The Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Weight Read Online Free

and I don’t want to find out. We should be safe running the engine since it’s built not to throw off sparks, but with all the crap that got washed into the bay, we’re going to have to watch real close for anything floating just below the surface. I’m going to need you to grab the push pole and get out on the bow to clear the way. Last thing we need is a hole in the hull.”
    The smell of petroleum and things long burnt grew thicker as they made their way cautiously into the cut that led to Galveston Bay. The water turned rainbow colors mixed with a thick sludge that made a rainbow of swirls around the bow of The Usual Suspects as Steve pushed the occasional piece of flotsam out of their way. As they passed Pelican Island, the true devastation of Texas City became apparent.
    Blackened , twisted wreckage poked up from piles of debris. The occasional ruins of what were once buildings could be discerned, but these were few and far between. Some areas had been cleared by something that exploded, with the remains of what had stood in that spot scattered in a wide circle. Along the shoreline, little could be seen except burnt pilings jutting up from the water with the piers that they had once supported burned away. Ahead of them they could see the Texas City dike jutting out into the bay from the edge of what used to be the rail yards. Lying across it was the broken, rusted hulk of what had once been an oil tanker. From the looks of it, the huge ship had been lifted up and set down with enough force to split it almost in two on the breakwater.
    Heather came up from the cabin and stopped in shock at what she saw. Only able to spin in a slow circle as she tried to take in the utter destruction, she kept repeating, “Oh, my God!”
    Shaking her head to clear it, she joined Tick- Tock by the wheel.
    “Lots of crap in the water so you might want to slow down a little,” Steve called from the bow. Turning to see Heather, he said, “Grab the other pole and give me a hand. All the crap that go t blown into the bay is jammed up here at the cut and it’s turned into a big floating mass. We’re going to have to clear a path, but it looks like once we get further in it clears up though.”
    Heather joined him and together they levered a woven m ass of burned wood, plastic and unrecognizable remains out of the way. After an hour of work, Steve looked back to judge how far they had travelled so he could gauge how much longer it would take. The fumes from all the gas and oil were making him sick and he could see Heather’s face was pale. They had both thrown up repeatedly, and he knew if they didn’t get some fresh air soon they might pass out.
    Steve g azed at the path they had cleared and was reminded of pictures he’d seen of the wake left behind by an icebreaker. Using the broken oil tanker as a landmark, he estimated they would be into clear waters in about thirty minutes. Once there, they could pick up speed and get out of the polluted waters of the bay.
    A s he was about to turn back, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped to look closer at what he first thought was an arm waving to him from the midst of the debris, but it disappeared as soon as he focused on it. Shaking his head, he worried that the gas fumes were making him hallucinate as he helped Heather heave an algae covered mess of broken pallets out of the way.
    Steve waved Tick-Tock to move forward into the area they’d cleared as he put the end of his pole down onto a large chunk of fiberglass to push it out of the way. The top was slick and he couldn’t get any purchase, so he put the tip below the waterline and gave it a shove. The wreckage of what had once been part of a speedboat hull slid slowly to the left, but when he tried to bring the pole back in, he met resistance.
    He t urned to Heather and said, “Tell Tick-Tock to hold up, I’m snagged on something.”
    Twisting back and forth on the pole didn’t do anything so he