cold.
Shannon kept trying to hit it, but the slimy little fucker kept weaving in and out behind the sail, and with the other two dragons on deck, she couldn’t get a good shot.
I exhaled slowly and lined up my gun. Then I squeezed the trigger.
The rifle kicked back into my shoulder, and the yellow dragon squealed in pain. It dropped down behind the sail, and I guessed it had fallen into the water.
I swung around and tried to aim at one of the other two fuckers.
“Drew, look out!” Dia yelled.
My head snapped up just in time to see the little yellow dragon hurling through the air toward me. My bullet had only clipped it, and I hadn’t heard it coming at all.
I ducked out of the way and unleashed a load of bullets after it.
“Die, you crazy little shit!” I shouted.
The sickly-yellow dragon shot past me, then pivoted in mid-air to turn back and dive-bomb us.
As it did so, another bullet whizzed out from the shore.
It took the dragon right between the eyes. The little fucker didn’t even have time to scream before its wings folded up, and its body thumped into the sand.
Our mystery shooter had struck again.
Back on the yacht, Ally and Shannon were taking care of the two remaining dragons. Although the brats were fast little shits, their stamina wasn’t holding up, and they were already moving more slowly.
Shannon’s bullet sent one of them plowing into the water, and the other was limping on the deck. Even though it was wounded and dragging one wing behind it, the little bastard was still trying to lunge at Shannon and snap at her legs. She finished it off cleanly with a bullet in the skull, and then she and Ally shoved it over the side of the boat.
“Drew!” Shannon yelled.
“We’re all good down here!” I called back. “Are you guys okay?”
“Yeah!” she panted. “Those creepy little fuckers came out of nowhere. They totally crept up on us. I didn’t hear them at all.”
I nodded in confirmation, but I hadn’t forgotten the mysterious shooter from the shore, and I promptly swung around with my gun pointed at the trees by the dock.
“Letty, Dia,” I directed. “Get back on the yacht.”
“Nuh-uh,” Dia countered. “We’re with you, jefe.”
She and Letty came to stand on either side of me with their guns raised.
“Yeah, Drew,” Letty added. “We’ve got your back.”
“Same here,” Shannon called, and when I looked around, I saw that both she and Ally had their guns leveled at the dock.
Even though their bravery was nothing new to me by now, I couldn’t stop the little flicker of warmth that sprang up in my heart as I saw how the women were prepared to defend each other and the yacht.
“Thanks, guys,” I murmured, and then I raised my voice to shout. “Hey! Come on out. We know you’re there. There are five guns pointed at you, so don’t bother trying anything.”
There was a long pause.
Then there was a rustling from the undergrowth near the dock.
“Okay,” a voice called. “Don’t shoot.”
The leaves and bushes parted, and an old man and woman came out from the foliage and stepped onto the dock.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
The woman was holding a rifle, but both of them stopped a little distance from us, and the woman bent down to put the rifle carefully on the dock.
“Don’t shoot, okay?” she called again.
As she straightened up, she winced and pressed one hand against her side.
She was wounded.
“Okay,” I called. “We’re not going to shoot. Was that you earlier who shot at us? And just now with the dragons?”
“Yeah.” The woman grimaced, and I couldn’t tell if it was from pain or remorse. “We didn’t know who you were, and from what we’ve heard, there’s all kinds of folk roaming these waters. We thought it was better to be safe than sorry.”
“I can understand that,” I replied.
I wouldn’t have liked to be in their position– two older people alone on a dragon-infested island. It was tough enough for the rest of us, but for two people who looked closer to seventy than fifty, it must have been an incredible ordeal.
The couple were dressed in stained shorts and tee shirts. They both showed an odd mixture of dirt and cleanliness. Their clothes didn’t look as though they’d been properly washed in a while, but the woman’s long gray hair was brushed smooth and braided in a long tail down her back, and the man was clean-shaven with a chin that was smoother than my own. I reckoned they must be doing the best they could with what they had, but it couldn’t have been very much at all. I wondered how they’d managed to survive on this island by themselves since the meteor storm.
