by RR Haywood
‘Shit,’ she pumps the handle then steps in and swing the solid metal tube into the side of the zombies head, smashing it down onto the ground as she retreats back to the door. We slowly move backwards and out onto the side of the ship. The zombies follow with their awkward shuffle, reaching the threshold and getting bunched up as they all try and turn onto the narrow walkway running down the side. Two of them simply fall off the side, unable to navigate the ground and stepping out into thin air.
Two left who amazingly keep on the narrow walkway, shuffling and swaying their way along. I edge forward and jab the end of the tube into the face of the closest one. He reels back a step and teeters of the edge before recovering and coming forward again. I step in and jab out harder, forcing him to knock the other one of the side and down into the water. With a smashed in nose he again recovers and starts shuffling towards us.
‘Hang on,’ Nick shouts and leans over me to fire his thick foam into its face and covering the eyes. Blinded, the zombie groans loudly and keeps coming as I step in and swing my heavy water filled tube in a massive uppercut. The impact reels the thing backwards onto its arse, it flails about for a couple of seconds before gently sliding off the edge and splashing into the water.
‘He’s extinguished,’ Nick says.
‘Ha nice one mate,’ I reply.
After throwing the bodies out the side door and into the sea, we quickly squelch down the aisles and clear the big room within a couple of minutes. A door set into a large central column leads to a steep narrow staircase. Going first I climb up and reach the bridge. Expecting a bank of modern equipment I’m surprised at how minimalist the bridge is. Just a central desk area with a few monitors but lots of switches, dials and levers. Nick follows me and immediately goes to the unit. His actions are the same as at Tower Bridge and he stares at the many instruments, running his fingers over them and murmuring to himself quietly.
‘There’ll be an engine room downstairs Mr Howie, could you clear that while I figure this out?’
‘Okay mate,’ I nod to Lani. We go back down the stairs and start searching round for a way into the bottom of the boat. More doors at the rear lead out onto a small platform with metal stairs leading up onto the top outside deck. A solid metal door set into the rear of the vessel, painted white and with a thick metal bar handle locking it in place. I pull the lever back; the door opens on soundless hinges presenting a wide staircase going down. We step over the high ledge and descend into the engine room.
Gaining the bottom we peer down the dark length of the ship, the only light coming from the open door at the top of the stairs. Standing still and breathing quietly we listen for any other noise. Nothing, just the creak of the vessel.
‘Stay here,’ I whisper to Lani, she nods once and I move off down into the gloom. My eyes adjusting as I gradually make my way down. A large central engine block takes up most of the room, shiny with things poking out and tubes, wires and leads feeding off it. Wide metal tubing snakes round the sides of the ceiling and the floor is bevelled stainless steel, offering good grip. I keep my steps slow and steady, breathing gently and holding the fire extinguisher up high, ready to slam down onto any zombie faces that lunge in. Nooks and crannies everywhere, deep recesses hidden in shadows, slowly I make my way down towards the rear, or would it be the front, yes it’s the front of the ship I’m heading towards but the back of the engine room. Bloody military and bloody ships with different bloody words for everything. We never had this problem at Tesco you know.
A loud clunk startles me from my internal moaning, followed by lights blinking on and the sound of things humming, whirring and other machine noises. I tense up expecting there be someone stood there with a hand on the light switch while leaning back in a big black chair and stroking a white cat, ah Mr Howie…we’ve been expecting you…
Instead there’s just an empty room, well it’s empty of people, or undead anyway but filled with machines and the giant engine in the middle. An old fashioned phone fixed to the wall chirps loudly, a bright red light fixed to the top flashes brightly. Lani steps in with a puzzled smile and picks the phone up.
‘Hello, this is the engine room,’ she says with a very polite tone and listens for a few seconds, ‘please hold captain while I pass that message onto the chief engineer…it’s Nick’ she shouts to me, ‘he’s got an override system up there and said there should be a button or switch down here that you can use that will give him full control from the bridge.’
