The gate to the other detention area was also wide open. That’s why the building door wasn’t closed. There was no one there anymore.
Where had they taken the sick? Surely they hadn’t died en masse last night.
I’m back in my bed now. I know it only gives me a false sense of security, but at the moment, that’s better than none at all.
I don’t know what’s going on, but if I had to guess, I’d say the people whose names were on the list this morning are not being vaccinated. As for the people from the other area, I don’t even want to speculate.
The only thing I hope is that when the men in the parkas return, they don’t call my name.
14
“TR117. Go ahead, Bogotá.”
“Status?”
“Just completed flyby of Campeche. Twenty-nine bodies sighted. Spotted a few breathers, but they were clearly infected. So that’s a confirm endgame in progress.”
“Copy, TR117. Campeche endgame in progress.”
“Are we cleared to proceed to our next destination?”
“Affirmative, TR117. Proceed to Isabella Island.”
“Copy, Bogotá. Setting course for Isabella Island. ETA approximately fifty-five minutes.
It took more than a little coaxing to get everyone out of the restaurant and down to the dock. After all but the sick were present, Robert went up to the Albino Mer’s pilothouse to let Pax know.
“Ready when you are,” he said.
Pax, the sat phone in his hand, didn’t move.
Robert walked over and touched him on the shoulder. “You all right?”
He could feel Pax tense before the man looked back at him.
“Sorry,” Pax said. “Lost in thought.”
“They’re here.”
“Okay, then.” Pax set the sat phone on the counter. “Let’s do it.”
They went out onto the upper deck of the ferry and moved in front of the pilothouse so everyone could see them. As soon as the crowd realized Pax was there, several people began shouting.
“This is your fault!”
“You’re a liar!”
“You knew the vaccine didn’t work, didn’t you?”
Robert raised his arms, palms out. “Quiet down! Everyone, please!”
While most heeded his words, a few increased their volume.
“You! You! And you!” Robert said, pointing at the offenders. “Shut up now or you will be physically removed.”
“What the hell, Robert? Afraid of a few complaints?” one shouted back.
“You can complain all you want once we’re underway, but right now I need you all to listen.”
“I’m not going anywhere with that killer!” the man — Sebastian something from the UK — said.
Robert opened his mouth to respond, but Pax put a hand on his arm and then stepped to the front railing, the whole time looking directly at Sebastian. “Staying is a choice you have. None of you,” Pax said, now scanning the rest of the crowd, “have to go anywhere. But whether you believe me or not, if you stay, you will die.”
“Bullshit!” someone else yelled. “Your ‘vaccine’ is what’s going to kill us. It’s already started.”
Some murmurs of support could be heard, but not nearly as many as there had been a few minutes before.
“I don’t know how familiar you are with vaccinations,” Pax said, “but there’s always a small percentage of people who have a reaction.”
“You’re just making excuses so we don’t—”
“Raise your hand if you feel sick,” Pax said.
Robert surveyed the crowd. Everyone was looking at each other but no hands went up.
“If there was really an outbreak here, more of you would have fallen ill by now. The even better news is that we’ve experienced a handful of post-inoculation illnesses in the past, and every single one of those people recovered.”
“We don’t know if that’s true,” Sebastian argued.
“You’re right, but it doesn’t matter. The people here who’ve gotten sick will survive,” Pax said. “The question is, will you? This boat is leaving in fifteen minutes. Anyone not on board at that time will be left behind. We will not be coming back. This is your last chance to get away.”
With a nod to Robert, he walked back into the pilothouse.
“You heard him,” Robert said. “I need a few volunteers to help bring the sick down. The rest of you who are coming with us can grab your things and board now.”
Ten minutes were still left on the deadline when the sat phone started to ring again. On the display was the number for the airplane crew waiting onshore for the ferry’s passengers.
Pax punched ACCEPT. “We’ll be underway here in a few minutes. The crossing’ll take a couple hours. Probably have to make a few trips with the bus once we—”
“Pax, you might want to think about leaving right now,” Donna Jones, the plane’s pilot, said. “The watch station in Panama just picked up a plane Caribbean side, heading west-northwest on a line that will take them right over the island.”
“We’re sure it’s not one of ours?”
“It is not.”
“All right. We’ll see you as soon as we can.”
Pax disconnected the call, tossed the phone back on the counter, reached up, and pushed the horn button, holding it down for a full ten seconds. The blast reverberated throughout the resort and bounced back at the bay. After letting the sound die for a few seconds, he pressed the button again. Before he let go this time, he heard someone running up the stairs behind him.
“What’s with the horn?” Robert said as he entered the room.
Pax hit the ignition button and the already warm motor quickly roared to life. “We have to leave now.”
“The deadline’s not even half over. We can’t go.”
“There’s a plane heading in this direction no more than thirty minutes out. We can’t be anywhere near the island when it flies by.”
“It’s them? They’re coming back?”
“So it appears. How many people are missing?”
“Twenty-five, maybe thirty.”
“Round ’em up. I’ll give you five minutes, but can’t go beyond that. When I sound the horn again, you’ll have sixty seconds.”
Robert raced down the stairs and headed for the dock.
“What’s wrong?” Estella asked as he passed her.
He grabbed her arm. “Come with me.” He explained to her what was going on as they hopped off the boat and ran to the shore.
“Oh, my God,” she said.
“We only have a couple of minutes so I need you to help me get everyone down to the boat. But as soon as you hear the horn again, stop and get back as quickly as you can. Understand?”
She nodded.
They sprinted up the staircase to the bar deck.
“You take this level. I’ll go upstairs.”
Without waiting for her to respond, he ran over to the staircase and headed all the way to the top. His first stop was the restaurant dining room they’d all been living in. He had hoped the majority of the stragglers were there, but the room was empty.
“If you’re up here,” he yelled, “we’ve gotta go now!”
He raced around the rest of the upper level but found no one.
One level below was the uppermost guest level. He moved quickly down the hall, knocking on every door without stopping.