“Well, this plan keeps getting worse.” Drew said to Yue. They were face to face way closer than appropriate for a brother and sister.
“Remind me to bring a bag of breath mints into the next apocalypse.” Yue said. Between her boyfriend’s extreme coffee breath and Drew’s dragon breath she was pretty serious about finding a bag of mints somewhere.
“I’ll take your death breath over smelling those bodies any longer.” Drew replied. The men guarding this part of the structure hadn’t had time to get rid of the corpses of the infected they’d massacred earlier. They’d been waiting for an opening to drag them over to the side of the ship and throw them off. If they just threw them outside the door it made for a buffet spread for the crawlerz. That wasn’t how they wanted to treat the bodies of their former shipmates.
“On the bright side at some point we have to make a mad dash for the side of the ship and make a jump for it. Your football skills should help out. You’ll be dodging those things left and right.” Yue joked.
“More like I’ll be blocking for you. I’m more worried about the jump than I am about the running. What if this storm drives us up on the beach so we break our freakin’ legs when we jump? If the beach is there the infected will come right after us. There’s still a good mix of surgers and crawlerz so it won’t even matter if it’s daylight.” Drew worried.
“How are my two favorite sardines holding up?” Jeff pushed himself through the crowd. His height making him tower above the others as he powered his way through.
“What’re you so happy about?” Yue asked him when he finally made it all the way over and positioned himself behind Yue so he could wrap his arms around her from behind.
“We’re alive. Against all the odds we’re alive. When the sun comes up in the morning, we’re going to run like we’ve never run before and then take a huge leap of faith. If we’re still alive tomorrow night, I’ll be even happier.” Jeff leaned down to rest his head on Yue’s slim shoulder.
“Can I have some of whatever drugs you’re taking?” Drew asked seriously. Either their fearless leader was a complete psychopath, or he was a genius who’d thought far enough ahead to hide a few valium in his back pocket. Drew was hoping it was the latter. If any situation ever called for something to help with a little escape from reality it was this one.
“No drugs. This sucks but I don’t see how it could get much worse. We sit in here for the night then we make a mad dash in the morning. Not much we can do about any of it right now.” Jeff said. Yue and Drew turned to stare at him in complete astonishment. Had he really just said it couldn’t get any worse?
As if on cue the deck shifted beneath them. There were loud banging noises as things shifted around in the ship. The squeal of tortured metal as stress was placed across welded seams in ways that were most definitely not supposed to happen. The ship felt for a moment like they were back at sea then everything went sideways and stopped with a massive impact that vibrated every wall in the ship. For a second that lasted an eternity it felt like the entire ship was going to roll over.
Then the shaking stopped. They weren’t pulling a Poseidon adventure. They were definitely not normal though. The passage was resting at what felt like a ninety-degree angle but was probably more like thirty degrees. Jeff and Yue wedged themselves against the side to keep from falling down on the people below. Everyone was trying their best not to trample those below them. Looking down Drew saw the officer who’d agreed to follow Jeff’s plan shooting daggers out of his eyes up at Jeff now. The people at the bottom of the passage were screaming for people to get off of them.
The ship shifted again. More creaking and ominous squealing followed by the passage resting at an even more awkward angle when it stopped this time. The people at the other end of the passage were now getting the crap kicked out of them as others landed on them. The corpses of the dead infected were making their way down through the crowded passageway. Gravity lending them the power to still horrify the uninfected.
“Climb towards us!” Jeff screamed down into the tunnel of tortured souls beneath them. It was a vision straight out of hell. A long hole eerily illuminated by the red lights of the ship with the tortured souls of the damned doing their best to climb over one another to get out. The screams of those trapped on the bottom as the oxygen was squeezed out of their bodies by the weight of those above.
A rush of wind. The sound of the storm suddenly filled the space. Salt air and wind washing the air clean of the putrid stench of death and fear. Rather than be squashed to death someone on the other end of the passageway had popped open the door to escape. Not a horrible idea if it hadn’t been for the hurricane currently tossing the ship around like a rubber ducky in a bathtub with an overactive toddler.
Five men on that end of the passage were immediately lost into the darkness. Tugged out by the force of gravity above and the suction of the wind below. Their bodies spinning like tops across the rain-soaked deck before smashing into the railing that ran around that side of the ship. Their bodies either getting pulverized against those tight metal stands or bouncing off to be hurled into the angry sea on the other side. The others by the now open door hung on for dear life. They slowly climbed upwards. They were trying to use the bodies of their shipmates as ladders in their desperate struggle to survive. More fell as they pulled their shipmates loose in their panic or the men they were trying to use as ladders threw them off.
It continued for what seemed like forever. The screaming and crying and loud prayers. No one’s more devout than a soldier in a foxhole when the artillery starts flying. Everyone in that passageway found religion over the course of the long night. Much the way an alcoholic swears off liquor the morning of a horrible hangover. Promises made and soon to be broken. At one point the wind died down. The noise outside subsided to a normal level.
