The Infected (Book 4): Wrecked

by Justin Gowland

  Chapter Six

  After a short while he pointed to one on the other side of the harbour and said “That’s the one.”

  I followed his pointing finger and saw a large cargo ship. It had a half black and half blue paint scheme. At the rear of the ship was a large structure with windows running the full length at the top. The deck seemed to be flat but I wasn’t sure because our boat was lower than it. I could see movement on it, though, and from the lurching of the bodies I could tell that they were infected. Amy slowly edged our boat in the ship's direction. Holding out my hand, Chris passed me the binoculars and I decided to have a look at the large structure at the rear of the ship.

  The windows looked like dark holes cut into the top of the structure. I saw some movement but I couldn’t tell if it was Jane and her group or if it was more infected. In the end, I knew that the only way we were going to find out was when we boarded the ship.

  “Over there near the super structure.” Amy said, pointing.

  Looking through the binoculars at where she was pointing I could see a ladder that almost touched the water. Amy started to move the boat towards the ladder.

  “Amy, stop here for a second.” I said.

  Throttling back, Amy slowed the boat so it was just moving with the current.

  “What we waiting for?” She asked.

  “Look, it's midday, and to tell you the truth, I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to clear the deck. The last thing I want to do is go stumbling round on that deck in the dark.” I said, pointing out the window.

  “Fine!” She said, hitting a button on the dash marked anchor, after which she stomped off downstairs.

  “Give her some time.” Chris said.

  I sighed and looked at the super structure and wondered if Jane and her group were ok. Had they seen our boat moving around in the harbour?

  “Do you think they’ve seen us?” I asked Chris.

  “Who, the infected or Jane’s lot?” He replied.

  “Either.”

  “Not sure but we need to find out before we set foot on that ship.” He said.

  I passed him the binoculars and stood looking at the ship then turned to look at the other ships in the harbour. One day they would bust loose from their ropes and end up either crashing into each other or make their way down the river to the sea. When either of those things happened they would end up wrecks. So, in short, all these ships were just wrecks waiting to happen.

  “Do you think we should try the lemming thing today before it gets late or wait for the morning?” I asked.

  Chris dropped the binoculars from his eyes and said “Might be worthwhile doing it today. If they just follow each other like they did at Hornsea, well, they might clear the deck themselves during the night.”

  “Listen, could you go and ask Amy about it? I think she would rather be back at the bunker than be here with me.” I said, feeling ashamed.

  “Okay, I’ll ask, but you’re going to have to talk to her sooner or later.” He said, heading for downstairs.

  Picking up the binoculars, I watched the windows like a hawk. There was movement up there. Amy came up and raised the anchor and moved us close to the ladder.

  She stood looking at the ladder near the prow of the boat and said “So what’s the plan?”

  “I suppose one of us goes up the ladder and gets the infected to follow them to the edge in a large enough group and we’ll see if they do the same thing as the ones at Hornsea did.” I said.

  Chris looked at the ladder and gathered his gear. I watched him and never said a word.

  “You not volunteering?” Amy asked, looking at me.

  I turned to her and said “I would volunteer but my two best friends pointed out that I risk my life too many times.”

  She walked over to Chris and checked his webbing, all the while mumbling under her breath. When she was satisfied, she gave him a slap on the shoulder. We all headed out the side door and along the small walkway to where the ladder met the boat. Testing to make sure it could hold his weight, Chris stepped onto the first two rungs.

  Turning around, he said “Shouldn’t be too long. Oh!...one other thing. Don’t kill each other while I am gone.”

  With that said, he started up ladder and was over halfway before we knew it. The last thing I saw was his boots going over the edge of the large ship. I swear I could hear him shouting. Amy and I stood there for a while before heading back inside. Really, there was very little else we could do but wait.

