The Eagle

On deck a blood smell like rusty iron greeted them. Lydia didn't give the children time to react to the carnage. She ordered them not to look at the bodies, busying them with strapping on the lifejackets.

"You're in charge," Lydia said to Roscoe. "Lead them down the river a least a mile and then swim over to the Illinois bank. You're going to make sure the older ones help the smaller ones. You're going to be a Christian paladin; you're not going to leave any behind even if they can't run as fast as you. Dan will send some soldiers back upriver to find you once he gets the rest of the people into the tunnel complex."

"Where's my mom?" Roscoe asked plaintively.

"Your mother is dead, Roscoe," Lydia said.

"I want to see her."

"No, you don't want to see her," Lydia said harshly. The boy started sobbing.

Lydia shook him, staring him in the eyes until he stopped.

"Come on, Lydia, come with us," the boy pleaded.

"No, I'm in command of this barge now. As long as there are people here I have to stay." Lydia hugged him. "Tell Davy-Jake I'll always love him. Make sure you tell Dan that Zeke and a girl named Salina are hidden in a locked storage cabinet inside the pilothouse. Now, everyone, hurry, jump."

Roscoe jumped into the river first and then eleven-year-old Melissa Harris followed. The other children, aged twelve down to seven, held hands in groups of two or three and jumped over the side. After they all splashed into the river, Roscoe gathered them together in a tight ball like a mother wood duck. Lydia watched over them with her crossbow as they swam together downriver. When they were out of range of her weapon she climbed back down inside the barge.