The man was tall but stooped over with age, and his hands were swollen and gnarled with what looked like arthritis. I doubted he was able to shoot at all with hands like that.
The woman was hunched over and gripping the wound in her side, and even though she was the one that had been holding the gun, I could see the fatigue etched in every line of her figure. It must have taken all her strength to aim the gun with the accuracy that she had.
And by all accounts, she’d done it to help us fight off those little psycho dragons.
I didn’t think these two people were going to pose us much of a threat.
I lowered my gun, and the women followed my example.
“Thank you,” the old man said.
“Thank you,” I replied. “You helped us take care of those little bastards back there.”
“That was all Valerie’s doing.” The man put his hand lightly on the woman’s shoulder and smiled at her. There was a pride in his voice and a light in his eyes that was unexpectedly tender.
These two must be a couple.
“Weren’t nothing.” The woman, Valerie, shook her head. “Glad to help out.”
“We saw you go to the hotel,” the man said. “There ain’t much there.”
“We found most of what we needed,” I replied. “Have you been using the kitchen for supplies?”
“Some.” He nodded his head. “We have our own house a short ways from the hotel. We’ve been staying there as it seems to have escaped the dragons’ notice so far. We noticed a couple of the little fellas checking out the roof garden, so we figured it was best to keep our distance from the hotel as much as possible.”
“You have your own house here?” I questioned. “Are you islanders?”
“We worked at the resort,” he explained. “Been living here for near on fifteen years. We both worked in the gardens. Then when the storm hit, and everyone was scramblin’ to get out of there, Val got trampled in the ruckus. And, well, I guess in times like these, folk want to look out for their own, don’t they?”
“You two are the only ones left?” I asked as my jaw threatened to drop.
The two old folks nodded a little sadly.
“Ray was a real trooper.” Valerie cocked her head and smiled at the man. “Wouldn’t leave my side. I told him to get out of there and hitch a ride, but he wouldn’t.”
“Done stayed with the woman for fifty years,” Ray chuckled. “Weren’t about to leave her over a little thing like the apocalypse.”
There was a love and tenderness in the way they spoke about each other that reminded me of my parents. It was that same kind of light, teasing banter between two people who knew each other from years of being together and who had weathered all kinds of storms by knowing that the other had their back. It was something really special, and it was something that I hoped I would be able to experience when I was that age.
“That’s pretty incredible,” I said with a smile. “I’m honestly stunned you’ve managed to avoid the dragons all this time. They’re some pretty scary hunters…”
“Sure are, but ain’t nobody who likes cow shit,” the old man chuckled.
I frowned in complete confusion.
“Got a lot of cattle out here on Providencia,” he explained as he rubbed some sweat from his neck. “We realized real early on that the dragons avoided their pastures like a plague. We started hauling their droppings over to surround the house, and we haven’t had a single dragon look our way while we’re inside the house since.”
“Damn,” Letty muttered and shook her head. “That’s one way to get a thing done…”
“Are you hurt?” Shannon called from the boat. “We have medicine, we can fix you up.”
“And we have biscuits,” Letty chimed in. “Fresh baked.”
Clearly I wasn’t alone in getting a good vibe from this couple.
“That’s mighty kind of you,” Valerie said with a gracious nod of her head. “But we don’t want to be no bother.”
“Val,” Ray murmured. “You need medicine.”
“I ain’t about to take charity,” Valerie insisted. “We’ve trespassed on these good folks’ time long enough. I reckon they want to get going. We still don’t know how many of those little feller dragons are out there.”
“Val,” Ray pleaded. “Please.”
They looked at each other for a moment, and it felt like all kinds of unspoken communication passed between them in that one stretch of time.
Finally, Valerie sighed.
“I would be mighty grateful if you had an aspirin you wouldn’t mind me taking,” she said.