  Half an hour went by and we heard a huge thud come from the front of the boat. Looking out through the window I saw a smear of green and black at the edge of the prow near to where the ladder was. I rushed outside and looked up. About a third of the way down the ladder was Chris. What concerned me the most was the fact there were infected at the rail of the ship and I could see that they were getting pushed overboard by the infected behind them. I could only stand there as two infected fell from the railing. One just missed Chris and slammed into the water between the ship and the boat. The other missed Chris by a wide margin, but slammed into the deck of our boat like a ton of bricks.

  Chris had almost made it when a falling infected caught his arm. I heard a wet snap and knew that the falling body had broken something. Chris cried out and fell on to the deck clutching his arm. The roar of our boat filled the air as Amy moved us away from the falling infected. I pushed the infected that had hit the deck overboard and then rushed over to help Chris.

  He lay on the deck holding his left arm to his chest. I felt the boat slow and then heard the anchor drop. Trying to get Chris on to his feet was hard going, but I managed to help him inside. With Amy in front and me behind we managed to help Chris down both sets of stairs and into one of the bedrooms.

  “I’ll go get the medical kit.” Amy said and left the room.

  “I…I didn’t think about the falling bodies.” Chris said, gritting his teeth.

  I stood up and said “No, mate, it was my stupid idea so it’s my fault.”

  Chris shook his head “Will you stop… stop thinking that everything that goes wrong is your fault.”

  Amy came in and pushed me out of the way saying “Marc, the best thing you can do at the moment is go wait in the bar. I’m going to check his arm and I doubt he’ll want you to see him cry.”

  “Like fuck am I leaving.” I said, starting to lose my temper.

  “Do as she asks.” Chris said.

  Looking at him, I could see a film of sweat on his brow and he had gone several shades lighter than usual.

  “Okay. I’ll be in the bar. Come and see me when you’re done, Amy.” I said.

  “Fine.” Was all she replied and turned back around to help Chris.

  I left the bedroom and headed up the stairs listening to Chris’ cries of pain. I got to the top and went to the window that faced the ship. I watched as the infected fell over the side in ones and twos. Smiling, I sat down and Spirit came out of her hiding spot under the table to lie down at my feet. I could still hear the muffled cries coming from Chris. It wasn’t nice to think that we hadn’t even properly got on board yet and one of us was injured.

  Amy came upstairs and I noticed the cries had gone. Standing up, I was starting to think not another Tracy situation. My hand started to stray toward my pistol.

  If Amy noticed, I don’t know, but she said “He’s asleep. I gave him some Morphine from the first aid kit. From what I can tell, he’s had it broken in two places at least. Just below the elbow and about halfway between the elbow and wrist. Without an x-ray I can’t tell how bad the breaks are. I made a temporary splint for the arm but he’s going to be out of action for a while.”

  She sat down in one of the chairs. I just looked blankly at the stairs expecting Chris to suddenly appear and say ‘Fooled you.’

  “What we going to do about finding Jane and her group?” Amy asked.

  “What do you mean?” I said, turning around to face her.

  “With Chris out of a
ction there are only the two of us and there must be over a hundred infected on board that ship.” She said, pacing about.

  I looked at her for a few seconds before answering “Well, I hate to remind you but I was going to try and do this on my own anyway before you and Chris caught up with me at the marina.”

  “We stopped you leaving on your own because you wouldn’t have even been able to get here without us.” She said.

  I knew that she meant the bout of sea sickness that I had on the way here.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. I’m still willing to head on board tomorrow by myself.” I replied.

  “Grrrrr…” She said and stomped off downstairs.

  Shrugging my shoulders, I walked outside and used the binoculars to watch the infected fall over the rail from the deck of the ship. It wasn’t exactly like the dock back at Hornsea but there were a few of them falling into the water. As I watched the falling infected, using the binoculars I could see a few infected lurching along the rail. Spirit came outside and went to the edge of the deck and squatted down to relieve herself, after which she lifted her head and took a sniff of the air. Turning to look at me, she headed back inside.

