Red Tide² ━ FTWD

CHAPTER 3: In The Doldrums

RED TIDE

chapter three: in the doldrums

[ season 2, episode 2; we all fall down ]

NIGHT 17

"San Diego's dead," Travis announced as he and Madison ascended the wheelhouse steps. He dropped what looked to be a captain's log on the dash.

"How bad?" Daniel asked. Katie hovered at the former soldier's side, scanning the pages for any hints at a safe place as Madison flipped through.

"It's gone," she replied.

"What?" Strand sounded shocked. "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

"What do you mean gone?" Daniel questioned.

"It's burned," the blonde replied. "The military burned it down."

There was a lull among the group. Madison and Travis' faces said it all for Katie. Whatever information they had was credible enough to dispel their belief in the city entirely. Like her, Daniel seemed to trust the judgement of the couple, and his daughter followed his example, face drawing in worry now that they were adrift without a course. Strand seemed less certain.

"It would make sense," Katie broke the silence, tempering her own reaction as she reasoned, "They were trying to contain the spread. Probably hit all the big cities."

Madison nodded along to Katie's logic, and added, "According to this, the Leigh Anne just came from the south, right there," she pointed to an entry.

"Wait a minute, I thought you said San Diego was safe," Ofelia spoke up, distressed by the news.

"I wouldn't take this as gospel," Strand picked up the logbook and settled back in his chair to look through. "Did they even try to dock? Did they go ashore? How do they know?"

"If it's anything like LA, I'd guess they wouldn't need to dock to know for sure," Katie said, remembering with a shudder the burning skies of last night.

"The logs are clear," Daniel added, pointing to the entry which read; San Diego — city on fire. Nothing left, only DEAD. "The last entry was yesterday, what is there to doubt?"

"If we're going to San Diego, we need to know what's there," Madison agreed.

"Right now I'm trying to focus on what's about to be here," Strand said, snapping the logbook shut and placing it aside. He turned to Daniel, asking, "And what kind of weapon would you suppose would be big enough to sink that boat?"

Daniel answered easily as his daughter began to leaf through the logbook. ".50 caliber machine gun."

"Military grade," he stood from his seat as he leaned over the dash. "The kind of weapon that could only be mounted on a larger vessel." He tapped the radar pointedly, finger hovering above a blinking green ship getting dangerously close to their own. "Larger. Vessel."