“Well, we’re going to have to make a trip.”
“Now?” Kiera cried. “We just got back from rescuing her.” She waved a hand in Scarlett’s direction, repulse curling her lips. “Why can’t we take a break? I don’t want to go out there again!”
“You’re not,” Rolf said simply. He pointed at Kiera, Scarlett and the two girls in the corner. “You four are staying here, with…” He glanced at his group, “Wheat.”
Wheat was the runt of the group, a tall, but gangly thing. His height put a hunch in his shoulders that made his neck appear to be coming out of his chest. His shaggy mop of wheat-blond hair hung over his long, narrow face, covering his downcast eyes. He would not have been Scarlett’s first choice to protect anyone. A good gust of wind could have blown him over.
“Wait. What?”
Scarlett’s protest was outmatched by Kiera’s outburst. “Why can’t you stay?”
“Because this group is my responsibility.” Rolf turned away from the fierce girl. “The rest of us will go up, gather supplies and get back as quickly as possible.”
“We should be making plans to get off this ship!” Kiera exploded, arms flailing over her head. “Not just sitting here like ducks.”
Rolf expelled a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We can’t go anywhere until we know what we’re up against. We need to get supplies and formulate a plan! That is our first and main priority and since we don’t know how long we may be trapped here, we need food.”
“Jack has the data port, send him and…” Kiera waved a hand over the other boys. “Lance. He’s strong.”
Rolf turned on her, his face a glacial mask of fury. “They are my friends, not my servants. If they go, I go!”
“Then I’m going with you!” Scarlett interjected before anything else could be said.
“No, you are not!” Rolf replied tightly, puncturing each word through his clenched teeth.
Scarlett folded her arms, jerking her chin up a notch. “The women folk are not staying behind while you big, brave men go hunting for food. Hunter is out there and I am going with you!”
With an exasperated growl, Rolf threw up his hands. “What is wrong with you girls? I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Well, lucky for me then that I have four big, strong warriors to protect me.”
He scowled at Scarlett’s sarcasm.
“If she goes, I’m going.” Kiera mimicked Scarlett’s folded arms.
Rolf slapped a hand over his face and rubbed. “Fine.” He threw his arms open wide. “Fine! But keep up.”
Chapter Ten
They left Wheat with the two girls, both still crouched in the corner, whispering between themselves. Scarlett glanced at the pair as they left the room, making a mental note to bring back some painkillers or something for the sick looking one.
“Do you guys need anything?” she asked, pausing on the threshold.
The girl with the braids quickly glanced up, her face pale, but nowhere near as pasty or grey-tinged as her friends. “No, we’re fine.”
Scarlett frowned as the voice struck a familiar cord with her. She started to ask if they’d met before. It was possible. After three years on a ship that size, you got to know the people fairly well; if not by name, then by sight.
“Scarlett,” Rolf called in a low whisper.
With a last peek at the two, Scarlett ducked out of the room. She was momentarily disorientated when Wheat closed the door behind them and sealed the cracks, thrusting them into darkness. There was the screech of metal being shoved back into place, then silence.
“Stay along the walls,” Rolf whispered. “Keep quiet and keep together.”
Simple enough rules to follow.
Carefully, they picked their way forward, one hand braced on the wall at all times. Scarlett had been down there enough time to navigate the path with closed eyes. But they couldn’t have taken more than a handful of steps when they heard the screams.
Terror washed over the group. Scarlett was certain no one was even breathing. They listened, every nerve on alert as the howls thundered down the passage way and slammed into them with forces that shoved them back a step.
“Wheat!” Lance growled, already tearing back towards the equipment room.
“Lance!” Rolf gave chase after telling the others to stay put.
No one listened.
Lance reached the heavily barricaded doors first and pounded his beefy fists against the metal, calling Wheat’s name. Something crashed inside. Metal against concrete muffled the chilling shrieks. Something hissed, growled. More crashes. More screams, then the sickening squish of flesh tearing, the gurgle and sputter of blood and, finally, silence. Kiera wailed a sob.
No one moved. Their combined heartbeats reverberated through the corridor, broken only by Kiera’s wrenching moans.
“Get away from the doors,” Rolf rasped at last, hand closing around Scarlett’s elbow. “Back away. Now!”
“But Wheat—” Kiera croaked.
“There’s nothing we can do for him.” Even in the darkness, without seeing his expression for confirmation, Scarlett could hear the agony snaking through the words. The pain was raw, bleeding with anger. “Come on.”
“But how…?” Kiera kept whimpering as they half-walked, half-jogged away from the room.
“That girl,” Scarlett whispered, wincing at the crushing guilt settling on her shoulders. “She must have been infected. She looked sick, but I didn’t…”
“You couldn’t,” Rolf muttered. “None of us did.”
But she could have. Now, when it was too late, she knew exactly why that girl’s voice was so familiar. They were the two she’d seen at the refectory only earlier that day. She hadn’t looked at their faces, which was probably her biggest mistake. But how was she supposed to know?
They stumbled and staggered the rest of the way up two flights of stairs. No one tried to be nearly as quiet as they had been going down.
