by Perrin Briar
“You and Dennis seem pretty close,” Zack said.
He let the question hang. After Bill offered no reply, he tried again:
“If it comes to it, are you sure you’ll be able to do what needs to be done?” Zack said.
Bill was silent a moment.
“I suppose we’ll find out,” he said.
Rohit came to a stop before the dark alley.
“I need to go protect Priya,” Rohit said. “She might be all the family I have left.”
“Help us find this woman and you’ll be protecting her and everyone else on board,” Bill said.
Rohit hesitated, and then nodded.
“Okay,” he said.
Bill, Zack, Rohit and Reg entered the dark alley. They could smell the blood before they saw it, puddling along the base of the wall.
“It appears you boys were right,” Reg said. “There is a monster on board, and I did bring it with me. Let’s find her before she causes any more trouble.”
Chapter Eleven
FELIX SCOOPED up the coins with the crook of his stick and sorted them into tall piles behind him, a re-enactment of the New York skyline. He now had quite a collection. Jenny opened her purse.
“No more,” Ernest said, getting to his feet. “You’ve already lost enough.”
“Fifteen pesos is hardly going to break the bank,” Jenny said.
“Still, I’ll pay you back somehow.”
“Play again and win. That’s how you can pay me back.”
Ernest shook his head.
“I’m missing something,” he said. “Some part of my strategy isn’t working.”
“Then find out what it is. This is your training. And you’re clearly getting better.”
“Not good enough to win.”
Jenny shrugged.
“It’s not all about winning,” she said.
Ernest cocked his head to the side.
“It’s not all about winning?” he said, a smile spreading across his face.
Jenny smiled.
“You’ve got a new strategy, haven’t you?” she said.
“Yes,” he said. “I think I have.”
Jenny took the coins out of her purse.
“Then let’s see it,” she said.
Ernest sat back down.
Chapter Twelve
“CAN I just say for the record,” Reg said as the men crept through the alley toward the sliver of moonlight on the other side, “it comes as no shock to me that she’s an unstoppable dead munching machine. She’s always been that way inclined.”
“How did you end up together?” Zack said.
“I was dying,” Reg said. “A lot of my friends left me, or pretended they were too busy to see me. No one likes spending their free time with death. Gloria didn’t ignore me like everyone else. I clung to her like a man drowning at sea. She never wanted to marry me, get everything I had after I’m gone, but just to enjoy life while we’re both alive. I never thought she’d be the one to die first.”
A door banged open and they all started, hopping on one foot like a choreographed move. A pair of children ran from the cabin, down the alley toward the mess. They pressed on and emerged out onto the prow of the boat.
The boat listed to one side and they staggered. Rohit caught Reg, who was weak on his feet. Skittles rolled across the deck, the ball bumping into Bill’s feet. There was no one else there.
“She could be anywhere by now,” Zack said. “We’ll never find her.”
“We have to find her,” Bill said. “If she bites more people we will never be able to stop the virus spreading.”
“She went this way,” Reg said, pointing down an alley to the left.
“How can you be sure?” Bill said.
“I was consumed by her scent for almost a year,” Reg said. “I’ll never forget that sickly sweet musk. It’ll be there waiting for me in hell too, I’m sure.”
Reg raised his nose in the air, breathing in Gloria’s scent. He paused when he came to a door about halfway down the alley. The door was not flush against the doorframe, and when Reg poked it, it popped open.
“She’s in here,” Reg said in a low voice.
Reg opened the door. They waited for something to lurch out at them, but nothing did.
They stepped into the room, fanning out in a semi-circle. As the boat rocked, a wedge of moonlight strobed across the room, illuminating a pale figure pressing itself against the wall, claw-like hands scratching at the wooden surface.
There were voices on the other side of the wall, and Bill realised they were in the room to the east of the mess. There was a raucous laugh, and Gloria groaned and drew her hands over the wall with greater fervour. Her nail caught on a slat and tore off. She didn’t even notice.
“I spent a fortune on those damn nails,” Reg said.
“Give me your jacket,” Bill said to Zack.
Zack took it off and handed it over. They approached Gloria. She paused and then began to turn. Her mouth hung open, thick white saliva at the corner of her lips. Her teeth were clenched tight and she had clown-like red blood around her lips. Her hair was dirty, straggling, and stained red. Her hands were claws, the tendons straining at the surface of her skin.
“Gloria?” Reg said, stepping forward. “Can you hear me?”
Gloria’s head snapped toward Reg. She growled and her shoulders rose and fell with deep guttural breaths.
“If you’re in there, know that we don’t blame you for what you did,” Reg said. “If Dennis tried to kiss any of us I’m sure we’d all try to rip his throat out. There must be a part of you still left inside, isn’t there? Gloria?”
Gloria turned her head to one side, and then the other, like a dog at an interesting sound, and then threw her head back and ran forward, her legs moving in awkward circles with stiff joints.
Reg, shocked by the sudden movement, stepped back, tripped on his nightgown, and hit the ground. Gloria bent down and snapped at Reg’s exposed pale legs, missing by inches.
