Drowning Utopia

Chapter 28: Flooded Streets

Looking back, Tessa confirmed that their pursuers were well and truly gone before she allowed herself to relax and let go of the controls to the steamer. Her hands shook as she clutched her sides, trying to stay calm.

Donny called out, "Is everyone all right?"

Some stirred, but it was clear that not everyone was so lucky. 

Meriwether slumping on the forward gun demanded, "How many did we lose?"

Representative Xo-Xing stood. "I did not see what happened to two of them, but one was shot and fell overboard, dragging a second into the water. And this poor woman..." He motioned to a body lying in the bottom of the boat with a hole in its esophagus. "Shrapnel passed right through her throat."

Tessa looked at her lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. She realized that the dead woman had been right next to her when she was hit. A few inches to the left and that could have been her. To survive the flood, only to die by a stray piece of debris. It left a sickening feeling in Tessa's stomach. So much so that she upheaved over the side of the boat.

Dem Xo-Xing crossed over to Tessa and tried to help her up, "Come, Miss Copperfield, pull yourself together." But he stopped when Tessa winced with a cry and shrunk away from the barest of touch. "Why, miss, you're bleeding," he said, looking at his bloodstained hand.

Tessa could see that her right sleeve was drenched. Feeling along her arm, she found the source of the blood, a large gash along her shoulder. She couldn't believe that she hadn't even noticed.

Gray crawled over from the gun to Tessa. Pulling back her soiled blouse, he found the gash. "Ah, it's not that bad. Just a graze."

Lonny, who managed to recover from the shock of everything, began helping with Tessa. "Here, use this," she said, ripping off a bit of her bustle, before tearing it into strips.

As Lonny helped Gray patch her up, Tessa couldn't help but think it strange that a few hours earlier, had they been in the same room together, the two of them would have most likely been at each other's throat. But because of their circumstances they both were working together to help her. Tessa looked about at the others still alive. Donny, Lonny, the two Oni, Mr. Wooster, Gray and herself. Only seven out of at least twenty were all that made it.

Representative Xo-Xing did his best to clean up the dead bodies still on the boat, muttering something in his native language over each before covering their faces and slid them overboard. Tessa felt that it was wrong to dispose of them in such a callous manner, that the dead deserved a proper burial, but she hadn't the stomach to look at the dead woman or the other bodies anymore. She tried not to watch them as they floated away.

Donny helped Miss Le-Ren as she looked over the busted engine trying to get the battered beast to work. Wooster stood on the stationary gun at the front. They each had a half-crazed air about them. Then again, they were all on edge, expecting another attack at any moment. Tessa knew they would not survive a second attack if it came.

Brushing her locks from her face, Lonny asked Tessa, "How are we going to get out of this one, love? Any bright ideas?"

"I don't know," Tessa said, glancing at her friend as she worked at the makeshift bandages. She noticed that Lonny's knuckles were raw and that she had several bruises and scratch marks along her neck that looked distinctly like fingernail gouging. Tessa wondered how Lonny had gotten them. Then again, she did say that they had a hard time fighting the Boomers before rescuing her and the others in the ballroom.

Gray assured Tessa and Lonny with a less than confident smile, "I am sure we will figure this out." Gray glanced at Tessa, "We always do."

Tessa tried to speak, but she found that she could not. She finally forced the words out, "I hope, I hope you're right." Fighting back the tears, she did her best to suppress the panic that was mounting. With her good hand, she absently started to grab the brass casings from the forward-mounted gun that lay in the bottom of the craft, pocketing them.