by Jon Schafer
He’d only taken a few steps though, when he swore that he heard both Steve and Tick-Tock making purring noises. Thinking all was forgiven; he turned around to smile at them but was met with hard stares. Without a word, Steve gave him a stern look and motioned for him to move on. As soon as his attention was back on the task in front of him though, he heard the purring again. This time he also heard a meow. Whirling around, he found both Steve and Tick-Tock smiling at him. Relieved that his two heroes had forgiven his screw-up enough to make light of it, he gave a warbling meow in return and went back to checking doors.
Coming to the passageway that paralleled the one they had used to enter the starboard side crew's quarters, Steve halted them.
Brain pointed to the last few doors at the end of the corridor and said, “Got a couple more to check.”
“We’ll get to them in a minute,” Steve replied. “Take a break.”
Unlike the crew area where they had first entered, most of the doors they came across on the access corridor had been unlocked. Having to deal with each one as a potential threat, tension was high in the trio. Steve wanted to take a break to let some of the adrenalin that was pumping through them dissipate before moving on.
He was just about to explain this to Brain and Tick-Tock when the banging of a door and voices coming from the passageway they were about to enter interrupted him. Steve's first thought was that someone had heard the shot he’d fired and come to investigate. When he heard the conversation though, he realized it was just bad luck.
“- and that's why the fuck we have to come down here and switch full power back on to deck five,” an angry male voice answered an unheard question.
“This sucks,” a second man's voice commented. “Now all the good looking broads will be taken. By the time we get back up to the party, we'll be left with a bunch of Stank Ho's.”
The voices grew louder as the two men fed into their anger and continued to complain that while everyone else was up on the pool deck stripping off their clothes and getting ready to get down, they were stuck with shit duty.
Steve lowered himself into a crouch to minimize being seen at eye level and risked a quick peek around the corner. He saw two men coming toward him, both armed with bolt-action rifles. Even as he pulled his head back, dozens of options started running lightning fast through his brain on how to deal with the situation.
Kill them?
They're carrying weapons, so chances are they're two of the Head Ushers Tim told us about. If we kill them, they'll definitely be missed. That means Ricky will have to do something about it. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out we had something to do with it. The question is, what'll Ricky do? Attack?
Not wanting to start a war before he was ready to start it, Steve dismissed the idea of killing the Head Ushers.
Take the two men hostage? Same result as killing them.
Show ourselves?
Then Ricky will know we’ve been down here, and the first place he'll check is the electrical switching room. It's too obvious that's the reason we’re here. They might not shut off the power to the gas pump when they find we switched it, but it'll let him know what we’re doing.
Ricky's up to something, Steve decided, so the less he knows about what we're up to the better.
Hide?
He considered this as he looked at the numerous doors in the corridor. Anything could be behind them. The one compartment they were sure was clear was the one with the dead Z in it but it was at the far end of the hall. He knew they'd never make it that far before the two bozos heading in their direction came around the corner and spotted them.
Then he noticed a familiar sign above the door directly on his left. Making a snap decision, he motioned for the others to go through it. Of his limited choices, this one seemed the best. They had come across two similar rooms and would know the layout of what they were walking into. He was aware they were taking a huge risk since they hadn't searched this particular space yet but they didn't have a choice. The two Head Ushers would be on them in seconds. It suddenly flashed through his mind that the downside of his chosen hiding spot was that the door couldn't be locked.
He followed Tick-Tock and Brian. Once inside, he saw that only a single emergency light burning at its far end illuminated the bathroom. Dark shadows were cast over everything in the narrow compartment, making him squint to see in the low light. Motioning Brain to cover their rear, since they didn't know what else might be in there with them, and Tick-Tock to cover the entryway from behind him, he put his foot against the base of the door to keep anyone from getting in. It wasn't the best solution but it was all they had.
