For Those In Peril (Book 1): For Those In Peril On The Sea by Colin M. Drysdale Page B

minutes before I replied. ‘Okay, Bill, you win.’ I smiled at him, ‘You really know how to get to people, don’t you?’
     
    ‘I think we should push on. We don’t know where those infected came from last night and there might be more of them around here.’ Bill looked round at the rest of us.
    Night was falling and we were in the cockpit trying to decide what to do next. I was all for Bill’s suggestion. It was always a little more risky to do a passage at night, but it would be much more difficult for us to be surprised by any infected if we were on the move. In any case, we now had the depth-sounder working to warn us if we were approaching any shallows, and there was just enough light from the nearly new moon to see our way. Looking at the chart, I could see the waters around us were almost uniformly twenty feet deep, meaning there was little chance of running into any coral heads that might be out there. Jon, CJ and the boys were also happy to push on so, with the last of the sunlight disappearing from the sky, we pulled up the anchor and continued east, a stiff wind pushing us from behind.
    ‘How are we going to organise the watches?’ I glanced across at Bill.
    ‘I think there should be two people on deck at all times. One can steer and the other can take the gun and keep an eye out for anything that might be hiding any infected. Each of us can do two hours on, four hours off, and we’ll rotate the jobs every hour.’ Bill’s watch system was pretty standard for a night passage, and it was similar to the one we’d used as we’d crossed the Atlantic, with the exception of the need for someone to be armed with a gun.
    ‘Rob, you and CJ can take the first watch. Rob, you come down first and Jon can replace you, then Jimmy, then me, then Mike and that should take us back to Rob.’
    The rota was well thought out. It meant there would always be someone with a decent amount of sailing experience — either Bill, Jon or I — on deck at all times.
    After the others had gone inside I was left in the cockpit with CJ.
    ‘If you want to take the helm, I’ll take the gun.’ I went to pick it up.
    ‘What makes you think I can’t handle it?’ CJ had a defensive look on her face.
    ‘It’s not that CJ, it’s just ...’ I wondered what to say next and I decided I should be honest with her. ‘Look, CJ, how are you coping with all this?’
    ‘I’m doing fine.’ She looked down at the deck, avoiding eye contact.
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Yes.’ There was a note of defiance in her voice, but she still didn’t look at me.
    ‘CJ,’ I glanced at her, wondering how much I should share and decided this wasn’t the time to be holding back. I looked out into the darkness. ‘CJ, I’ve had my moments. I’ve thought about it, but we can’t. None of us can. We need to keep it together, not just for ourselves, but for each other.’
    ‘Rob, I know I fell apart before. I admit it. I couldn’t cope with it at first.’ She was staring at me now, her eyes burning with intensity. ‘I’ve had time to think since then. I can deal w ith it. I’m not going to let this win.’
    ‘You sure?’ I searched her face, looking for clues.
    ‘Yes.’ CJ sounded so emphatic.
    Against my better judgement, I took my hand off the rifle and let her pick it up. I was surprised at how confidently she handled it, checking the chamber and the magazine to see how many bullets were there.
    She saw me staring at her and she looked back at me, making direct eye contact.
    ‘I told you. I can deal with this.’
     
    I’d been drifting in and out of sleep for about an hour and a half when the boat suddenly lurched to the left and I heard something fall from a shelf in the galley and shatter on the floor. I grabbed a t-shirt and was in the cockpit in seconds, but not before cutting my foot on a shard of broken crockery. On deck, Jon was at the wheel, the spotlight next to him while Jimmy was at the table with the rifle, both had just