Crawlerz | Book 2 | Batten Down The Hatches

by Merritt, R. S.

  No one answered any of the numbers Jeff tried from memory. He pulled up the ship’s website. Drew looked on over Jeff’s shoulder. It was pretty depressing that the ship’s website was pretty much what the internet had been pared down to. It was packed with useful information like what was being served for lunch and what time to expect the sun to go down. There were links to click if you were depressed and a suggestions box sailors could leave messages in if they had ideas. Jeff clicked around for a little bit hoping to find a link for the cameras he knew to be all over the ship. Unfortunately, the cameras would be a security issue if an outside party could access them so had never been added to the internet site. Jeff had no idea how to access the internal site that would let them view the live feeds. None of the Marines or other researchers had access either.

  “Should he be in here?” The staff sergeant asked Jeff quietly while subtly pointing at Drew. It wasn’t quiet or subtle enough that Drew missed it. He supposed he could see where the staff sergeant was coming from with the question. Where everyone else was wearing Navy uniforms or the white lab coats of the researchers Drew was wearing a hoodie and a pair of camouflage pants with jungle boots. The carrier must have a pretty active barber shop as well judging by the haircuts he saw around him. He could barely remember the last haircut he’d gotten. If you could call Yue hacking away at his hair with a pair of safety scissors a haircut.

  “I’d be happy to leave if you don’t mind clearing the way for me to hop on a plane. Is there a ship’s directory on this site?” Drew asked. Jeff whispered something to the staff sergeant to get him to stand down before clicking around to see if he could find a directory.

  “Found it. Who were you thinking we should call?” Jeff asked scrolling down through the multiple pages of numbers for the different departments on board the ship.

  “Everybody. We need to know how widespread this is. Like the staff sergeant said we need information. If it’s just this section of the ship, then we may be cool. If it’s the whole ship we’re screwed.” Drew answered. He was also thinking if it was just this section of the ship then at least Yue was safe.

  The familiar whirring sound of a printer warming up and spitting out pages filled the space. Jeff handed a few pages to Drew then another few to the staff sergeant.

  “We’ve got three phones in here that I know of. I say we each take three pages and beat our way through this. Circle anybody who answers and ask them how many people they have in their location, what weapons they have and how many of the infected they have around them. Also see how they’re set for food and water. Try to get their names.” Jeff ordered. He didn’t bother to wait and see if his orders were followed. He immediately pressed the speaker button and dialed the first number on his list. Seeing they were all still standing there he waved his hand ordering them to get to it.

  Drew ended up at a desk setup to watch over the lab area. He had his three pages in his hand as he sat down and stared at the phone. One of the Marines had walked over with him.

  “Hey man. I’m going to go out on a limb and say your kind of new to shipboard military life? Not super familiar with things like the way we talk on board the ship or where stuff’s located at yet?” The Marine asked.

  “The front’s called the bow, right?” Drew answered.

  “No worries. You’ve been here like a day. I’ve been stationed on this thing forever and I still get lost. How about I do the phone calls. I think that may work out better.” Drew moved out of the way to let the Marine sit down and let his fingers do the walking.

  An hour later they were all crammed back into the main office with Jeff. The operation had been successful as far as gathering information. It wasn’t the operation’s fault that the information kind of sucked. Most of the people who’d answered the phone were in a similar situation to them. Trapped in some room in the ship with the infected right outside their door. Most of them didn’t have any weapons. Many of them didn’t have access to food or water either depending on where they’d holed up at.

  Halfway through calling they’d found out that the flight deck was clear. If they could make it up there, they’d be safe. Of course, the reason it was clear was due to the Marines and others on the flight deck securing every possible entrance to get topside. Even if they made it there, they wouldn’t have access to food or water until they retook the ship. If they even bothered to retake it. It’d be a long and dangerous process to clear the ship out. If they didn’t have the crew to operate it then what was the point?

  Jeff had pulled Drew aside when he got ahold of Yue. She was holed up with a small group of women in one of the berthing areas on board. They had water and some food but were pretty much stuck without any weapons to fight their way out. Surgers were literally beating on their door. The commander of the Marines up on the flight deck was working on a plan to clear out the infected in a manner that made sense. He had to balance who was most critical to save based on their strategic importance, set of needed skills and how long they could be expected to survive with the supplies available wherever they were stuck at. It wasn’t an enviable position to be in.

  “Do we wait to be rescued or blast our own way out?” Drew asked loudly. He was worried due to how important Jeff was that resources would be wasted on them that’d better be served rescuing Yue.

  “We should be able to move down this passageway to these stairs and move up. We’d want to coordinate with the Marines topside to let them know we’re coming. We need them to let us out once we get there. They’ll probably want to meet us to make sure we don’t lead out a parade of the infected.” The staff sergeant said. He was running his finger along a laminated picture up on the wall showing the escape routes in the event of a fire. Too bad they didn’t have one showing where to go in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

  “If we have the resources to do it, I say we go ahead and secure this area. No need to have the men up top come down and save us if we can do it ourselves. I’m actually going to give them a quick call with orders to that effect now. Plenty of other people around for them to save. Sound good staff sergeant?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes sir. We’ll have you and the white coats stay behind while we clear the passage. We shouldn’t be too long. Once we have a path cleared, we’ll come back for the rest of you.” The staff sergeant said tentatively. On seeing multiple affirmative nods, he gathered the Marines together and talked tactics with them. After explaining the plan to his team, they lined up on the main hatch ready to roll out. They were just waiting on the go ahead from the forces on the deck above. Jeff made a few phone calls then let them know they were clear to proceed.

  Drew watched as the small group of Marines flung the door opened and ran into the passageway to bring the fight to the enemy. The cacophony of multiple weapons firing was overpowering for a few brief seconds before the hatch was slammed shut. The muted sounds of weapons firing could still be heard but now it sounded far away. There was nothing to do now but wait. Drew paced back and forth wishing he had a weapon. He had the location information for where Yue was stuck. He needed to get out of this locked metal box he was in so he could make sure she got rescued. He’d heard Jeff passing along that location information to the Marines topside but there was no real way to know if they were following his orders or not.

  The hatch was spun open from the passageway side. The guttural roar of the infected could be heard along with the sounds of a pistol being fired. Two Marines jumped through the hatch landing on the hard metal floor inside. Another Marine stepped through cradling his blood covered hand. The staff sergeant stepped backwards through the hatch swapping out the magazine on his rifle. An infected sailor leapt through the cloud of bullets the sergeant was putting in the air. A couple of the bullets ripped through its body without slowing it down. The staff sergeant and the infected fell backwards into the lab space.

  Drew knocked a white coat out of his way and rushed to the hatch. He slammed it shut and dogged it down even as arms and hands were being thrus
t inside. Once he had the hatch secured, he turned quickly around to see what was going on behind him. The Marines who’d jumped through the hatch finished knifing the hell out of the infected who’d been chewing on the staff sergeants ears. The staff sergeant sat up with blood streaming from the holes on the sides of his head where his ears had been.

  A horrified looking Marine stood in front of the sergeant with his kabar in hand. The sergeant nodded. The Marine plunged the Kabar repeatedly into his former bosses neck and chest. Tears streamed out of the Marine’s eyes as he screamed out loud. Each thrust of the knife blade lending itself to another impassioned outburst of violent screaming. Another Marine finally pulled him away from the bodies on the ground. They all stood transfixed by the sight of the mangled corpses.

  Loud screaming erupted from behind them. Turning around Drew saw the Marine he’d noticed cradling his blood covered hand had his face shoved into the neck of one of the lab techs. The infected Marine maintained his lovers embrace on the lab tech for another couple of seconds until something told him to shift. The one Marine left standing took off running for the infected with his knife in his hand. The Marine who’d killed the staff sergeant pulled himself together when Drew grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him.

  “Where’s the ammunition?” Drew asked loudly.

  “We ran out. There was too many of them. They’re too fast.” The Marine said through the veil of shock settling over him.

  “Is there extra in here?” Drew asked patiently. He ignored the screams coming from behind him. The Marine seemed to finally understand him. He pointed at one of the small supply closets.

  Drew picked up the sergeant’s rifle and ran for the supply closet. He said a quick prayer that it wasn’t locked and tried turning the knob. The door opened easily. Inside he saw ammunition boxes with loose rounds and a couple of magazines that were preloaded. He grabbed one of the magazine and slammed it into his newly acquired weapon.

  Shutting the closet door, he looked across the lab and counted five infected in the lab now including another Marine. It was probably the moron who’d rushed the surgers with just his Kabar knife. Drew strode purposefully towards the group of infected shooting them in the back as quickly as he could line up the shots. He was joined by the remaining Marine who’d pulled himself together to help out.

  The infected surged towards Drew and the Marine with lightning fast speed. Standing their ground, the pair of them made every shot count. Once the active threats were on the ground the Marine and Drew walked over the bodies of the dead to get to the men who hadn’t been able to hide out in time. The petrified scientists were huddled under lab tables and behind file cabinets.

  The Marine walked into the group of men and began shooting anybody he saw who looked like they may have been bitten. Lab techs and scientists scurried out from under chairs and desks in fright. Drew put a hand on the Marine’s shoulder and got him to put down his rifle. Together the two of them checked the remaining survivors for any signs of infection. Jeff and the others came out of the locked rooms they’d hidden in for protection to help however they could. Mostly it was helping to move all the bodies into the central space that’d been reserved for the five infected locked away in their cages.

  When the work was complete Drew found himself sitting in the main office again with Jeff and a couple of others. Everyone soaked in blood and sweat. A haunted hopeless look glimmered dully in the eyes of the shell-shocked men. The unspoken question reverberating around the room.

  Now what?