  I sat in the bar for the rest of the day, thinking. Light was starting to fade when I saw Chris slowly coming up the stairs. He looked just as pale as when he broke his arm. Looking up, he smiled at me and I could see the pain etched in it.

  “How’s it going, Marc?” He asked lowering himself into a chair with one arm.

  “The infected stopped falling over the rail about two hours ago.” I said.

  He nodded his head before saying “I gather you and Amy haven’t made up yet?”

  Shaking my head, I looked over and said “I think she wants to turn back. With your injury, I don’t blame her, but I won’t leave Jane here to die.”

  “I can see why she wants to go back. This break is a bad one.” He said, lifting his arm slightly.

  “So do you want to turn back?” I asked.

  This time it was his turn to shake his head.

  “I know that you wouldn’t leave even if we wanted to. Plus, you’re my brother and I would never leave my family. What we have to do is come up with a way to get Jane and her group out without you dying.” He said.

  “I hate to say this but I know next to nothing about boats or ships.” I said, placing my head in my hands.

  “Bloody good thing that you brought me along then, isn’t it?”

  I looked up and saw Amy standing at the top of the stairs.

  “I’m sorry…” I began to say.

  “Don’t apologise yet. You can say it when we have saved your friend and her group.” She said, walking further into the bar.

  “Okay. We all know that Spirit and I won’t be coming on board with you. We did bring the tactical radios with us and they should be able to reach all over the ship if we moor at the ladder so I can help run things from here. We have the shotguns and a few other toys, so when you find the survivors you can distribute them for extra firepower.” Chris said, sitting back in his chair.

  “Okay. Next thing we need to talk about is how we go about the search. There are multiple routes up to the bridge and we don’t know if all of them or only a few are blocked.” Amy said, standing at the bar.

  “With that being said, the best way would be for us to get inside the structure and split up. That way we can cover more routes to the bridge.” I said.

  “That might be a bad idea.” Chris said.

  “Actually, it might be okay. Considering the hallways are narrow, the infected will only be able to come at us a few at a time, and as long as we clear the way as we go, nothing should, in theory, come up behind us.” Amy said.

  Chris walked over and flicked the light switch bathing the inside of the bar in light. “Okay, considering I’m not coming, let’s quickly run through what gear we have and what you want to take.” He said, sitting down.

  “I suppose I need to go and pull those bags over?” I said.

  “Well, it’s not like I can carry them and Amy is a lady.” Chris said, grinning at me.

  Standing up, I walked over to where the two carryalls were lying. As I walked passed Chris, I flipped my middle finger. He sat laughing whilst I carried the two bags over to the table. Dumping them there, Amy unzipped them and pulled out the shotguns. She then grabbed the boxes of ammo and the extra mags for the rifles and the pistols. I opened my bag and pulled the flash bags and grenades. The last thing I pulled out was the Taser.

  “What the fuck do you need that for?” Chris asked, picking it up.

  “Remember I told you about Foxton?” I said.

  He nodded.

  “Who’s Foxton?” Amy asked.

  “He’s a copper that Marc pissed off. Marc seems to think that he may be with Jane and her group.” Chris said.

  “Jake said that Jane had a copper with her and I don’t fancy having any trouble from that fucker, if it is him. Hence, the Taser.” I said, grabbing it from Chris’ hand.

  “Shooting him with a Taser might not be the best idea, Marc.” Amy said.

  “Who said anything about shooting him with the Taser? I’m only bringing it along in case he gets out of hand.” I said, smiling. To tell you the truth, I really wanted to, but having a good reason might make it better.

  We spent the next hour filling the extra mags and setting up our tactical vests. Setting my vest down on the table I stripped and cleaned both my MP5 and 9mm Sig. Chris sat cleaning the three shotguns we had brought and Amy headed off to bed saying that she would clean her gear in her room. I watched as she headed down the stairs and out of sight.

  “It’ll get better, man.” Chris said.