Rolf pulled himself together just enough to stop everyone on deck eleven and venture out first. When he came back, telling them it was all clear, Scarlett frowned. This didn’t seem right. There were seven thousand passengers on the ship. Two thousand of those were crew members, not including the captain and his family. Even with half of them dead, the other half was infected. So … where were they? Where were the infected? They should have been crawling all over the place. But so far, they had been up and down five levels and they hadn’t run into any.
“Wait,” she whispered before anyone could leave the shelter of the stairway. “Something isn’t right.”
“We can’t stay here!” Jack hissed.
“What do you mean?” Rolf interjected.
“Where are the infected?” she asked. “This ship should be crawling. Have any of you even seen one since all this started?”
“Aside from the one that just…” Kiera voice hitched.
“If they broke out of isolation, they should be everywhere,” Scarlett continued.
“All the more reason to keep moving!” Jack snapped. “The faster we get ourselves armed, the safer we’ll be.”
A pause, then Rolf chimed in, “Jack’s right. We have to keep going.”
As cold as the uneasy feeling was, Scarlett couldn’t think of a reason to argue. They had to keep moving, because they certainly couldn’t go back. Forward it was.
The mere minutes it usually took to cross from the stairway to the refectory, dragged into what felt like hours. Every rustle of movement sent a prickle of terror winding down her spine, even though she knew it was their feet. It had never been so quiet, so dark.
“Stay together,” Rolf whispered.
Something clicked and light flared in his hand. He shone the torch down at the ground as he eased the door open a crack, releasing a faint waft of copper and decay to filter through.
Scarlett gagged, slapping a hand over her nose and mouth. The others did the same. But Rolf didn’t seem to notice as he pressed his weight against th
e door, nudging back whatever was wedged behind it. The stench amplified the wider the gap became.
Carefully, he swung the torch into the room, splashing yellow light over upended tables, broken chairs, blood spattered walls, and a thick carpet of leftover human remains. Scarlett was glad she had her hand over her mouth, stifling the scream bubbling up in her throat.
“Oh…!” Kiera moaned, grabbing blindly at Scarlett. Her sharp little nails gouged into Scarlett’s upper arm. The pain was welcoming. It jolted her away from the chasm crumbling at her feet.
Rolf started forward. His boots squished against the wet linoleum. The floor shone crimson. Jack and Lance followed. Scarlett, with a whimpering Kiera in tow, trundled after them. Mac took the end, closing the door gingerly behind them.
“Mac. Lance. Food,” Rolf pointed to the food dispenser with the torch. “Jack, find us another hideaway. You two stay here. I’m going to see if I can find anything else we might need.”
Scarlett would much rather have stayed outside, taken her chances with whatever was out there. Being trapped in a place she used to eat her meals, knee deep in the bodies of people she may have known…
“Don’t leave me!” With a squeak, Kiera dislodged herself from Scarlett and latched onto Rolf.
Scarlett had never wanted the girl back more than she did at that moment. Left standing in the middle of the room with nothing to do and darkness creeping in around her as Rolf moved away with their only source of light, Scarlett didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She stood stiffly, arms enfolding herself.
In the background, she heard the food dispenser whir to life. There was some scuffling. Some hushed whispers followed by the grind of conveyer belts as food was prepared and dropped through the slot. The pale, green glow from the screen illuminated Mac and Lance’s faces as they hovered over the machine. She saw Mac amble away, melting into the darkness untouched by the faint light, then return with a white bundle in his hand. She watched as he spread out the sheet on a clean patch of floor and began piling food on top.
On the other side of the room, Rolf’s torch grazed over the litter of broken furniture. Every so often, he would pick something up, study it, and then toss it back down. She couldn’t see, but she could hear Kiera’s sniveling at every sound.
Only a few feet from her, Jack’s head was bent over the data port in his hand. The glow highlighted the furrow concentration on his brow.
Scarlett was the only one not doing anything.
“Do you need help?” she whispered.
“No!” Jack retorted curtly.
“Look, I know you don’t think Rolf should have come after me, but I can—”
“I don’t think that.”
She was baffled by his standoffish attitude towards her. They had never actually spoken in the past, but had always shared a pleasant enough nod in passing.
“Have I done something…?”
“I need to concentrate.” With that, he turned his back on her, cutting off all further conversation. But she knew the minute he was onto something. His head shot up. “Rolf!”
Rolf was at his side in seconds. Kiera hot on his heels. “Find something?”
“I know where we need to go.” He pointed at something on the screen.
“Yes!” Rolf clapped him on the back. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Scarlett dared a single step forward. “What?”
Rolf faced her. “The escape pods.”
Her eyes widened. “But that’s all the way down on deck one!”
“We can’t stay on this ship!” Jack said, turning to face her. “We need to get off.”
“And go where?” she exclaimed, throwing her arms open wide. “There is nowhere out there for us to go.”
“If we stay here, we’re going to die!” Jack turned the port off and stuffed it into his pocket. “I would rather not get eaten.”
“What about Hunter?” She fixed her gaze on Rolf. “You promised we wouldn’t leave him!”