‘Hang on, any idea what it looks like?’ I stare round at the confusing mass of instruments and dials.
‘He said it’s probably either red or green colour, so that it’s easy to spot…his words not mine,’ she adds with a smile when I pass an eyebrow raised look. I move over to a desk and start examining the display.
‘Captain…I don’t have the power...’ Lani speaks loudly into the handset with a mock Scottish accent making me laugh.
‘Got it,’ I shout over, switching the green button marked simply with control – engine – bridge. I select bridge and stand back feeling rather pleased with myself.
‘Mr Howie said he found it…uh huh…yep okay captain.’ She replaces the handset, ‘he said he’ll figure it out from here.’
‘You know I can’t believe we just bloody did that,’ I remark, ‘separating the group and putting ourselves in danger like that, no weapons and not really sure if we can get the thing going or not…that was a bad shout.’
‘We reacted with instinct Howie, it’s a good prize and worth a little risk and if it didn’t work then the others would figure out a way of getting to us.’
‘Yeah but what if something happened while we were separated?’
‘Howie, you can’t control everything and they know what they’re doing.’
‘No I didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to function without us, bloody hell Dave and Clarence could do the work of twenty normal men. I mean just being split up, I don’t like it.’ With a loud clunk the engine splutters into life. A low grumble that slowly builds with a whine into a loud roaring that makes the floor vibrate. We both smile hugs grins as the engine settles back down to a low steady rumble.
‘There you go,’ she smiles as I walk back towards her and the stairs. The engine increases in pitch as the boat starts moving. Down here with no windows we can’t tell how fast or what direction. As I get closer to Lani the boat lurches round as Nick steers it over sending me flying into Lani stood only a few feet away. We collide and grab out to steady ourselves, coming to rest face to face with Lani pressed up against the wall. Our bodies touching, faces just inches apart. I can feel the warmth of her body radiating through her wet clothes. She stares up at me, her dark eyes and golden skin, beautiful lips parting slightly. The temptation to lean in and kiss her overwhelms me. My head drops as she watches me closely, her eyes close and she moves forward a fraction. My heart is pounding more than in any battle so far, adrenalin surges through me and I can feel the blood roaring past my ears. It’s warm here. The noise of the engine blocking all other sounds out. Her body so close. I can feel her breath on my skin, soft, warm, inviting.
The boat spins round in another harsh turn causing us to break apart and I stagger away trying to maintain my feet. The spell is broken and I stand still for a second breathing heavily, she remains wedged into the same position. Her feet braced, preventing her from getting rolled about. A look of disappointment briefly flashes across her features, instantly replaced as she opens her eyes and smiles at me.
‘We’d better go up,’ I have to shout over the engine to make myself heard. She hesitates for a second before pushing herself off the wall and nodding back to me. Leading the way we go back up the stairs and into the passenger lounge. Having a view of the landscape now and I can see the waters are gently rolling by as Nick brings the power down to a more steady pace. Taking care in case Nick tries another hairpin turn we reach the narrow staircase and climb onto the bridge. Nick is at the central desk moving his gaze betwe
en the dials in front of him and the view outside.
‘Well done mate,’ the engines are now a distant thrum and we can speak at nearly normal volume.
‘It’s bloody complicated,’ he turns round grinning, ‘they’ve got side thrusters and things. I reckon it’s so they can push the ship into the side of the pier or maybe keep the thruster things on and hold it there while people are getting on and off. There’s alarms flashes at me too so I don’t think I’ve gone through the right sequence to get the thing going…but…’ his voice trails off as he looks down at a flashing red light, shrugging he continues, ‘but at least we got it running. Sorry about the hard turns but it’s more sensitive than it looks.
‘No problem,’ I reply finding a pair of binoculars hanging from a strap I lift them up and turn round to view the end of the approaching pier. The figures are clear through the magnified lenses, especially the size difference between Clarence and Dave.
‘Getting it alongside is going to be hard Mr Howie,’ Nick says quickly, ‘I can line it up but I don’t know enough to keep it still.’
