her head against me and asked, "Is Daddy going to meet us at home?"
CHAPTER TWO - OVERBOARD
"I'm sorry about your husband," said Billy.
"He did what he had to. Same as your dad."
I had joined Billy up front after getting the girls into a pair of life vests. The cabin of The Casper was plastered with pictures of Billy that his father had taped up. Some of them were from a decade ago, when Billy was a child, and every one of them featured the same goofy grin. There were pictures of him holding fish that dangled by a line, and others at an amusement park. It took me a while to find one with his father in it. It looked older than the rest, with Billy flanked by his father and a pretty woman with her long hair up in a bun and a wide smile.
"Is this your mom?" I pointed at the picture taped above our heads.
Billy looked at it and smiled. "Yeah, before the divorce. I don't really remember those days that well."
"Where's your mom live now?"
"In the city. I used to live with her, but I moved back in with Pop to help him get the salvage business up and running. That, and he needed my help keeping this bucket of bolts floating." He slapped the side of The Casper's steering column. "This old bitch likes to fall apart. A lot."
"That's reassuring," I said. "Have you talked to your mom since all this started?"
"I've been trying to call her, but no luck." He pointed at his cell phone on the dash.
"I haven't had much luck on my phone either." I'd tried calling friends and family the entire time the girls and I were trapped on our roof, but I couldn't get any of my calls to go through. "That reminds me, is there an outlet where I can plug in my phone to charge it?"
"Yeah, right over there. The TV's plugged into it."
"Does the TV work?" I asked.
"Sure. Just the local channels. You know, the free ones. But we could probably check out what they're saying on the news."
I turned on the old, black and white set. The picture popped to life in a way I hadn't seen a television do since I was a kid. It started out pure white and faded until shapes began to appear, but the screaming blared to life immediately. I scrambled to turn the volume down as we tried to see what was happening.
A reporter stood on a roof above a chaotic city street. The noise around him drowned out everything but the bass of his voice and I was about to change the channel when it cut back to the newsroom.
The newscaster shook his head in shock. "We seem to be having trouble with Mike's audio. Although, as you can see, people have started to riot and we're getting reports of looting all across the city."
"Channel Five is asking that our viewers stay inside their homes," said the female co-anchor. "The military has been mobilized, and we should have more information about what is happening within the hour."
"What city was that?" asked Billy as we both strained to see the tiny television.
"New York. It looks like they switched from local to national news. This must be happening everywhere."
"Check to see if you can find a channel that's talking about what's happening around here."
I started to click around the dial when we heard a small boat motor behind us. A family of three in a fishing boat bounced through our wake to come up beside The Casper. A young woman stood at the front and waved her arms at us in a panic as she screamed something we couldn't hear. A man, somewhat older than the woman, sat at the back and guided the motor's handle. A young boy hid in the shallow spot between the seats.
Billy slowed our boat down and I left the cabin to speak with them. I waved down as they steered along and scraped against The Casper's side.
"Here," said the woman standing at the front of the boat as she tossed a nylon rope over our side. I wrapped it around a metal loop on the lip of The Casper and pulled it taut as our two boats slowed to a stop. "Oh thank God," she said after I secured them to us.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"We're almost out of gas. And we
CHAPTER TWO - OVERBOARD
"I'm sorry about your husband," said Billy.
"He did what he had to. Same as your dad."
I had joined Billy up front after getting the girls into a pair of life vests. The cabin of The Casper was plastered with pictures of Billy that his father had taped up. Some of them were from a decade ago, when Billy was a child, and every one of them featured the same goofy grin. There were pictures of him holding fish that dangled by a line, and others at an amusement park. It took me a while to find one with his father in it. It looked older than the rest, with Billy flanked by his father and a pretty woman with her long hair up in a bun and a wide smile.
"Is this your mom?" I pointed at the picture taped above our heads.
Billy looked at it and smiled. "Yeah, before the divorce. I don't really remember those days that well."
"Where's your mom live now?"
"In the city. I used to live with her, but I moved back in with Pop to help him get the salvage business up and running. That, and he needed my help keeping this bucket of bolts floating." He slapped the side of The Casper's steering column. "This old bitch likes to fall apart. A lot."
"That's reassuring," I said. "Have you talked to your mom since all this started?"
"I've been trying to call her, but no luck." He pointed at his cell phone on the dash.
"I haven't had much luck on my phone either." I'd tried calling friends and family the entire time the girls and I were trapped on our roof, but I couldn't get any of my calls to go through. "That reminds me, is there an outlet where I can plug in my phone to charge it?"
"Yeah, right over there. The TV's plugged into it."
"Does the TV work?" I asked.
"Sure. Just the local channels. You know, the free ones. But we could probably check out what they're saying on the news."
I turned on the old, black and white set. The picture popped to life in a way I hadn't seen a television do since I was a kid. It started out pure white and faded until shapes began to appear, but the screaming blared to life immediately. I scrambled to turn the volume down as we tried to see what was happening.
A reporter stood on a roof above a chaotic city street. The noise around him drowned out everything but the bass of his voice and I was about to change the channel when it cut back to the newsroom.
The newscaster shook his head in shock. "We seem to be having trouble with Mike's audio. Although, as you can see, people have started to riot and we're getting reports of looting all across the city."
"Channel Five is asking that our viewers stay inside their homes," said the female co-anchor. "The military has been mobilized, and we should have more information about what is happening within the hour."
"What city was that?" asked Billy as we both strained to see the tiny television.
"New York. It looks like they switched from local to national news. This must be happening everywhere."
"Check to see if you can find a channel that's talking about what's happening around here."
I started to click around the dial when we heard a small boat motor behind us. A family of three in a fishing boat bounced through our wake to come up beside The Casper. A young woman stood at the front and waved her arms at us in a panic as she screamed something we couldn't hear. A man, somewhat older than the woman, sat at the back and guided the motor's handle. A young boy hid in the shallow spot between the seats.
Billy slowed our boat down and I left the cabin to speak with them. I waved down as they steered along and scraped against The Casper's side.
"Here," said the woman standing at the front of the boat as she tossed a nylon rope over our side. I wrapped it around a metal loop on the lip of The Casper and pulled it taut as our two boats slowed to a stop. "Oh thank God," she said after I secured them to us.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"We're almost out of gas. And we
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