For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak by Colin M. Drysdale

smashing one of the small windows in the cabin roof. Water
started pouring in, but before too much could enter, the blast had passed and
the boat started to right itself. Again we were thrown around the cabin like rag
dolls, crashing into tables and seats, and into each other.
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    Gradually, the boat settled itself in the water and I could finally stand up
again. My head was throbbing and I could feel something running down the side of
my face. I touched it, confirming it was blood. I glanced round: Daz was
struggling to his feet, while Tom lay in a crumpled heap. Claire lay nearby,
with Sophie stirring next to her.
    Tom
seemed to be the most badly injured, so I went to him first. Kneeling beside
him, I could see the dressing from his bullet wound had come off and he was
bleeding again. There was also blood flowing down his face from a cut hidden by
his hair and his arm lay at an odd angle to the rest of his body. I touched his
neck with my fingers, feeling for a pulse; it took me a few goes to find it, but
it was there. I checked his breathing: it was shallow and laboured.
    ‘Is he
… you know … dead?’ Daz was standing over me.
    ‘No,
he’s okay.’ I stood up. ‘Well, he’s alive at any rate.’ I stared at Tom,
wondering what to do next. I had a rudimentary knowledge of first aid, but that
was all. For the moment, I decided it might be best if I left him where he was
and I turned my attentions to Sophie and Claire.  Claire was still motionless
while Sophie was now crouched next to her.
    ‘Mum?
Mum! Wake up, Mum!’ Sophie was shouting, ignoring the fact that she was bleeding
from a deep cut on her own arm, but Claire didn’t move. I reached out and
checked her pulse: like Tom’s, it was there. I cast an eye over her; she had no
obvious injuries and, apart from the fact that she was unconscious, she seemed
uninjured. I looked up at Sophie. ‘She’s okay, I think.’
    Sophie’s brow furrowed with concern. ‘Why isn’t she moving then?’
    ‘I
don’t know.’ Then I remembered something. ‘Where’s your mum’s bag? The big black
one.’
    Sophie
sniffed. ‘It was around here somewhere.’
    ‘Can
you see if you can find it? You’ll need to be careful though, there’s a lot of
broken glass around.’
    ‘Okay.’ Sophie started searching through the debris scattered across the floor.
I glanced round the cabin, looking for Daz and found him anxiously watching Tom
for any sign that he might be coming round. ‘Daz, can you help Sophie?’
    Daz
didn’t take his eyes off Tom’s unmoving body. ‘Huh?’
    ‘Can
you help Sophie look for Claire’s bag?’
    Daz
finally looked up. ‘What d’you want that for?’
    ‘Because she’s a doctor. There might be something in it that will help.’
    ‘Oh,
yeah.’ Daz started searching the cabin, too. A moment later, he called out.
‘Found it!’
    He
handed it to me. I opened it and rifled through its contents, looking for
surgical dressings and bandages. I found some and went over to Tom. ‘Daz, come
here. Hold this onto his shoulder; just push down, not too hard; you only need
enough pressure on it to stop the bleeding.’
    Daz
knelt down and held the surgical dressing against Tom’s bullet wound, while I
searched through his hair. The wound wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding heavily.
I’d just taken another dressing and pressed it to his head when there was a moan
from behind me.
    Sophie
was back over beside Claire, leaning over her. ‘Mum?’
    ‘What
happened?’ Claire was trying to sit up.
    ‘We
got knocked down by the blast.’ I turned my attention back to Tom. His head
wound was still bleeding, but the flow was starting to slow.
    ‘Everyone okay?’ Claire spotted Sophie. ‘Honey, you’re hurt. Where’s my bag?’
    ‘I’ve
got it here. Everyone’s okay, except Tom.’ I watched him for a couple of
seconds: his breathing was becoming erratic; his skin was pale; and