‘Have a go mate, what’s the fuel like?’
‘Nearly full, I reckon they would have filled up overnight ready for the weekend.’
‘That’s lucky then.’
‘Lucky day so far.’
‘Touch wood it stays that way,’ I tap the side of my head, ‘if we get it tied up we can get everyone on board, take whatever we need from here and anchor up in the sea…it’s got to be the safest place.’
‘I’ll have a go Sir,’ his voice sounds focussed, his face a picture of concentration as he navigates the multi million pound ship towards the ancient solid wooden structure. Lani leans by an open sliding window, the wind blowing her hair and drying her wet clothes. Her eyes are closed with a content serene look and I kick myself for not taking the chance to kiss her. Bloody fumbling idiot. Shaking my head I turn back to the now fast approaching pier.
‘They always go off to the side and turn in so they can drive alongside it,’ Lani says in her strong voice.
‘Which side?’ Nick asks.
‘To the right, I think it’s deeper there.’
‘Okay,’ he replies quietly and gently steers the ship away from the pier. The ship goes past the end and Nick starts the turn, bringing the front sweeping round in a long arc. Eventually the vessel is lined up facing the end of the pier. Nick powers forward gently, sweat dripping from his forehead as his eyes flick between the pier and the front of the ship. Using the binoculars I watch Clarence striding towards the end nearest us. He watches the approach then quickly lifts his arm motioning to pull away.
‘Move to the left mate,’ I relay to Nick. At the dead slow speed the ship takes a few seconds before the end swings out, Clarence watches a few seconds and then motions to pull back in. I relay the instructions as Lani watches from the side window. Poor Nick does his best, making minor adjustments before smashing the side of the ship into the end of the pier with a hard jolt.
‘Sorry,’ he yells with a look of horror.
‘Forget it mate, it’s not our boat,’ I shrug as he lines up and drags the side of the ship along the hard edge of the pier. Loud screeches of metal against wood rip through the air. The rest of the group come into view as I stride over to the window and lean out.
‘Get everything ready and get on, we’ll stay on this for a bit.’ They nod back and quickly move off towards the buildings. Lani and I descend down to the passenger level and out through the still open sliding passenger door.
‘NICK?’ I shout out, ‘CAN YOU HEAR ME?’
‘YES,’ His voice drifts out of the open window on the bridge.
‘GO A BIT MORE FORWARD…KEEP GOING…MORE…ALMOST…YES! THAT’S IT, HOLD IT THERE.’ The pier’s access point, a lower level accessed by steps leading down and allowing vessels to berth with the lower tide, draws level as Nick lines it up perfectly, then goes gently sliding past as we overshoot. ‘TOO FAR…NEEDS TO GO BACK.’
‘TRYING,’ Nick’s voice sails from the window. The engine changes in pitch as Nick reverses the boat. Too much power and we slam back into the side of the pier.
‘USE THOSE SIDE THRUSTER THINGS,’ Lani shouts up.
‘I’M TRYING!’ Nick’s harassed voice comes from the window.
‘I’ll go up Howie,’ Lani says before darting back in and jogging over to the staircase. I wait patiently for a few seconds before I hear their muted voices drifting down. The engine changes in pitch again as the vessel suddenly surges sideways and slams into the pier once more with a loud bang.
‘DON’T YOU LIKE THIS PIER NICK?’ Cookey shouts out as he jogs back carrying several of our kit bags, the shotgun butts all sticking out.
‘PISS OFF COOKEY,’ Nick retorts loudly. Cookey smirks before carefully dropping down the steps. A fluctuating gap between the vessel and the pier forms between Cookey and I.
‘Chuck them over mate,’ I say. Cookey drops them down and starts launching them into the open passenger doorway. As he leaves I move back in and stack them up to one side. Tom and Blowers arrive next, more bags and also carrying boxes of muffins, crisps and cases of water bottles. Everything gets chucked over as they run back and forth, effectively stripping the café of anything usable. Clarence must be directing them, getting them to take everything that might be of use. Fishing rods, the heavy winter coats we slept on, a cardboard box full of black, hand held radios with stubby aerials. Then Tom and Blowers appear carrying the heavy coffee machine between them, the lead dangling from Tom’s teeth.