“He’s probably already dead!” Kiera pulled herself together long enough to say. “I want off this hell!”
“Then you guys can go.” She folded her arms. “He would never leave me and I’m not leaving him, not until I know for sure he’s…” She couldn’t say it.
“Fine!” Kiera decided, looping her arm through Rolf’s. “You can stay.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Rolf said. He fixed his gaze on Scarlett. “You know there’s a chance he may not have made it, don’t you? I’ll look, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Scarlett nodded. “I know.”
“Rolf—”
“I promised!” he said, shaking Kiera’s hold loose. “I’ll find him.”
Chapter Eleven
As plans went, theirs was a bad one in Scarlett’s opinion. Moving between a handful of levels was one thing; but to descend even deeper, through the labyrinth of abandoned decks was something else. Who was to say the infected weren’t all clustered below, waiting for their next meal to amble stupidly into their midst?
When she voiced her concerns, she was met with groans and exasperation, except for Rolf who kept the others from dumping her butt somewhere and taking off.
“The escape pods are a level above the boiler room,” she tried again, hoping against all odds that someone would see sense.
“What’s your point?” Kiera demanded.
“Well, isn’t the boiler room where the infected were being kept? If they escaped, odds are they’re on those two levels.” Why was she the only one seeing what a bad idea this was? It wasn’t inter-galaxy time warping, too complex to comprehend. “We’re walking straight for them.”
“Let’s close as many levels as we can,” Rolf said with that same frustrating level of calm. “We’ll think of a plan when we need to. Right now, that is our goal, to get to the pods and get off this ship.”
“What about Hunter?” she growled through her teeth.
“Jesus Christ!” someone swore loudly.
Rolf’s hand closed over her elbow and she was pulled aside from the group. He lowered his head and dropped his voice.
“Look, they’re scared, okay? Let me take them to the pods. I swore to you not to leave until I’ve found Hunter. I always keep my word.”
Despite her hesitation, she couldn’t help accept his promise. What else could she do?
“I’m staying with you,” she said.
“No—”
“He’s my friend!” she cut him off. “I’m not leaving him … or you.”
He seemed to jerk back at her remark. His frowned, forming a thin line in the center of his brow. “Scarlett—”
She put up a hand and shook her head. “I am not going to ask you to die for me, Rolf. I’m staying with you.”
The muscles on his face contorted like she’d physically struck him. His jaw muscles flexed and his gaze dropped to her mouth and stayed there, even when he spoke again.
“Funny thing is.” His eyes lifted to meet hers through the murky shadows. “You wouldn’t have to ask.”
Without allowing her the chance to respond, he turned and walked back to the others.
Scarlett watched him go, a warm flutter working up her stomach and into her chest. She felt the tingle of it all throughout her spine like a tender caress. But it ended quickly when she caught Kiera’s narrowed blue eyes. A spear of guilt had her dropping her gaze and focusing instead on the task at hand.
She knew they couldn’t stay aboard the ship. But where would they go? Things hadn’t exactly been paradise since the world ended, but being stuck in a pod and shot into space wouldn’t be a picnic either, especially when they didn’t have a destination and those pods could only travel for so long before running out of fuel. Unlike Dawn Light, they weren’t solar powered. Then there was the issue of food. They had some now and there was some in the pod, but it wouldn’t last forever, and with no way to replenish, they were as good as dead anyway.
Nevertheless, as much as s
he hated to admit it, Jack was right; she really didn’t want to get eaten.
They took the stairs south. Rolf led with Jack next to him, holding the data port. Mac ambled behind with a sheet bulging with food. Lance had another bundle, this one full of water canisters. In their other hand, all the boys carried their enforcers, the stunner set to max—the highest it would go. She and Kiera had each been given an iron pipe wrenched off a table to be used as a weapon.
As prepared went, they were not, but it was better than nothing.
“What do you think happened to the captain?” Kiera’s voice floated from the darkness, just to Scarlett’s right.
“Probably dead,” Lance mused. “Unless she’d gotten the injection.”
“She must have,” Scarlett heard herself say. “Dr. Ora was only giving the shots to the mentors and higher ups. Novices had to wait and book theirs, except for that girl back there. She got hers early because her father pulled some strings, or something. No doubt the captain was the first.”
“So why didn’t she turn before everyone else?” Kiera asked. “She looked fine the last time we saw her. She wasn’t sweaty or shaky like that girl in the equipment room.”
“Maybe it works differently for everyone,” Jack said. “If that girl got hers the day it was announced, ahead of everyone else, then a lot of those people should have turned after her.”
“No one here got their injections, did they?”
Scarlett had nearly forgotten just who her companions were. If there was a class system still in play, everyone in that group was from first class. Including Rolf. They were the sons and daughters of the elite. This had been just another cool vacation for them, a chance to get away from their rich and privileged lives. They weren’t there because their grandmother had found a job onboard, giving them and a friend a free ride.
“Rolf wouldn’t let us,” Kiera said, adoration coloring her tone. “Of course, he was right.”
Scarlett ignored the prickle of annoyance. “What made you decide not to?”
When Night Falls (Regeneration Series Book 1) Page 10