  I turned round to look at him with a puzzled expression.

  “You and Amy, when we get back and things get back to normal, everything will get better.” He said, smiling.

  “Since when have you become the love guru?” I asked.

  “Since I don’t fall out with Tessa every five minutes, like you and Amy.” He said, laughing.

  I smiled and said “Fuck you. Get on with your cleaning, old man.”

  Chapter Seven

  We sat for another two hours cleaning and checking everything. I was the first finished so I helped him clean the shotguns, stacking them in the corner with the gear Amy and I were taking in the morning. I headed off to the single room and climbed onto the bed and closed my eyes.

  Chris opened the door in the morning and said “Rise and shine.”

  Rolling over, I looked up and said “Bloody one-armed bandit.”

  “Get out of bed, Marc. Amy has the boat near the ladder and is ready to go.”

  “Fuck, man, I haven’t even had anything to eat yet.” I said, followed by almost getting hit in the head by a flying breakfast bar.

  “Eat up.” He said, grinning.

  Ripping it open with my teeth, I stood up and followed him upstairs.

  “Why is she in a rush?” I asked around a mouthful.

  “Something about wanting to get this over and done with.” He said over his shoulder.

  We walked through the bar and up into the wheelhouse. Either Chris or Amy had brought my gear up from the bar and stacked it in one of the corners. Pulling and clipping everything on, I glanced out the front window and saw Amy standing at the foot of the ladder with her rifle in hand and a shotgun over her shoulder.

  Picking up the other two shotguns, I crossed them over my back. Placing the throat mic and the earpiece on, I headed out to where she was standing.

  “Let’s do a comms check.” Chris said, walking back inside.

  A burst of static filled my ear followed by “Chris, checking in.”

  “Amy, check.” I heard her say.

  “Marc, check.” I said.

  “Okay, guys, only break silence if you need back up or you reach the survivors and they’re ok.” Chris said.

  “Okay, Chris.” I said and turned towards the ladder only to see Amy already climbing.
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br />   I waited for her to get halfway before starting up. I reached about halfway and looked up and saw her feet go over the rail. We had decided that she would take the hatch nearest the ladder and I would head over to the hatch on the other side of the structure. I reached the rail and expected to see her standing near to the hatch but she was nowhere to be seen. Looking around, I couldn’t see any infected so I slowly climbed over the rail and crouched down. Looking across from where I was, a small gangway ran along the front of the structure.

  Keeping low, I moved as quickly as I could all the while trying not to make any sound. My gear was all strapped down and I was sure I could still hear something clinking. The gangway had a set of four metal steps up to it and I slowed right down to climb them. Edging along the front of the structure, I felt very aware of being in the open. Looking toward the front of the ship, I could see infected lurching amongst shipping containers and wooden crates. If any of them saw me, things would get ugly for me pretty quickly. Luck held out and I came to the end of the gangway. Walking down the four steps on the other side, I turned without looking and walked straight into an infected. It bounced off my chest and landed on the deck in front of me. I pulled my crowbar out and stabbed down with the sharp end before it could make a sound. Looking around, I couldn’t see any other infected nearby. Thanking whatever guardian angel was looking after me, I stepped over the body and headed for the hatch.

  The hatch was open and that worried me a bit. Stepping inside there was very little light. Amy had said that this might be the case and that was why we had brought the night vision goggles. I closed the hatch and pulled on the goggles, turning them on. A green image of the inside lit up. Looking around, I saw steps leading up and down. There was a closed hatch in front of me. I knew that I had to head upwards for the bridge so I started up the steps. My feet made a hollow sound as I placed one foot in front of the other on the steps. There were no more steps when I reached the landing, only an open hatch. The small corridor stretched away into the green darkness with doorways on either side. Taking my time, I stepped over the hatch threshold and into corridor. Looking up, there were pipes and cables running the length. The first doorway was closed and locked so I moved on aware that all I could hear was my breathing.