The voices in the passageway grew louder as the two men turned the corner. One man was extolling the physical attributes of a certain female passenger he wanted to get with, while the other kept interrupting him to say the woman in question was a dog, flat-chested and had the clap. Hearing their voices fade as they went further down the corridor, Steve let loose the breath he'd been holding. They were going away. He waited a full minute without hearing anything and was about to crack open the door to take a look when he heard a voice which sounded like it was right outside “I won't be a minute, so hold on.”
Shit, Steve thought as adrenalin surged through his body. One of the Ushers decided he needed to take a piss and came back. Now he's going to come in, and I'll have to take him out.
Steve readied himself for the door to be pushed against his foot, then changed his mind and moved it out of the way. He decided he was going to let the door swing open instead of stopping it. He would shoot the first man in the chest before jumping out into the passageway and killing his buddy. He just hoped he had a clear shot at the second man and it didn't turn into a standoff.
Seconds passed as he waited in anticipation for the door to swing open. Instead, he heard a familiar clicking noise from beyond the door.
A faint voice called from down the corridor, “Hurry the fuck up.”
“Screw you and the horse you rode in on,” the man outside the door replied. “You know I can't smoke in the electrical room. It'll set off the smoke detector again.” He laughed abruptly and added, “Last time that thing went off, you almost shit one big brick. You thought the ship was sinking.”
“Screw you, too,” came the terse reply from his partner. Then in a conciliatory voice, he added, “At least you moved down there so I don't have to smell that stink. You're gonna die from those things. They smell rancid.”
Steve exhaled a quiet sigh of relief at these words. Now he knew what was happening in the corridor. The clicking noise was the man outside the door using a lighter to fire up a cigarette. He wasn't down here to use the facilities, he was taking a smoke break. Realizing that if the Head Usher were coming in, he would have done it by now, he relaxed slightly.
We just have to give him a few minutes to finish his butt and then he'll haul ass and we can go, Steve thought. Patience. All we have to do is stay cool and we're home free. We're doing good.
He’d just convinced himself that they would come out of the situation unscathed when Tick-Tock leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “We're not alone in here.”
Instantly on alert, Steve's eyes narrowed as he spun and looked for any potential threat. He gave the bathroom a once over and noted the simple layout. Sinks lined the wall on his left with stalls on the right. No row of urinals since it was a women's room. Nowhere to hide except...
“Which stall?” He asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Second from the last,” Tick-Tock replied in an equally quiet voice.
Then he heard the all too familiar high-pitched keening noise the dead made. It was quiet enough that it might not be heard outside the toilet but he knew that would change. Once the dead smelled fresh meat, they got louder and louder until whatever incited them went away or they got to eat it. He could see Brain with his pistol held at arms length, pointing it at the second stall. He knew the Z was covered since there was no way the tech c
ould miss from that distance, as long as he didn’t drop his gun again.
The zombie in the stall made a slightly louder whine. Any second, the man in the passageway would hear the noise and open the door to investigate.
Now we have no options, Steve thought. We’ll have to kill the two men and hide their bodies. This'll be a bitch since the two Head Ushers will be alerted by the sound the Z's making and be ready for something to go down. The only thing going in our favor is that they won't expect to be confronted by something like us. Still, the element of surprise was gone.
Deciding to take the initiative, he whispered to Tick-Tock, “I'm gonna pull the door open. I want you to waste the guy in the corridor. Make it two quick shots to the chest because I'm gonna be moving out in the hallway to nail his partner. Let Brain deal with the Z when it comes out.”
Tick-Tock stepped back and shouldered his rifle, aiming it at the door as the zombie in the toilet stall let out a long, loud whine. Steve grabbed the door handle and prepared to yank it open. With the sound of the Z echoing off the metal walls, there was no way the Ushers could miss it.
And they didn't.
A harsh voice from the other side of the door called out saying, “Shut the fuck up Delores or I'm gonna come in there and braid your tits.” This was followed by harsh laughter.
