Christian Fletcher [The Left Left Alone (epub)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”“It’s all right for some,” Smith argued.“We’ve been to hell and back getting this fucking diesel.”Headlong scoured the interior of the dinghy and nonchalantly sniffed.“Is that all you got? That’s not going to get us very far now, is it?”“There’s another whole bunch of canisters back on the river bank.Are you blind as well as dumb? Now, we need you to haul these Jerry cans onboard so we can go back and get the rest of them.”“How do you suppose I do that?”Smith sighed in exasperation.“We either lift the dinghy back onboard and unload it or you lower a rope over the side and we tie it to the handles and you haul them up.It’s totally up to you.You’re the one holding the gun, remember?”Headlong smirked at being reminded he was in charge.He was enjoying the power he held over us.“I’ll go get the woman.She can do the rope hauling thing.Fat bitch needs to lose a few pounds, anyhow.”Smith threw his hands up in the air and made a dramatic, infuriated sigh.“For fuck’s sake, man.We’ll be here all night.”Headlong hobbled back down the hatch and reappeared two minutes later behind Tippy, who looked as though she had been crying.Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was pale.Headlong explained the task ahead of her.“I don’t think I’m strong enough to lift those heavy canisters,” she wailed.“You’ll do what I damn well tell ya,” Headlong shrieked at her, his face a few inches from hers.He searched the upper deck lockers and found a length of coiled, thin, blue rope.He thrust the rope at Tippy and yelled at her to lower the end down to the dinghy.Smith and I exchanged nervous glances.This operation had ‘Fuck Up’ written all over it.I envisaged the two of us dodging falling Jerry cans for the next hour or so.Chapter Forty-SevenThe whole maneuver was, as expected, painfully slow going.Tippy did a lot of puffing and panting and wailing while hauling up the Jerry cans.Headlong did plenty of hollering and yelling and calling her all the obscenities he could think of from his limited vocabulary.Smith and I protested and offered to hop back onboard and help her lift the canisters.Headlong was oblivious to our pleas.The bastard was enjoying reducing the poor woman to tears and making her feel useless.At least Tippy gained some respite when we had loaded all eight cans onboard and went back to the shore for more diesel.“I can’t stand much more of this,” I hissed to Smith through clenched teeth, as we loaded the second cargo of fuel into the dinghy.“Me either, but we have to bide our time.Don’t worry, that son of a bitch is going to regret ever setting eyes on us, kid.”We loaded the second batch of Jerry cans in relative silence and started the whole process again.By the time we’d loaded the last of the canisters onboard, the sun had dipped completely and we were working in relative darkness, only able to see in the dim glow of the Navy boat’s navigation lights.Once the canisters were onboard, Smith hopped back onto the Navy vessel and hauled the dinghy back into its housing.I secured the small craft back in place and joined Smith, Tippy and Headlong back on the deck.Our captor gave Smith and me a cursory frisk down to ensure we had no concealed weapons from our trip ashore.He shoved us together in a tight herd when he was satisfied we posed no hidden threat.“It’s too damn dark to diesel up now, folks.” Headlong spoke like he was the big cheese in some finely oiled operation.“So I suggest we get some shut-eye and gas up at first light, any objections?”He wasn’t going to get any arguments from me.I was dead beat and wanted to sleep and guessed Smith and Tippy felt the same.Also, I didn’t fancy sailing into a zombie infested city in the dead of night.“That’s a rap for today, then,” Headlong continued.“You two boys can take the wheelhouse cabin again and me and the woman will take the bunks below.You fellas take turns on watching our asses.I don’t want no zombies creeping up on us while I’m sleeping.”Tippy looked horrified, even noticeable under the faint glow of the navigation lights.I knew she didn’t want to spend any more time alone with that obnoxious prick.“Do we get any food?” Smith grunted.“It’s been a long, hard day, man.”“Yeah, and the dog will need feeding as well,” I chipped in.Headlong flapped his hand at us.“Ah, I’m sure the woman will sort you out with some chow.Come on, woman, my leg is starting to hurt again.”Headlong jostled Tippy back down the hatch and the two of them disappeared down below.I breathed out a sigh and offered Smith a smoke and took one for myself.We moved away from the Jerry cans before we lit up to be on the safe side of caution.“This is getting beyond a fucking joke, Smith.” I leaned on the guard rail, exhaling smoke and watching the night close in.“I can’t stand watching that guy bully that poor woman anymore.”“It’ll all be over tomorrow, don’t worry about that.The situation will come to a head one way or another [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki