“It’ll take me at least fifteen minutes to fill up,” he said. “Gotta be some buses parked nearby, if you want to take a quick look.”
“Not a bad idea.”
While Robert ran the fuel line to the ship’s tank, Pax jogged back to shore. The next time Robert looked up, Pax had just reached the buildings and within seconds disappeared between them.
Robert opened the valve and let the fuel flow out. As the ferry’s tank filled, he entered the covered passenger section and walked over to the small corner that served as the snack bar. There he found a couple dozen Cokes in a cooler. The ice that had kept them cold was now a puddle of water at the bottom. He grabbed a can and popped the top. The liquid was lukewarm — not ideal, but drinkable. From under the counter, he snagged a bag of spicy chips and a chocolate bar and headed back to the tank.
A few more minutes passed before he heard the fuel sloshing near the top. He backed the valve down, slowing the flow, and cut it off completely as the tank reached its maximum. The ferry had more than enough fuel now to get them to the island and back and then some.
Once he recoiled the hose onto the back of the truck, he moved down the pier toward shore, searching for Pax, but except for a few birds, the area was empty. He checked his watch. The fifteen minutes he had given Pax were verging on twenty.
He walked to the end of the pier, cupped his mouth, and yelled, “Pax!”
Several of the birds fluttered into the air.
“Pax!”
Surely Pax wouldn’t be so far away that he couldn’t hear Robert. He was the one wanting to leave for the island right away after all.
“Pax! We’re ready to go!”
He scanned the buildings and roads that ran in front of the docks, but he was the only one there.
What if Pax had been hurt? Maybe twisted an ankle or something and was having a hard time getting back?
Robert tried to remember the exact buildings Pax had passed between. He crossed over to them and entered the passageway.
“Pax!”
Receiving no response, he raced out the other end and didn’t pause until he reached the edge of a four-lane divided road. He checked both ways for movement, but saw none.
What the hell? Pax shouldn’t have gone any farther than this.
“Pax! Shout if you can hear me!”
Not a damn thing.
He decided to cross the road and keep going north for a few blocks. If that didn’t work, he’d try east and west.
“Pax! Can you hear me? Pax!”
All remained silent, until he neared the point where he’d planned to turn back.
It wasn’t a voice he heard, not even something rapping against the ground to get his attention. It was an engine, and by the sound of it, one belonging to a large vehicle, like a…
…bus.
Relieved, he started jogging back down the street. He was still a good half block from the divided road when a tour bus came speeding through the intersection. He slowed, surprised. While he had clearly seen Pax behind the wheel, the older man had not been alone.
The people Pax worked with must’ve shown up early, Robert decided.
He sprinted back to the buildings in front of the port, and reached the ocean-side corner of the passageway moments after the bus pulled to a stop. He was just about to step into the clear when the vehicle’s door opened and Pax stumbled out.
Robert paused, still mostly hidden behind the building.
The second person to exit was a man carrying a rifle. He shoved the weapon’s stock into Pax’s back, prodding him forward. Four more people piled off — two men and two women. The men and the younger woman were similarly armed.
They had a desperate look to them as they conferenced at the end of the dock. The talk seemed heated, one of the men gesturing angrily at Pax. Then a man and the armed woman ran down the dock and disappeared onto the ferry. Robert could see them moving quickly through the boat, and knew they had to have been looking for him. When they returned to where the others waited, the man shook his head and the woman said something.
The guy who’d shoved Pax shouted a curse and turned Pax away from the water, not quite angled at Robert, but close enough.
“I know you’re out there!” the man yelled. “I saw you and your buddy come in! So you might as well show yourself.”
Robert didn’t move.
“Here’s the thing,” the man continued after a moment. “We’re taking your boat. Now your friend says he can drive it for us, but you were the one behind the wheel of the one you two came in on, so I’m thinking you’re the pilot. Or captain. Whatever. I think your buddy here is useless. So, unless you want to watch me kill him, I need to see you walking over here.”
What the hell was wrong with these people? They didn’t look sick. Shouldn’t they have been happy to find others alive?
“Thirty seconds,” the man announced, “or I swear to God I will shoot him in the back of the head, and we’ll try to figure out how to sail this thing ourselves.”
“I told you I can do it,” Pax said, his voice not quite as loud as the other man’s. “My friend’s long gone by now. He’s not coming back.”
“Is that right?” The response was yelled so Robert could hear it. “You the kind of person who will just leave your friend to die?”
Robert didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want Pax to get hurt, but who was to say these people wouldn’t kill both him and Pax if he did as they asked? Robert’s main responsibility was to those still on Isabella Island. Without him, they would never get off. Of course, without the ferry, getting everyone to the mainland would become infinitely harder.
“Goddammit! Where the hell are you?” the man screamed. He grabbed the back of Pax’s shirt and shoved the end of the rifle into Pax’s neck. “I’m fucking serious! Show yourself!”
One of the man’s companions came up and said something Robert couldn’t make out.
“I know what I’m doing!” the agitated man shouted. “I know what I’m doing!”
“I can pilot the boat for you,” Pax said, his voice surprisingly even.
“Jacob, his buddy’s obviously not coming back,” the man who’d walked up said, his voice louder now. “We need to let this one try. What other choice do we have?”
“Come on! Where are you?” the man holding the rifle — Jacob — yelled.
“Let’s just go,” the other man said. “He’s not coming. We’re wasting time.”
Jacob grunted in frustration and then lowered his rifle. After twisting Pax around, another conversation ensued, again too low for Robert to hear. When it ended, Jacob shoved Pax toward the Albino Mer.
The only time in his life Robert had felt more helpless was when he realized Dominic had contracted the Sage Flu. From his hiding spot, he watched as Jacob led Pax onto the boat, while the other four retrieved several suitcases from the bus and carried them to the ferry.
As the two women untied the lines holding the boat to the pier, the engine kicked to life. For a few moments, the Albino Mer simply drifted in place. Finally, the rumble of the motor increased and the ferry pulled slowly away.
Robert noticed activity along the opposite side of the boat. He couldn’t tell what was going on at first, but when the ferry cleared the end of the dock and turned to the northeast, he saw two of the kidnappers repositioning the speedboat he and Pax had arrived in so that it could be towed behind them.
Robert waited until the ferry disappeared behind the cruise ships before stepping out from the building. If he didn’t already have proof the world had changed, he had it now.
Pax’s kidnappers had made a serious mistake, though.
They had taken the boat Robert needed to help his people.