A faint laugh came from the man down the corridor before he said, “Someone should go in there and shoot that old bag in the head. Put her out of her misery. She's been locked in that crapper for months now.”
The voice from outside the door grew distant as the man standing there walked toward his partner saying, “Fuck that dead bitch.”
The other man answered, “I wouldn't, but Ricky might.” This was followed by more laughter that faded to silence.
Steve drew a deep breath and let it out. That was too close. Wondering why Brain hadn't fired at the Z, he looked at the line of toilet stalls and saw the reason. There was only a five-inch gap at the bottom of the cubicle, so it wasn't big enough for anything to squeeze through. He also noticed that the sides and front of the stalls went all the way up to the ceiling. The zombie was trapped in a sheet metal cube.
Either the door is jammed or it can't figure out how to open it. It can't get out and that's why it didn't attack. It must know it's trapped since it isn't even trying to tear the door down. These things can learn simple things so it knows it's screwed.
Then an idea struck him, but it would have to wait a little while.
Glancing at Brain, Steve saw he still had his pistol pointed at the door to the second stall and that his hands were shaking slightly, either from fear or from holding the .45 extended for too long. He needed to get Brain to stand down before he squeezed off a shot by accident.
Even though the two Ushers were gone, he kept his voice low so he didn't startle the tech as he said, “Relax Brain. It's only Delores.”
Tick-Tock laughed, “Delores, meet Brain. Brain, meet Delores.”
After making their way down the port side passageway to a door leading back to the Centrum, Steve told Brain to go lock the door they'd used to access the crew area on the other side of the ship while he went back to the bathroom to take care of something.
Tick-Tock gave him a knowing smile and asked, “Need any help?”
Steve only grinned and said, “Nope, I got this, but I need to borrow your K-bar.”
Hurrying back to the bathroom, Steve used a trashcan to prop the door open. Moving to the second stall from the end, he studied the lock on it for a moment as the zombie inside whined at his presence.
Extracting the K-bar from its sheath, he said, “Take a big bite out of one of those assholes when they come back, Delores.”
Using the knife, he popped the lock and ran from the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him and not stopping until he rejoined his friends. Tick-Tock had filled Brain in on what was going on, and as soon as Steve cleared the door it was locked behind him. Steve hoped that neither of the Head Ushers had a key. Let Delores fuck with them for awhile.
Moving down the hall that held the elevators, the three men had to stifle their laughter. While open warfare didn't exist between them and Ricky's people, they all knew it would only be a matter of time.
Tick-Tock asked, “Do you want to stay and watch?”
“Not this time,” Steve replied. “We've still got things to do.” Eyeing the elevator, he added, “Like the Captain of the Titanic said, ‘To the lifeboats’.”
***
Brain poked his head out from under the canvas cover and told Steve, “This is the fourth one I’ve checked. Short of firing one of the engines up, I’d say that there's nothing wrong with any of these boats. The safety seals are still on the engine covers, so no one's been in there, and no one's screwed around with the steering that I can tell. The zincs are missing on a couple-.”
“Tick-Took cut him off by asking, “Sinks? Do these things have a bathroom in them? 'Cause I gotta throw a piss like a racehorse.”
Brain went into serious mode and said, “No, Tick-Tock. A zinc is a-.”
This time it was Steve who cut him off by saying, “Lighten up Brain, he's screwing with you. Button that thing back up, so we can get the hell out of here.” Turning to Tick-Tock, he said, “Alright, Brain did his thing and I did mine, now what do you want to do?”
Tick-Tock only smiled.
***
Holding onto the safety rope, Brain said nervously, “I don't think this is such a good idea.”
“What?” Both Steve and Tick-Tock shouted back at him.
Straining to be heard over the thumping bass of the techno-dance beat booming out from a pair of five-foot high amps set on the deck thirty feet away, Brain repeated his statement.
“Don't worry,” Tick-Tock assured him as he buckled on a safety harness. “This'll be a blast. You'll love it.”