  Chapter 18: Loose Lips

  Yue, Charani and a few more women huddled around the card table in the female berthing area. Looking out of place a young seaman was sitting on the deck against the far bulkhead. Charani had come tearing back from the galley screaming for everyone to get inside the berthing area and shut the door. She’d grabbed the young man by the back of his shirt and dragged him out of the passageway into the room behind her. No one had understood until they heard the screams echoing down the passageway towards them.

  Charani had almost immediately pulled Yue to the side after making sure the door was closed and locked. She’d gotten as far as saying it was Blaze when Yue grabbed her by the shoulders and forced the freaked-out gypsy queen to breathe. Once Charani had calmed down enough to listen Yue held her close and made sure no could hear her. Yue whispered forcibly in her ear that Charani was to keep her mouth shut about what she’d seen. If Blaze really had done all this damage, then the people on board the ship wouldn’t be super willing to trust the people associated with him. Charani recognized the truth of that immediately. They hugged each other hard while working on regaining their composure.

  It wasn’t long before they were standing around the phone dialing for help. Someone eventually directed them to the flight deck operations line where a Marine noted their location and asked a few questions about how they were doing. The Marine asked if they had any wounded and if they had access to clean drinking water. Once he’d verified that he told them to stand by and hung up. They stood by staring at one another for almost twenty minutes before the phone finally rang again. The two closest women both tried to hit the speaker button at the same time causing them both to miss. Laughing nervously one of them tried again and they all crowded around to listen.

  The frazzled Marine on the other end of the line informed them that they’d be rescued once their location worked with the way they were planning on clearing the ship. He assured them it wouldn’t be more than a few hours. They’d be free by morning at the latest. Telling them they could call this number back again if their situation changed, he hung up.

  “So, we just play some cards and get some rest while those things run around outside?” One of the women asked.

  “Pretty much. Unless you want to run outside and fight them with your dirty socks and a toothbrush.” One of the other women answered her.

  “If her dirty socks don’t do it your drawers sure will!” Another woman joined in on the banter. She must’ve been a bit too loud as suddenly the door to their area shook hard as something slammed into it.

  Everyone instantly shut up. The lights were turned off. They backed away in terror from the door that was shaking in its frame every time it was hit. Holding their breaths, they prayed silently for the monsters to just go away. Tears welled up in more than one woman’s eyes. Charani and Yue in particular felt stupid. They knew you had to stay quiet to stay alive in a crawler covered world. They were seriously out of practice. If they didn’t get their act together soon then they might not ever make it off this ship.

  Yue made sure the door to the head was propped open. Worse case if the main door was breached then they could fall back into the head and wait it out in there. She realized she was being dumb again. It wasn’t ‘if’ the door was breached but rather ‘when’ the door was breached. The door wasn’t going to last much longer with the beating it was taking. Once the door came down the infected would be presented with a room full of tasty treats standing around in the dark screaming at one another. Someone had to take control in here.

  “Get in the head. Pass the word. Everyone needs to grab blankets and any supplies they want and get in the head. Make sure everyone whispers it just like this.” Yue whispered to Charani.

  Not waiting to see if Charani followed her instructions Yue wandered around in the dark room whispering the same directions to the sailors she saw standing around. All of them took her word for it and went to gather what supplies they could out of their bunks. She was squatted down in front of the young male sailor Charani had rescued when the phone rang. It was the normal volume for a phone ring, but it sounded as loud as a foghorn to Yue. Cursing under her breath at having made yet another stupid mistake Yue and one of the sailors moved rapidly for the phone. The sailor got there first and pulled the handset out of the cradle.

  Seeing that was taken care of Yue got to work on pulling the base of the phone off the wall. If the cable behind it was long enough, she wanted to move th
e phone into the head. They needed a way to communicate with the Marines planning the search and rescue operation. They needed to let the guys topside know that they were now hiding out in the head since the crawlerz would be occupying their berthing area in the very near future. She didn’t want the search party to think they’d all been killed and just keep going. If the team sealed off this section of the ship, then they’d be stuck with a bunch of overly handsy infected sailors between them and the exit.

  Yue pushed the phone up and down on the wall until something snapped and she was able to take it off. The cable behind the base of the phone was about three inches long. Not only could she not take the phone with them into the head she also couldn’t get it to go back on the wall. The little plastic piece that slid over the wall mount had snapped off when she’d muscled it down. A conga line of women carrying blankets and other random crap snaked behind her. The women all intent on putting another door between themselves and the monsters beating their way in.

  Yue was starting to panic. The panic made dealing with the phone even worse. The sailor who’d pulled the handset out of the cradle suddenly remembered she was holding the phone. She answered it in a hushed voice while watching Yue rub the phone base up and down on the wall like an idiot. Yue was aware of how stupid she must look but didn’t seem able to stop. It was like she was stuck in a loop in a nightmare. Holding the phone on the bulkhead and pushing on it wasn’t going to get it to stick. The sailor listened to the voice on the other end then reached over to hand Yue the handset.