‘Bloody hell,’ I exclaim, ‘good idea though,’ I add with a nod. They perch dangerously on the edge trying to work out how to pass it over.
‘Put it down and one of you jump in,’ I can see them both falling down the gap and getting crushed by the ship and as much as we all like coffee I judge that maybe losing two of our group is a price too much for it.
They lower the coffee machine as Clarence appears carrying armfuls of axes. Dave just behind him. They work themselves out with Clarence taking the coffee machine while Blowers takes a running jump and launches himself into the ship. Tom goes next, leaving Clarence stood there holding the shiny coffee maker.
‘NICK PUSH IT IN AGAIN AS GENTLY AS YOU CAN,’ I shout up, Lani’s head appears through the window, looking down she sees the stupid task we’re attempting and nods down to us. A couple of seconds later she shouts “HANG ON” as the ship pushes against the side of the pier.
As the vessel connects, I shout “NOW” and Clarence steps forward holding the coffee machine out as Blowers and Tom take it from him. Between us, we manage to grapple the machine on board and give a cheer when we get it inside. The small victory bringing a sense of accomplishment.
Within a couple of minutes we’re all loaded, our small group re-united. The kit gets left on the floor as we all go up onto the bridge, the lads all grouping round Nick and Lani. Clarence strides up to the grinning lad and pats him heavily on the shoulder, almost sending him sprawling into the desk.
‘Brilliant Nick,’ he rumbles with a grin and I can see Nick is pretty much floating off the ground with the compliment.
‘Lani worked out the side thruster things,’ he replies. Clarence and the others turn to the woman and re-start the compliments while she smiles graciously.
Turning round I see Dave looking as expressionless as Lani, but something in his eyes tells me he’s not happy.
‘Sorry Dave, we shouldn’t have gone after it like that,’ I say quietly.
‘We split the group Mr Howie,’ Dave answers with a straight look. My stomach drops at the implication and disappointment clearly evident to me in his otherwise unchanged tone.
‘It was instinct Dave; we saw the rope and went for it. I know what you’re saying and I thought the same just after we got on board.’ He stays looking at me silently. ‘Lesson learnt,’ I add in a quiet voice.
‘It’s good though,’ he adds thoughtfully, ‘and safer than being on land.’
&nb
sp; ‘I thought you didn’t like boats.’
‘I don’t.’
‘But this is alright?’
‘It’s safer for the group, keeps us together so yes it’s alright.’
‘Okay Dave, point taken.’
‘There is one problem Mr Howie.’
‘What?’
‘We’re on the water which is flat, and we’re on a big white boat that everyone for miles will be able to see moving.’
‘So it’s a good thing having this boat but also a bad thing having this boat?’
‘Yes,’ he answers, ‘good and bad with everything Mr Howie.’
‘Dave, if you had a full cup and drank half of the contents how would you refer to the remaining contents of the cup?
‘It depends.’
‘On what?’
‘What the contents were, for instance if its water then I would refer to the content as water, if it was soup then I would…’
‘No I mean not the actual content as in the substance…okay so you have a cup of water and you drink half of the water. How would you refer to the water still in the cup?’
‘I would say it was the water in the cup?’
‘Okay, no I mean like you’ve had half of the water, so…?’
He stares back at me, hardly moving, ‘I’d drink the rest not knowing when the next drink is coming.’
‘Yeah good idea, but how would you say the cup is left.’
‘Empty. I finished it.’
‘No before you drank it.’
‘Full.’
‘No, when you’ve had half of it…’
‘Soon to be empty because I know I’ll drink it.’
‘Aha but it was full.’
‘Yes it was…but I drank it.’
‘So the cup is empty?’
‘After I drunk it, but it was full before.’
‘Right so at the point of it being half filled, would you say half full…’
‘…Yes…’
‘…Or half empty?’