I’m not looking forward to the conversation, but I still can’t wait to be back in our cabin with her and Freyja. I can already feel my patience wearing thin, and a submarine is not a fast way to travel. It is, however, quite secretive, and that’s exactly what I need.
“Do I owe this guy any money?” I ask Eddie-boy.
“Fifteen,” he says. “I told him you’d be providing it when you were safely on shore again.”
“You paid him the rest already?”
“Every cent ya gave me. Had to pay a little extra for the medic, but I figured ya might need him.”
“You were supposed to keep some of that for yourself.”
“You can ow
e me,” Eddie-boy says with a shrug.
“I think I already do.”
He waves his hand dismissively.
“I’ll wire it to you,” I tell him. If I have to pay the sub captain fifteen grand, I’ll only have five left in cash to get me home. I hope it will be enough.
I’m still exhausted, and after I’m checked over by the medic again, I decide to try to sleep a little. I’m not sure what the upcoming days will hold for me, and I’ll need whatever sleep I can get.
Should’ve had Eddie-boy bring a hooker along.
I lie on the bench-like bed in the hallway and cover up with the blankets. I wrap my good arm around the tiny, square pillow and tuck my face up against it. I still can’t seem to get warm, and though the medic says I’m mostly recovered from the moderate hypothermia I had suffered, I’m not sure I believe him.
I doze off.
I was hog-tied, and every part of me had ached for days. I’d been given a little water, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually eaten anything. At that point, my stomach might have just rejected it. I wasn’t even feeling the hunger anymore, only the pain. It hurt just to breathe in the hot air around me.
I jerk awake, sweating. Shoving the blankets off of me, I jump from the hot bunk and find myself with my back against the opposite wall, breathing heavily. I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep. It feels like only a few seconds.
It’s quiet in the hallway. There are a few lights along the floor to keep people from tripping over things, but it’s mostly dark. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, and the specter of the kid I shot shuffles down the hall toward me.
I close my eyes, and he is thankfully gone when I open them again. My mind is still spinning out of control, and I slump down on my ass on the cool floor. I can hear gunfire, tanks moving across the sand, and screaming. The sub’s engines hum in the background, and I try to focus on the sound of the craft instead of the sounds in my head. It works but only enough to allow me to get back on my feet and sit back on the bunk.
I lie down but don’t sleep again.
“We’re ready to surface,” Eddie says. “This place is isolated enough, but stay on your toes anyway. There’s still a hint of Canadian military in the area.”
“What town?” I ask.
“Churchill,” Eddie-boy says. “There’s a good-sized airport there. You should be able to get wherever you’re going. You sure you don’t want a phone?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick one up later.”
He gives me a roughly drawn map of the area that shows where he’s dropping me off along with the location of the airport. It seems simple enough. I just need to get myself a flight close enough to home to locate a car and get back to the cabin and Lia. I’m getting jittery though I’m not sure if it’s from the anticipation of seeing her again or just the lack of sleep.
The sub resurfaces, and Eddie-boy operates the small motorboat to get me to the rocky shore on the north side of town. I can’t help but get wet getting out of the boat. The sun is shining, so I should dry off fast enough.
“Anything else you need?” Eddie-boy asks as he hands me the backpack with my gear.
I look through the pack and notice the Glock and holster Eddie-boy has included with everything else. I look up at him and nod slightly.
“This should be it.” I sling the pack over my good shoulder and shift the weight around until it’s comfortable.
“Stay sharp,” he says with a nod. I return the gesture.