“I’m next,” Steve yelled out.
“Then it's your turn,” Tick-Tock told Brain.
Looking up at the rock-climbing wall towering above him, Brain shuddered at the thought of having to scale it. That's if the rope held.
Doubtfully, he yelled, “I don't know, I think I’m having flashbacks to our escape from the bank building.”
“That was repelling down, this is climbing up,” Tick-Tock pointed out. “There's a big difference.” After thinking about it he added, “Besides, that was kind of fun.”
Turning to the wall, Tick-Tock found hand and footholds on the small protrusions jutting from it and rapidly started up, moving with ease.
Under his breath, Steve said, “Miss, miss.”
When Tick-Tock was halfway, his foot slipped and he started to drop. Brain gasped in fear and tightened his grip on the safety rope, arresting his friend's fall and lowering Tick-Tock gently to the deck.
Smiling, Steve yelled, “You missed and you owe me one-hundred pushups and a bottle of Jamaican rum. You said you could climb all the way to the top on your first try and you blew it.”
Holding up the broken handhold he’d brought down with him, Tick-Tock shouted, “Not fair. This is a mechanical failure. That's not my fault.”
“Like rocks don't break off on a real cliff?” Steve shot back with a triumphant smile on his face. “You lost and now you owe.”
The two men argued loudly, not in the least concerned they would give themselves away to the Faithful since the music playing over the PA system on the pool deck was so loud it could cover the sound of a jet taking off.
After leaving the lifeboats, the three men made their way to the stern of the ship where an exterior stairway ran from deck seven all the way up to deck twelve. As soon as they went outside to check the lifeboats, they heard the music coming from above; they just didn't realize how loud it was until they reached deck nine. By the time they reached the pool deck, the noise was deafening. Taking a few minutes at each landing for a quick reconnaissance, they found all the decks empty. Their destination was deck twelve so they didn't spend too much time in the other
areas.
Remembering what Tim had told them about the nightly party on the pool deck, Steve and Tick-Tock weren't too concerned about being spotted by the Faithful. They would be occupied with each other. Besides, with the noise of the music for cover and the upper decks only lit by low wattage light bulbs strung on wires like Christmas lights from the bow of the ship to its stern, they would just be three indistinct figures in the distance.
Seeing how close they were to the Faithful, Brain grew nervous when they broke cover on deck twelve to cross over to get to the rock-climbing wall. He wouldn't calm down even after they were once again hidden from view. Noticing the tech was uneasy, Steve did little to reassure him when he said, “Don't worry. If anyone sees us, we'll just kill them all.”
Although deck eleven actually held the pools, hot tubs and most of the bars, deck twelve had a wide jogging track and tanning area that circled this area and looked down on it. With easy access to both decks via multiple stairways, it became one large party zone.
Even though the Faithful gathered on deck twelve each night as they waited for the rapture, it was deck eleven they went to first when they failed to ascend into heaven. The bar would be opened and the drinks were free so everyone indulged. Many did make their way back to deck twelve later to use the deck chairs scattered about since they found they could be folded into different positions that could make for some interesting sexual positions. Thus, when Steve, Tick-Tock and Brain arrived, they found themselves within a few dozen yards of people engaged in a variety of sexual practices. On the pool deck below was the balance of the Faithful doing the same.
Before moving to the rock-climbing wall, Steve stopped to look over deck twelve and the pool deck below. Satisfied that no one had seen them and raised the alarm, he called out to move on. Now he found he had to literally pull Brain away from the area as he gazed in wonder at two women and a man having three-way sex. Reaching the base of the Crows Nest Lounge, which towered above them, the trio circled it and found themselves at the stern of the ship. With the wall and the tower between them and the rest of the ship, no one could see them. Tick-Tock discovered a storage locker containing the climbing gear. After untangling the safety ropes, he was the first one to attempt the wall.