“Is it over?” Drew asked. His arm quaking from holding his position against the bulkhead. His feet both asleep where they were wedged under a metal box that was part of the fire control system. He was really hoping that once he needed them his feet would be able to come back to life quickly. He had no doubt he was going to need them.
“Probably just the eye going over us.” Yue said sleepily. One thing about growing up in Florida was you learned a lot about hurricanes.
“Is Jeff ok?” Drew asked. It was a solid question since it looked like Jeff had lapsed into a coma. He’d lashed himself to a pipe running up the wall with his belt so he wouldn’t fall.
“Yeah. That lack of sleep finally caught up with him. He’s fast asleep. I’ve been holding him up for the last couple of hours.” Yue said.
Drew thought about switching places with her to give her a break. Before he could figure out how that’d work the sound of the howling wind filled the passageway again. The eye was either tiny or the storm was moving at record speeds. There wouldn’t be time now to switch positions. Especially since half the people left in the passageway were casting covetous glances up towards their spot. If they slid even a little bit, they’d likely find themselves stuck in a less admirable piece of real estate. Drew just wished someone had thought of closing the damned door before the wind kicked back in. He supposed whoever had been closest to the opening had considered it but decided not to risk getting sucked out into the hellish night. Understandable.
He wedged his feet in a little tighter and did his best to follow Jeff’s example and relax. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t fall asleep. His body had run out of the capacity to be scared any worse than he already was. Anytime the ship seemed to move that ice cold terror ratcheted right back up his spine. After a while though he was starting to find it all pretty boring. It was complete misery. He couldn’t wait for it to be over.
He wanted the sun to come out and the sea to be visible through the open door below. He wanted to get off this cursed ship and get his feet back on solid ground. Then they could go find LeBron and escape all this craziness. Maybe a cabin up in the mountains somewhere. Kill deer and
bear or squirrels and raise corn or whatever. They could live their lives. Hanging out with these soldiers and dealing with all these politics was going to get them all killed.
The wind gradually tapered off. The light of a new dawn eventually peeked in through the open hatchway below. It was all so gradual no none really noticed at first. Worn down by the extreme adversities they’d faced it was hard to feel optimistic about the storm ending. Drew wouldn’t have been overly surprised to find out it was just the hurricane changing directions. Like it’d decided to go back out into the ocean, and they happened to be in the eye for a second time. He didn’t think that could happen. He did know the meteorologists were never right about where one of these massively unpredictable storms were going to end up.
“I think it’s over!” One of the men down by the open hatch yelled up into the space. A few of the other men shouted questions and one even let out a whoop of excitement. It was a minimal amount of noise but enough to attract the attention of a surger prowling the storm swept deck. It immediately sprinted towards the sound of its prey. With no fear of falling off the steep deck it went around the superstructure until it found the open hatch and pulled its way in. A short line forming behind it as other surgers began to gather.
The shouts of joy turned quickly to shouts of pain and fear. Recognizing the screaming below for what it was Drew yanked his feet out from under the metal box he had them wedged against and slapped Yue and Jeff until they woke up. Everyone in the passage was now scrambling up the passageway towards them. Drew had no doubt the surgers would eat their way right through that crowd in no time flat.
Gunshots were competing now with the screaming. Jeff was working on getting the hatch open. As soon as it was open, they all went out. Drew and Jeff stood beside the door while Yue stepped back to aim a pistol she’d snagged from somewhere at the opening. Seven men made it out before a snarling surger stuck it’s head up into the sun. Yue put a bullet in it even as Drew and Jeff slammed the heavy metal hatch down on it. The Marines they were surrounded by all had their weapons out and ready.
They sprinted to the edge of the superstructure and looked out across a short expanse of crystal blue ocean at the nearby beach. The water was still stirred up from the passing storm but from this height it seemed doable. All around them they saw surgers moving forward to press the attack. The Marines were shooting constantly to keep the murderous maniacs at bay.
Jeff bent down and unlaced his boots.
“What are you doing?” Drew asked.
“I went to a survival course and they made us jump in a pool with our clothes on. Swimming with your clothes on sucks. If we don’t die when we jump, we’re going to need to swim fast as soon as we hit the water. These things are going to be jumping off the ship to try and get us.” Jeff explained. The Marine’s ignored him although a few were visibly distracted when Yue got into the spirit of it and stripped down to a t-shirt and panties.
“See you guys on the beach.” The Marine in the lead said and took off running down slope for the side closest to the beach. The rest of them took off after him. Slowly fanning out as the ones with rifles gravitated towards the back of the pack to provide protection for those without.
The distance to the water was going to be less than at sea since the ship was tipped over on the seabed. They pretty much flew down the steep incline. There was no time for hesitation when they got to the side of the ship. To hesitate was to lose your momentum and risk being caught by the surgers who were hot on their tails. With bullets flying everywhere and the sound of the surf pounding the nearby beach Drew leapt off the side of the ship. He was already in the air when he thought to worry about if the water below them was deep enough for jumping from this high.
