End of the Line (Book 2): Stuck in the Middle by Lara Frater

sink. Gross. Grace put the gun down. She didn’t say a word, she walked back below deck. She didn’t even look like she was cold.
                  This was going to be a very long winter.

Chapter 3
     
                  Keith fit in quickly and Tanya wasn’t so hard on me for leaving the door unlocked. I told her I blew it, she told me it shouldn’t happen again. That made me feel guilty about keeping Keith’s secret.
                  He stayed quiet like Eric, Grace or Simon except he didn’t have Grace’s sarcasm or Eric’s moodiness. Jim added two game nights, one night of poker for candy and another for monopoly, but I was still bored and depressed. Tanya announced we were casting off and heading a mile off the Hamptons where we would stay for the winter. Grace knew of a dock big enough for the boat to fit, in case of emergency. I was happy to leave the boat now.
                  It was cold with a bitter wind, but I sat above deck watching the ship crash against the waves and the cold wind blow the sails. Grace was sailing but Tanya was with her getting lessons. We would have to ride around Orient beach and Plum Island. Plum Island was one of the places Jim’s suggested but rejected. The island was home to laboratories and who knew if anything nasty got released.
                  I wore thermals, jeans, a tee, a sweat jacket, the winter coat, scarf, hat, gloves and a hood but I was still felt chilled to the bone. Everyone else was inside, probably thinking I was crazy.
                  It was when we passed Orient that I saw the people.
                  There were two of them standing on the beach: A younger black woman and an older Hispanic man. Neither wore coats. They were waving at us frantically. I waved back and they waved again, still frantically, jumping up and down with their hands in the air. I think they needed help. I ran up to the bridge to let Tanya know.
                  “Yeah,” she said as soon as I got inside. The warmer air was a godsend. “I see ‘em.”
                  “We need to stop. We should at least talk to them.”
                  “In the spring maybe. Not now. Keith’s our last passenger. We can’t take on anymore and we can’t dock, which mean someone’s gonna have to take the dinghy out in this cold, and I ain’t risking that.”
                  “But what if they just need supplies? I could go.”
                  “We can’t help anyone right now,” she said. I looked at Grace and she seemed uninterested.
                  Angered, I chose not to respond, instead I left the bridge. The people were already gone in the distance. I waved but I don’t think they saw me.
                  I heard the door open and Keith came out. He had two steaming mugs.
                  “Hi,” he said. “Thought you might like coffee.”
                  “I saw people at Orient beach,” I took one of the cups. I sipped the lousy coffee but I didn’t mind because it warmed me up.
                  He looked out onto the water but they were long gone. “We aren’t the only survivors.”
                  “I know, but I feel like we should start talking to other people—“ I paused. “But then there are hunters.”
                  He looked flustered. “I shouldn’t have told you, Annemarie,” he looked down. His eye glasses hit the edge of his nose.
                  “Too late for that.”
                  “Don’t let my problem get in the way. I’ll move on in the spring.”
                  “You don’t have to. The hunters, do they know you?”
                  “A man came to the camp, asked a lot of questions about carriers.”
                  “The camp at