Adrift

by Trimboli, TJ

  “What about you?” she asked dodging projectiles.

  “What about me? You heard them. I’m a murderer Bobbi. I deserve to have my throat slit but if I can keep their attention on me long enough for you to get away, maybe they’ll go easy on me on the other side you know.” He forced a smile.

  They passed level five and the herd of people grew lighter. However, the further down they went, the light grew darker.

  “If you honestly believed a word they said about you, then you are an idiot Trent,” she argued. “They said that stuff to mess with our heads. Look at everything they’ve done so far on this ship. I don’t believe for a second that you killed anyone. It was Richard and Kendra and they used you to twist and pull me where they wanted.” “Stop here,” one of the guards said.

  They ceased talking as the guards lit a set of candles to light their path. The fisherman level was without a doubt the creepiest floor on the entire ship. Pipes dripped water and creaked effortlessly sending shivers down everyone’s spines. The floor was damp and the walls were caked in mold and mildew. The ceiling hung low and the reflection off the candle made her feel like it was slowly closing in on her.

  “That way.” One of the guards pushed Bobbi forward.

  They headed right down the walkway. Death stung at their nostrils. Every room seemed to have at least one dead body residing in it. They covered their noses as they walked. They stopped just short of the fishing room.

  “Last stop,” one of the guards said laughing maniacally.

  They pushed them inside. The two guards not holding candles pulled out their steak knives slicing the blades against each other.

  Sparks flew causing Bobbi to jump back. She stumbled back over the body of a shark. She looked confusingly around. The room was filled with fish, shark, bass, tuna, and countless other fish one could consume.

  “What the fuck?” One of the guards said now noticing the delicacies around him.

  Morris appeared behind one of the guards. He grabbed the guard over the mouth silencing him. He pulled him back stabbing him directly into the heart.

  Another man she didn’t know by name but recognized as one of the men that went out to sea with Morris slit another guard’s throat. He dropped the candle on the floor, the water dousing the flame. The room plunged into darkness.

  All she could hear were the sounds of men struggling, boxes falling over, and the pitter patter of water dripping from the pipes. Before she knew it, the room was silent. “Morris?

  Trent?” she whispered.

  She felt someone at her back untying her. A flame sparked in the distance lighting a new candle. The room illuminated and she could see dozens of people standing in the room. Men, women, children of all ages, sizes, and race stood before her. She turned to see Morris standing behind her. In his hands were her gun and hatchet. She leapt into his arms hugging him. “I thought you were gone for good.”

  “You and me both.”

  Her thoughts immediately drifted to Ahmed and she pushed herself off of Morris. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “I already know,” he said gloomily.

  Before she could reply further, the group around her parted revealing Xao.

  “Xao. Thank God, you’re okay.”

  He bowed before her and she returned his kindness.

  “Xao brought me up to speed on everything,” Morris told her.

  “When they told me you left the council, I feared the worst. And then when I couldn’t find you, I was sure Kendra had done something,” Bobbi said to him.

  “I was down here, seeing to their safety,” he replied.

  “You’ve all been hiding down here?” She questioned.

  “Not many venture to the constant darkness of these bottom floors. It was a perfect place to steer clear of the squabbles and backstabbing of those up above,” Xao explained.

  “So what’s the play here Bobbi?” Morris asked her.

  She looked at all the people surrounding her and felt horrible. The truth was, she didn’t have a plan. They didn’t have any boats left to escape and the tiny one Morris came back in wouldn’t even fit a third of them. She looked Morris in the eye.

  He seemed to see her frustration. “It’s alright. We’ll think of something.” “What’re we going to do?” citizens cried.

  “Kendra is going to get us all!”

  “We don’t stand a chance against them. They’re all crazy.”

  “Without any laws to protect us, there’s nothing left.” “ENOUGH!” Bobbi shouted.

  Thunder cracked in the distance. Through the open hatch bay door, they could see the waters rising. The sea grew restless and choppy. A storm was most definitely approaching. The rain seemed to fall even more ferociously than it did before.

  “We do stand a chance against them because we have something they no longer do,” Bobbie spoke to the small group. “Humanity and hope. We still have that which makes us, us. We haven’t given it up or thrown caution to the wind to become some outlaw or denizen of the night. We care. We care about each other, and we care about our future…together. Something the crazies upstairs don’t give two shits about. They are only interested in lawlessness and power

  and both of those will be their undoing. Now sure, we may not be able to fight them, but we most assuredly can out smart them. All we need is a place to start.”

  Xao stepped up to the forefront. “Allow me to get us started.” He whistled and a young girl approached. The same girl that helped her escape from the rations room and in her hand was a set of keys.

  “The Captain’s keys,” Morris whispered.

  Bobbi stared at him dumbfounded. “When did you…?”

  “I found them the first day Valentina put me on the job, in the bridge,” Xao admitted. “Though, when I found them, I didn’t trust anyone on the council to do right by these people. I thought it better to die here on this ship than suffer a worse fate back on land but I see now that I was wrong. To die here at the hands of those animals up above is far worse a punishment than I could have ever imagined. I put my trust in myself and I was wrong. I should have placed it in you Bobbi. You are a leader. You are our leader.” He handed her the keys. “Lead us home.” The crowd around her erupted into applause.