Bill rushed forward, wrapped Zack’s jacket around Gloria’s head and pulled her back, onto her feet. She struggled, her arms flailing wildly. Her skin was cold and clammy. But Bill held on.
Zack took hold of a length of cable in the corner and wrapped it around her wrists. He drew the hands together and wound the cable tight. Bill pushed Gloria up against a wall. Rohit bent down to help Reg to his feet.
“I guess there’s at least a bit of her left,” Reg said. “She’s been wishing I was dead for months. At least now she’s capable of carrying it out.”
Chapter Thirteen
BILL POKED his head out into the corridor, checking left and right. He stepped out, leading Gloria by the arm. There was a growing wet patch on Zack’s jacket where her mouth snapped at Bill.
“Remind me not to take my jacket back,” Zack said, bracing Gloria on the other side.
“You’re a gentleman,” Reg said.
“Why was she trying to get through the wall?” Rohit said.
“The mess is on the other side,” Bill said. “She was trying to get through to them.”
“Pretty stupid creatures, aren’t they?” Zack said.
“Don’t base your opinion of the rest of these things on her alone,” Reg said. “I’m sure there are brighter ones out there.”
“How could our greatest cities fall to these stupid things?” Zack said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe there’s a strength to them we haven’t seen yet,” Reg said. “Another reason to kill her now.”
“We’re not going to kill her,” Bill said. “We need to get her out of here, put her in a cupboard somewhere, and lock her up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Reg said. “Just kill her and be done with it.”
“We can’t kill her,” Bill said.
“Look at her,” Reg said. “She’s not in her right mind. She’s no more alive than a rock.”
“Someone might come up with a cure,” Bill said.
“
There’s no cure for death,” Reg said.
Bill shook his head.
“We’ll lock her up where she can’t harm anyone,” he said.
“You think she won’t escape at some point?” Reg said. “Believe me, she will.”
“We’ll make it so she won’t,” Bill said.
“How?” Reg said.
“One of us will stand guard outside the door until we decide what to do with her,” Bill said.
“These things have overrun cities,” Reg said, “countries for all we know – and you think we can control them on this boat? You’re playing a dangerous game, Bill.”
“While there’s a chance there’s a cure we mustn’t kill them,” Bill said. “We’ll get to a port, get in contact with the outside world, get a handle on how things are, and then take action.”
They turned a corner and walked along the railing. The sea undulated below them like a sheet in a strong wind. They slowed to a stop.
A young couple stood by the railing, pointing up at the sky. They held hands and headed down the deck toward the group. The men surrounded Gloria and smiled at the honeymoon couple as they passed.
“That was close,” Zack said.
“Closer than you think,” Reg said.
He barrelled forward and threw his delicate frame against Gloria, pushing her over the railing. The movement made Bill and Zack lose their grip.
Gloria made a strange squawk noise as she fell toward the dark roiling water of the sea. Bill, Zack and Rohit leaned against the railing and watched as Gloria sank beneath the surface. They turned to look at Reg.
“Danger neutralised,” Reg said, dusting off his hands.
The others glared at him.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Reg said. “Men and women have been killing each other off for years. Usually it takes a gold ring and a lot of time. Gloria got off easy.”
“You killed her!” Rohit said. “You murdered her in cold blood!”
“She had cold blood, all right,” Reg said, smirking. “Always has had.”
Rohit seized Reg by the lapels, fire burning in his eyes.
“You killed one of God’s creatures!” he said.
“That was not one of God’s creatures,” Reg said.
Zack pried Rohit’s fingers off Reg.
“It’s technically not murder,” Zack said. “You can’t kill someone who’s already dead.”
“She could talk,” Rohit said. “She could move, think-”
“That’s debateable,” Reg said. “Would you prefer to keep a tiger on board where we would have to keep an eye on it all the time? And what if she escaped? How many of us would have to die before you accepted that we would have to end her? At least now we don’t have to worry about her. For all her faults she still took care of me. The least I could do was lay her to rest.”
Bill and Rohit looked unconvinced. Reg offered his wrists to Bill.
“Lock me away,” he said. “You can thank me when you calm down.”
Bill gritted his teeth. His whole life he’d worked to save people. Seeing life so carelessly, and callously, thrown aside was not in his nature.
“You might not agree with his methods,” Zack said. “But you can’t argue with his logic. We are all a lot safer now, with her gone.”
Bill swallowed the bile he could taste at the back of his throat.
“What’s done is done,” he said.
“What do we do now?” Zack said.
“I’m going to see the captain,” Bill said. “Inform him of the events that took place tonight.”
“What about Dennis?” Zack said.
“You check on him,” Bill said. “We’ll meet back at my cabin.”
“My cabin is located beside where Dennis was bitten,” Rohit said. “I don’t feel safe taking Priya there now.”
“Bring Priya to our cabin,” Bill said. He turned to the others. “All of you are free to join us.”
“I’ll join you,” Zack said. “I don’t know anyone else here anyway.”
“Sorry, but I already have plans,” Reg said. “I’m going to return to my luxurious captain’s quarters, quaff champagne and spend the evening shredding up Gloria’s clothes.”
The group dispersed. Zack sidled up beside Bill.
“I know you don’t like what happened to Gloria,” Zack said, “but what happened to her was mercy. If I ever get like her you have permission to do the same to me.”
Bill was surprised to find that when it really came to it, he felt the same. He shivered.
Chapter Fourteen
AT THE TOP of the stairs a warm glow emanated from behind the door. As Bill opened it he was hit by music. The crew laughed and talked, just First Mate Ranj paying attention to the wheel, steering with one hand, half a bottle of beer held between thumb, index, and middle fingers, a cigarette between the others.
“No guests allowed in the wheelhouse,” a half-cut sailor said, waving Bill away.
“This is important,” Bill said, looking past the man to Ranj. “There’s something happening on this ship I think you should know about.”
“There’s nothing that happens aboard the Adventurer that Captain Rodrigo and his crew don’t know about!” the drunken sailor said.
Bill ignored him and moved toward Ranj.
“I have reason to believe there’s a dangerous entity on board and it’s going to kill us all if we don’t do something about it,” he said.
“What does this creature look like?” Ranj said. “A snake? A crocodile?”
“No,” Bill said. “It’s not an animal. It’s one of us.”
Ranj frowned.
“One of who?” he said.
“The passengers,” Bill said. “Maybe it’s more than one, I’m not sure.”
Ranj released the wheel, letting it guide itself before another sailor took over.
“Please, Mr. Flower, try to be clear,” Ranj said. “To whom are you referring? Is one of the men on board dangerous? A murderer?”
“Earlier we heard on the radio about a virus sweeping across the world,” Bill said, “and now it’s here, on board this boat with us! I would have thought you’d have known about it already, as you have a radio.”
The radio’s red light was indeed on, but the volume had been turned down. Bill’s eyes narrowed.
“Need I remind you that there are two hundred people on board,” Bill said. “I don’t think a party is the best thing to do under the circumstances.”
Ranj considered what Bill was saying and then moved to another seaman and whispered in his ear. The seaman got up and ran out.
“I have sent a man to search the boat for signs of a struggle,” Ranj said. “Does this satisfy you?”
“I don’t think you understand,” Bill said. “There’s a virus on board. You can’t see it, smell it, taste or touch it. It is all around us. If left alone it could tear through all the passengers, killing us all. You need to search to make sure no one on board is infected. Bring them to me and I can check them myself.”
Ranj pursed his lips. Evidently he didn’t like being given orders by a passenger.
“Fine,” he said. “I shall bring this to the attention of the captain.”
“Thank you,” Bill said.
Ranj spoke in Filipino to the drunken seaman who had approached Bill earlier. The seaman turned and headed down a narrow well-lit corridor leading off from the wheelhouse. Despite having swilled his own bodyweight in alcohol he did not start or stumble.
“How much longer before we arrive?” Bill said to Ranj.
“Thirteen hours,” Ranj said. “Maybe less.”
“Where’s the nearest port?”
Ranj shrugged.
“Many miles from here,” he said.
There was a scream from down the well-lit corridor. The male voice screamed once more, high-pitched and terrifying, and then dwindled to silence.
Ranj gestured to the three remaining seamen in the wheelhouse and pointed to the corridor. They edged toward
it, but were not hasty. Ranj shouted at them and they moved with a little more gusto. They went into a room at the end, pushing one another forward. A moment later, they too screamed and ran out of the room, down the corridor, through the wheelhouse and out the door.
Ranj seized one of the seamen by the arm before he escaped. His expression was a mask of terror. Ranj spoke to him frantically, and after a few failed attempts to speak, the seaman managed one word. Ranj’s grip failed and the man slipped free.
“What did he say?” Bill said.
Ranj turned slowly.
“He said, ‘The dead walk’.”
A deep groan reverberated down the corridor and two dark lumbering figures shuffled toward the wheelhouse. Captain Rodrigo was naked, his penis a bloody stump. The small man behind him had blood smeared around his mouth. His skin was pale, having lost all the vibrancy of his natural Filipino tan.
Ranj’s face paled and he stared, unmoving, at the approaching figures. Bill grabbed Ranj and shook him.
“Wake up!” Bill said. “Do something!”
But Ranj was in shock and did not respond.
“Ranj!” Bill said.
Bill slapped Ranj across the face. Ranj blinked, unresponsive. The captain was a big man, but he seemed to tower even higher over them now. He limped along on his broad flat feet.
The music continued to blare from the speakers, a happy light summer tune. Bill cast around, his eyes alighting on a short wooden stool that had been knocked over in a crew member’s haste. He picked it up and held it by the circle top.
The captain closed on Ranj, a deep rumbling groan escaping his lips. He was almost on Ranj, who backed away against the console. He had tears in his eyes. He reached out for the captain with a shaking hand.
“It’s not him!” Bill said. “Don’t try to approach him!”
Bill raised the stool above his head and brought it down hard on Captain Rodrigo’s head. He grunted and staggered. A trickle of thick blood seeped down the side of his face. He turned to Bill. Two of the legs on the stool had snapped off. Bill bent down and picked the fallen legs up, holding one in each hand. The tips that joined the circle seat were sharpened into blunt points.