He found out a second later when he plunged into the icy water with his hands firmly positioned to protect his groin. He quickly submerged further below the water than he’d ever gone. He stuck his arms out to try and slow himself down. Suddenly he was aware of his missing boots. He wondered if those would’ve helped with the shock when he hit the bottom. He never hit the bottom. His descent slowed and he immediately started stroking for all he was worth towards the sunlit surface above him.
Expecting a surger to land on him at any second he powered through his desire to float on his back and try to regain his breath. Instead, he swam hard to put distance between himself and the ship. Around him he heard bodies slamming into the water and assumed those were the surgers leaping off after them. They normally avoided water but in a hot pursuit down the side of a slippery flight deck they weren’t going to hold back.
Once he was far enough from the ship, he treaded water and called out for Yue. His relief at hearing her answer him made him forget to tread water for a second. He accidentally took a big gulp of the Atlantic and launched into a coughing fit. Yue swam over and stared at him with concern which made him bust out laughing. None of which was conducive to trying to tread water and conserve his energy for the long swim they were now faced with.
“Hey there’s going to be rip currents and undertow to contend with. Especially since we’re at the mouth of a river immediately following a hurricane. The storm surge has to come back out. Save your energy and go with the flow.” One of the Marines was lecturing them on how to survive. Jeff paddled over and joined them in their little swimming circle. A few of the other Marines were circling around now as well.
Feeling optimistic that they might make it to the shore alive they began the long swim. All of them buoyed up by the fact that at least they’d escaped the gigantic floating death trap the carrier had turned out to be. Flipping over to float on his back and check out the ship Jeff said a quick prayer for the hundreds of men and women still stuck inside the ship. Hopefully they’d be able to battle their way out as well. There was nothing more they could do for them now. They’d live or die by their own muscle and wit.
Chapter 32: The Seabrook Island Survivors Club
The island LeBron had ended up on was home to the retired rich. Many of them were old money with family names that could open doors in the highest circles of southern aristocracy. These people had multimillion dollar homes on the golf courses with breathtaking views of the ocean. Half of them were typically vacant as they were just used for long weekend beach getaways.
In addition to the old money there was a good bit of new money in the area as well. This money came from tech as well as from construction. Big pharma was also well represented on the island. The brilliant young CEO of a pharmaceutical startup had obtained his doctorate from Cornell in epidemiology. He’d been particularly interested in how fast a global pandemic could spread. His thesis had included multiple models inclusive of a ‘fun’ example he used based on a popular zombie movie.
He’d been freaked out when the news of the infection spreading in Egypt first aired. He’d immediately started making phone calls and investigating. Most of his contacts thought he was crazy. A lot of the people who’d dismissed his calls as paranoia died wishing they’d listened to him. He wasn’t old money, but he did have one solid well connected contact on the island at least. One person who’d won the election for the ultimate in petty bureaucratic offices. She’d run unopposed since no one on the island was up for losing such a petty election, so all refused to throw their name in the hat.
His wife was the President of the Seabrook Island HOA. She was also his biggest champion. No matter how far-fetched his ideas may seem she was always one hundred percent behind him. On this particular topic it took about a day for her to hit that one hundred percent support but once she committed, she was in all the way. She just had to make sure he wasn’t drunk or sick or something before she started calling the world to tell them she needed help keeping a global pandemic from reaching their ultra-exclusive country club gates.
The HOA meeting was held monthly in a room with a gorgeous beach view on the second floor of the swanky country club. You couldn’t buy a home on the island without joining the club. You didn’t have to actual
ly go to the club or use the facilities, but you did have to pay the five grand per month in dues. The nervous couple waited until everyone had been served a drink or appetizer to get the meeting started.
The wife introduced her husband who ran through his research and presented his plan as a well thought out series of actions. Thirty minutes later they were still attempting to convince the people in the room that they weren’t joking.
“You want us to blow up the bridge? How would we get off the island? What if there’s a hurricane?” An elderly woman with way too much jewelry on whined. She looked dismissive of the entire idea.
The meeting definitely didn’t start off the way they’d envisioned it. The pharma executive presented a condensed epidemiology 101 course to the group. The majority of the group finished their food and politely left the meeting. A few stayed though. One was a serial tech entrepreneur, and another was a self-made multimillionaire in the construction business who’d started off helping his dad frame out houses in the summers as a kid.
“Everything came from that first meeting.” Amita said quietly to LeBron. She was the tech entrepreneur who’d been at the HOA meeting to give a status on how her prototype solar powered security cameras were working around the island. She’d wired the entire island with the cameras that one of her companies was looking to sell to various government agencies. The idea being to camouflage them and place them in national parks so people could capture scenes of animals in their natural habitat. There were some obvious Big Brother applications as well, but every technology has good and evil uses. Long living self-powered wireless cameras that could be ruggedized and placed pretty much anywhere were of great interest to a variety of organizations. Amita had downplayed the easy access piece to keep her offer of a free surveillance system from being turned down by the media averse country club crowd.
Crawlerz | Book 2 | Batten Down The Hatches Page 29