  Bobbi looked at each one of them, tears in her eyes. Morris nodded to her and she knew that no matter what obstacles lay ahead, she would not stop until her last dying breath, to get these people home. “Alright, this changes everything. We’re going to outsmart those bastards above and we’re going to get this floating hellhole moving again. We take the bridge and we’re not stopping this ship until it crashes into land and then we’ll know once and for all. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too but at least back on land, we know where we stand. We know who’s with us and who is against us. Zombies want brains and they’ll attack anyone with them. Unlike here, where they pretend to be your friend, advise you, stand by your side all the while conspiring behind your back. They think they’re so smart, and cunning. They want a lawless world. We’ll give it to them. Take them back to the main land and let’s see what their backstabbing gets them.

  Who’s with me?”

  Everyone around her threw their fists into the air chanting her name.

  She basked in the adulation, nervous and excited for what was to come. The Sheriff was back again, and she was taking her town back. She scanned the room and it became painstakingly clear to her that Trent was nowhere to be found.

  SECOND INTERLUDE

  THE NIGHT RIOT

  BOBBI

  “Before we begin let us bow our heads in a moment of silence for the seven people we have lost thus far,” Captain Jenkins spoke.

  Everyone lowered their heads.

  Bobbi was the first to lift her head, never certain of how long the moment should last. She looked around taking in each member of the newly appointed crew.

  There was the Russian mother of two who’d apparently been a high powered judge back in the Mother land
. She had a soft face, supple skin with a smile that could either put you at ease or scare you to your wits end. It was all just a matter of perspective. Next to her sat an old Asian man that no doubt had some sage wisdom to impart on the likes of everyone.

  Bobbi assumed this man had seen it all and would help to keep the council on the level in regards to matters of the people. Bobbi sat across from the old man with Trent at her right. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him sipping from a flask he’d thought he kept hidden in his cargo shorts. He was mistaken. Bobbi had started to grow concerned about his alcohol consumption. What started as a way to unwind had quickly spiraled into a constant need to get through the day. He thought he hid it so well from her, but she’d been more perceptive than he’d figured of his wife.

  On her left, sat a short, stocky, plump man. His hair had grayed considerably since she first saw him a few days ago, she guessed his hair for men products had gone by the wayside. He wore round bifocals he was constantly cleaning. She wondered what his qualifications were to sit on this council, she had yet to see him converse with damn near anybody, mostly keeping to himself.

  “And without further ado, let the first ever council meeting of the voyager crew commence.” Everyone took their seats.

  “Today is day fourteen at sea and day thirteen since we last had contact with the main land and it isn’t looking good. We are all on our own now, there is no life to go back to on the land which is why I brought all of you here today. You are uniquely qualified to help structure and keep these people from devolving into madness, which I can assure you will come, if we don’t take action. We face a new threat, one that’s never been dealt with before but we are the human race. We will overcome just as we always have. Now prior to our meeting, I had assigned jobs to each and every one of you. So, to get started, let’s go around the room introducing each other and get a progress report on your respective jobs. Val, would you get us started?” The Russian felt underneath the table pulling out a notebook.

  Bobbi worried if maybe she and Trent should have been keeping track of their jobs as well.

  She peered at the others looking to see where they were hiding theirs, if they indeed had one.

  None did.

  Val indecisively stood up. “I am Valentina Domashev. I am from Russia and I was tasked with rations. We have enough water to last us another week, maybe two if we really conserve. I have set up large containers out on the top deck to collect rain water when it pours.” “Is that safe to drink?” Bobbi chimed in.

  “I know there’s a lot of misconception about drinking rain water but yes, it’s safe to drink. It’s actually more so than most public drinking water. The collection of pollutants, mold, and other contaminants are low. Food is another a story. We’re a little bit better in that department in that we can spread rations out further. The human body can only go three to four days tops without water but we can actually survive weeks without food, so if we limit everyone down to one or two small meals a day, we should have enough food to last three weeks.”

  “That’s a short term solution though. Given we can no longer go on land,” Bobbi rationalized.

  Valentina gritted her teeth, clearly not enjoying these constant interruptions. Something she plainly was not used to as a judge. She was supposed to be the one doing the interrupting. “Correct. Sooner or later, we are going to run out of food. I would like to send some people down with flashlights to the dark levels, one and two and search for supplies. Anything that can help us fish. Rope, twine, nets, fishing line, a fishing pole or even poles, whatever we can salvage.”

  “Round up a team and see it done,” Captain Jenkins told her. “Next.”

  Xao made no effort to stand, moving was obviously very hard for this man. “My name is Xao. I was sailor for fifty four years. There isn’t a body of water I haven’t sailed. I was tasked with finding a crew willing to search nearby islands for sign of…” He lingered on a word searching for the right way to say it or simply how to pronounce what he could not.

  “Inhabit,” Captain Jenkins finished for him.

  “Yes, inhabit. They left three days ago. It is our hope that one of the four islands nearby is deserted, so we can have shelter off this ship.”

