“North?” asked Benny.
“Yeah, said Mitch. “North, north east. We stuck close to the shore, mostly because the boat wasn’t built for the deep sea. We pretty much drifted to save gas, past Brooklyn, then Queens and into Long Island. We had to be careful around the Sound, those waters can get pretty rough.”
“The Sound?” Benny again. Mitch looked around and saw for once that he had a captive audience.
“Yeah, the Long Island Sound. Depending on the time of day the tides there can get pretty rough. We kept our eyes on the shore in case we saw something useful, mainly water and gas for the boat. The ocean provided plenty of fish, but without a proper cooking stove a lot of times we ate it raw. That led to a lot of diarrhea. The guys didn’t have a hard time sticking their butts over the railing, but the ladies had to have some semblance of privacy, aft of the boat.” That drew a few laughs.
“When we did pull in for gas or water we learned to be real quiet. You wake up one zombie you wake them all up. And by wake them up I mean get them to notice you. Otherwise they kinda’ wander around, looking at nothing or staring at the sun. It was creepy watching them, especially when they’re walking right past you.
“The captain stayed in the wheelhouse. He had a bucket to do his business in, and every other day he would call down and have me dump it.”
A chorus of “Eeewwwwww” rose from the group.
“Yeah, it was nasty work. He kept himself locked in the wheelhouse, dropping anchor when he wanted to sleep. Then we’d go drifting again, night and day. He didn’t trust any of us, even me, that’s why he kept himself locked up. I’m pretty sure he didn’t care about us either. We were just a work force for him. He became a miser, keepin’ to himself, no one to talk to. And that’s never a good thing. A man would start talkin’ to himself, imagining people talkin’ back.
“We managed to get a sail and a few blankets from a small boat docked in a bay and used it as a cover for the rain and the sun. A bit late cuz everyone was pretty well sunburned. Because it was a party boat there weren’t any beds or cots so we slept on the deck as close to each other as possible to save heat. That didn’t work for Jerry, who died from exposure. It also didn’t help Lisa, who died a week later. She was a little bitty thing, and cute. I was really sad when we slipped her into the ocean. It was sad for all of us. Miss Melanie couldn’t stop crying cuz they were close friends. After she stopped crying she started yelling at the captain, telling him it was his fault. When they died he had only two words for ‘em, ‘Dump ‘em’. She was mad at how little he cared about them, yelled so loud and hard the captain came out the door, his gun in a tight grip as he looked to me to do something about her.”
“What did you do?” said Billy.
“Me and some of the guys just grabbed her and took her below, under the sail. Not much else you can do in that situation.”
“That captain was so mean” said Jaqui.
“Yeah”, said Mitch. “He was a real asshole.” Realizing what he just said Mitch searched the crowd for any reactions. There were none, so he continued.
“Anyway, so we’re just floating around, eyes to the shore, looking for places to loot. The other party boats had got the same idea. Some of them even started looking to trade with the other boats, or loot them. Whenever we saw something close enough to the shore and it was safe enough we would venture out. But mostly we stayed out to sea. Sometimes we would run into someone, a survivor, and we would either take ‘em in or leave ‘em. Or try to rob ‘em. We weren’t very good at that, I think mostly because of guilt. The captain only cared enough if it helped him. He had lost hope and his attitude swept through the crew. So we lost a few, gained a few, and just kept drifting. Depression had set in, beginning with Miss Mellisa. When Lisa died it was like Miss Mellisa had lost the will to live. Her depression infected us all. Families gone, friends gone, no way to get home and just see if anyone survived. In a lot of ways, we were as dead as those zombies.”
“That sounds very sad” said Lacy.
“It was. Very sad. We weren’t sure we were going to make it. Or even if we did what would be left of us.”
“What was that captain’s name?” said David.
“Doesn’t matter. He was a coward and a…jerk and nobody liked him. His name isn’t on the wall because he was someone we all want to forget.”
“How long were you out there?” asked David.
“Oh, about three months. We lost track of the days. One just blended into another, mostly because we didn’t sleep much. Between the sea sickness, being outside all of the time, and the worry, we didn’t get a lot of rest.” Some of the kids faces had turned melancholy. Just save the sympathy kids, he thought. It’s about to get interesting.
“We had pulled into this one beachfront dock hoping we could find something useful, like sunblock at least. I had turned redder than I want to remember, so did some of the others. I think we were at Cape Cod, at one of their beaches. A boardwalk with concession stands, a couple of outdoor bars, beach chairs and umbrellas, lifeguard stands on their sides. The area seemed clear of people and zombies alike. You could tell they were there though with all the blood splatters everywhere, but it looked empty, which is a good thing. One thing we learned was when the zombies came people left everything and anything behind, so busy trying to get away. And the zombies don’t eat food, so whatever’s packaged up in a sealed bag or in a can was fair game.
“The captain sends out four of the guests, well, at this point they’re crew. So he sends out four of the crew to do some scavenging while I stand on the dock holding onto the boat with a rope around one of the posts, in case we have to leave in a hurry. They go out, quiet as can be, and reach the boardwalk. They head for one of the bars, look inside, then they go in. Five minutes later they come out with one extra person. From where I stood he looked pretty healthy, but I was comparing him to the other four who looked pretty damn near close to skeletons, clothes just hanging off’a them. While the crew were kinda’ hunched with their shoulders drooping this guy was upright, tall, and he walked with purpose. Dark skinned, wooly hair, short jacket, and he had these two handles sticking out from his back, over each shoulder. Can you guess who it was?”
All of the kids responded. “Captain Bern!!!”
Arid Testimony 