“Of course.” I stood back and gestured for them to climb on deck. “Come aboard.”
“Now, you’re sure this is okay?” Valerie insisted.
“It makes sense,” I replied. “Here on the dock, we’re just an open target for any dragons that might come by. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but the little ones are really quiet.”
“We’ve been trying to keep our distance from all dragons, big or small.” Ray helped Valerie climb on deck, and then he eyed the bags that Letty and Dia were throwing onboard the yacht. “Holy moly. Is this all from the hotel? How much stuff did you take from there?”
“We needed essentials,” I said.
For a moment I thought he was saying it as a criticism for looting, but the old guy quickly put my worry about being judged aside.
“Lord knows they had enough stuff they left behind,” Ray said as he shook his head. “All them fancy tchotchkes and whatnot aren’t doing anyone any good just sitting there in those rooms going to waste.”
“Here, Valerie,” Dia instructed and offered the older woman her arm. “We’ve got a bedroom downstairs, and you can have a shower and put your feet up, and then we can see what medicines you need.”
“Now, don’t make a fuss,” Valerie told her. “I’m here for my aspirin, and that’s that.”
“Yeah, of course,” Dia assured her.
I hid a grin. I knew full well that the moment the women got her downstairs, they were going to ply Valerie with all kinds of treats.
“My name’s Drew, by the way,” I told the old man.
“Drew.” He stuck out his hand, and we shook. “It’s a pleasure. And as you’ve probably gathered by now, I’m Ray, and my partner is Valerie.”
“Pleased to meet you both,” I replied.
“So, Drew, can I help you stow all this away?” Ray asked with a nod toward the bags. “You need to get something back from all the help you’re giving us.”
“Please, don’t worry about that,” I assured him. “We’re happy to help out.”
“Still.” Ray bent down and heaved up one of the bags with a show of strength that was impressive in such an old guy. “Where do you want these?”
“I’ll show you.” I grabbed one of the other bags, and together we took them down below deck.
Ray’s eyes widened as he took in the kitchen and lounge area.
“This is an impressive setup,” he commented.
“Yeah.” I dropped the bag down on the floor by the table. “This boat was Ally’s ex-husband’s until we, er, stole it.”
“You folks really are livin’ the buccaneer dream,” Ray chuckled.
“Thanks,” I laughed. “We like to think of ourselves as ‘the Good Pirates’.”
“I can see why.” The old man nodded. “Which one of those beauties is Ally?”
“Oh, the redhead,” I explained. “Then there’s Letty, Dia, and Shannon. I’ll introduce you all properly once they’ve finished with Valerie.”
“I can’t thank you enough for that.” Ray lowered his voice, and I got the feeling he didn’t want the possibility of anyone overhearing him. “Valerie’s got her pride. Lord knows I do, too, but I’ve been right worried about her. We couldn’t find much to use from the resort, just some Tylenol and Band-Aids.”
“Really,” I assured him. “It’s not a problem. We found an abandoned hospital a while back, and we have plenty of meds to spare.”
“Surely you ain’t just giving them out like candy, though?” Ray lifted his grizzled eyebrows. “You’re trading for ’em, right?”
“Well, yeah,” I admitted. “When people can trade, we like to do business.”
“Then you just let me know if there’s anything round here I can help with.” Ray pressed his hand against his spine and rolled his head around on his shoulders. “I might not be the youngest sprout in the pod, but I ain’t an invalid yet.”
“You’ve already helped us by shooting those baby dragons.” I clapped my hand on his shoulder.
“That weren’t nothing.” Ray shrugged. “Besides, that was all Val’s effort.”
“You seriously saved our bacon,” I told him. “You need to let us show you our gratitude.”
“Shucks.” Ray shrugged again. “Well. I know if you folks have a shower on this here fancy boat of yours, Val would love a turn under it.”
“Of course!” I said. “Here, I’ll show you where it is.”
“Hold on.” He held up a hand. “Wait here.”