  “Thank you Xao—”

  “For no man is a friend of the sea. Even castles made of sand fall into the sea, eventually,” he forewarned.

  “Did he just quote Jimi Hendrix?” Trent whispered.

  Bobbi stifled her laughter. Captain Jenkins turned his attention to her, evaporating any sense of humor in the situation. “And our Sheriffs. What news do you have for us?”

  Bobbi looked to Trent to talk but he had cast his eyes down. He was never any good at public speaking. Kill me, he would say if he ever had to become like the Police Captain, barking orders, delivering cases in front of the whole office. She caught his phone in his lap scrolling through various pictures of their vacations throughout their relationship, a task he’d been doing much more frequently than usual, but the battery was quickly running dry and she worried what would come of him when it turned off for good.

  Captain Jenkins cleared his throat.

  She stood. “I’m Bobbi. This is Trent. We’re from Long Island…Well, with the exception of a few bad eggs, we haven’t had any fights or looting since day two, which is good. For the most part, people are scared and I think when they see us patrolling the area, it puts them at ease a bit which I guess is why you formed this little council. Democracy puts people at ease, makes us all think we’re safe which in turn, keeps the citizens calm and nonviolent and—”

  “Bobbi,” Captain Jenkins cut her off. “You’re rambling.”

  “Right, sorry. Point is, crime is nonexistent. People are nervous but they trust in you so…as for what you asked of us. It’s slow going, tough to suddenly train average citizens with no prior training to suddenly become police officers of the only humans left on Earth.” “We don’t know that,” Valentina cut in.

  “You ever see any zombie movie where we weren’t?”

  “Alright, we’re going off base here. Regardless of if, we’re the last humans or not, we have to treat it like we are. It’s the only way to ensure we take the precautions necessary to our survival,” The Captain reiterated. He turned to the lanky guy who’d spent the entire meeting cleaning his bifocals. “Richard. Last but not least.”

  “Right. I won’t take up too much time, work to be done. I am Richard. I’m from California where I taught psychology and sociology. It’s through my studies that Captain Jenkins and myself came up with the idea to put people to work. After all, a working man is a productive man, less likely to think of the current situation we are in and more prone to feeling valued which is all most of us want out of life. I took a census of everyone’s past work experience and studies the last few days and have come up with a curriculum of jobs and tasks that a number of people can do to feel like their lives mean something again. For instance, we have fifty-seven children on board in need of schooling, so I rounded up any and all individuals with teaching experience and gave them an annex of the library. Same goes for repairs on the ship and with Bobbi’s police program and Valentina’s fishing program. I feel we have enough jobs at hand to make these people feel like they are a valued member of society again. Thank you,” he finished as if he had just given a commencement speech at his alma mater.

  “Okay. This is good stuff everyone,” the Captain interjected. “We are a strong unit here and I can see that my faith in you has not been misplaced. You will continue on with the assigned tasks and ensure we run a smooth ship until our friends scouring the nearby land’s return. I will touch base with all of you in the morning and we will reconvene officially as a group tomorrow night.

  You are dismissed.”

  Not wasting any time, Bobbi scooped up her gun, hatchet, and Trent. Throughout the meeting, she’d watched him habitually sip from his flask toasting off a mean buzz.

  “Oh, one more thing everyone,” Captai
n Jenkins spoke again. “In the unlikely scenario where I am either unfit for my role as leader of this band of survivors or in my unfortunate demise, Valentina will assume command of the ship. And if she is either unfit for the task or has met the same fate as myself, Bobbi, you will take over.” “What about if I go down too?” Bobbi asked curiously.

  “Then God help us all,” he said gravely.

  The meeting adjourned.

  “Are you sure you should be drinking like that?” Bobbi asked Trent querulously.

  “Don’t tell me what I’m about Bobbi. I’m fine,” he grimly replied.

  She worried for Trent. Ever since this ordeal had begun, he’d changed. He may think no one would notice it but she sure could. It was a subtle change like growing your hair out. It looks the same day after day after day until one night you go to bed and overnight, it seems to grow three inches.

  “I’ve got rounds to do. I’ll see you back at the room.” He kissed her cheek and set off.

  Bobbi would’ve been more concerned if her mind wasn’t more preoccupied with her job. She was worried for everyone on board. There was a huge margin of error when she was on the force with people trained to handle a combatant and now, she had to rely on the mind sets of five regular Joe’s that all looked like they’d never been in a fight in their lives. She worried what would happen to them when they came across a man or woman who decided they no longer had to listen to anyone. After all, laws meant nothing anymore and when certain people on this ship discovered that, all hell would break loose.

  The lights flickered. She paid it no mind. She drifted her way outside onto the port side of the ship. Night was in full bloom and the moon floated high in the sky. It was a crescent moon tonight and the reflection of the ocean bed was a sight to behold. Behind her, almost right above, thunder crackled. She practically jumped out of her skin. A storm was approaching and quick. She’d been so transfixed by the moonlight she never noticed the choppy waves crashing against the ship. Now that she concentrated on it, it was all she could think about. Her stomach dropped and she felt dinner coming back to greet her. She pushed it back down and headed inside.