Just as she retracted her head from the lifeboat, Rachel’s mother and grandmother ran up to the boat, flushed and panting.
“Rachel… she’s...” her grandmother managed to choke out.
“What is it? What happened to Rachel? What was that noise?” Lori replied.
“She’s in trouble… something… that thing went after her...”
“Oh my god! Where is she? What went after her?”
“I don’t know, you have to… help her. We were just on the deck above and a… monster went after her. She distracted it despite my protests, we used the opportunity to escape”.
“Stay here! Get into the lifeboat and keep quiet. If we’re not back in ten minutes and haven’t messaged you, press the blue button on this outside panel”, she indicated, “or the one inside to continue lowering the lifeboat, then pull that red lever to release the safety harness once you hit the ocean”.
“Okay”, Martha replied, nodding. “Lori, bring her back safely”.
“What about Edward?”
Martha shook and lowered her head in dismay, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.
“Did you tell Rachel?”
“Yes”.
Lori didn’t need any more explaining, Rachel’s unusual act of courage made so much sense now. She was off, running as fast as her legs would allow.
As she ran, her mobile vibrated. Fumbling for it in her pocket, she managed to grab hold of and answer it, to hear Rachel's weak terrified voice on the other line.
“Lori?”
“Rachel! Where the fuck are you? What’s happening? Are you okay?”
“I’m… to be honest I don’t know where I am, I’m stuck and… and...” She momentarily went silent before continuing, “Lori, I just want to say that I love you, you know that right?”
“Why are you talking as though this is goodbye again? What’s happening?”
“Because… because I’m stuck… I can’t get out… I’m probably going to die here”.
“Don’t you say that! Don't you dare say that! Are you injured?”
“No”.
“Have you been bitten or anything?”
“No, not at all”.
“Then there's still hope”.
“Have you seen mum and nanny?”
“I did, they’re safe, they’re getting on the lifeboat. I’m really sorry to hear about your father”.
Rachel sobbed.
“Yeah… he didn't deserve that. I don't know how I’ll cope without him… it breaks my heart thinking about how much mum is suffering”.
There was a tremendous amount of racket in the background, making it difficult for Lori to hear what Rachel was saying.
“What is that noise?”
“Nothing… don't worry about it. I just want you to know I love you”.
“Hang tight, I’m coming”.
“Wait, what? No! Get on that lifeboat and go!”
“I am not leaving without you! Do you hear me?”
“Lori, it’s dangerous, I mean really dangerous here. You don’t want to be here, I don’t want you to be here! If you don’t get attacked by those crazies trying to get here, you’ll get hurt or killed by…”
“By what?”
“This… thing”.
“What is it Rachel? What’s there?”
“I don’t know how to explain it”.
“I’m coming for you, just stay there”.
“I said no! Go! Leave! Get out of here!”
“And I said I’m coming for you! We leave together! I’ve said it once before and I’m saying it again”.
“Lori, you can’t…” Lori hung up on Rachel abruptly, refusing to argue with her on the matter any further.
With threats in every possible direction, inadvertently drawing attention to herself arguing with her girlfriend, was in neither of their best interests. Determined to save Rachel, she tightened her grip on the fire axe and ignored Rachel’s attempts to call her back.
Rachel, already scared out of her wits, didn’t need the extra fear of her girlfriend walking into the same perilous situation. Why wouldn’t she pick up? Where was she? Rachel peered out of the small service cabin and her assailant, wedged between the narrow corridor and edging closer to her, dug its fingers into the walls, ripping out nails as its mouth formed a saliva spitting, teeth bearing snarl.
It suddenly dawned on her that she still had the gun, but for all the logic telling her to use it to potentially escape, she was still a coward with weapons and just its weight alone was intimidating, this was no toy, this was a real gun and once she pulled that trigger she couldn’t take back the results.
Still, she had to consider hers and now Lori’s safety, this monster was nothing short of a concoction of unyielding, untamed fury and a voracious appetite for her.
Her hands shaking harder than she could ever recall, she lifted the gun and pointed it towards the monstrosity. Her finger slipped onto the trigger of the weapon she clutched, like her life depended on it, but before she could fire, she remembered Lori having mentioned something about safety, so the trigger feeling further back than she had anticipated suddenly made sense.
She inspected the gun, looking for something obvious that she could use to release the safety, since the slide at the top of the gun exposing the muzzle didn’t appear to want to budge with physical force and she’d probably end up shooting herself doing the wrong thing.
It was a moment later she spotted a little nub towards the upper back part of the grip and no sooner did she give it a little push down, the slide ejected forward with a loud snap, concealing the muzzle. Was safety off now? There was only one way to find out.
She pointed the gun towards the monster and squeezed the loosened trigger, closing her eyes as she did so.
A loud, terror inducing bang erupted from the gun and the recoil ripped the gun from her hands and propelled it over her head and to the ground behind her. Yelping in pain, she nursed her bruised hands and opened her eyes to inspect the damage done. Her assailant seemed unfazed and continued its attempt to reach her, if anything, only invigorated by her attempt to kill or at the very least injure it.
Had she missed? How? Her target wasn’t exactly petite, surely a bullet would have at least grazed it. She spun around and stared at the gun momentarily, having to really consider whether it was worth a second attempt, before conceding and grabbing it. She had to remember and repeat to herself that this was no longer just for her, it was also for Lori.
She pointed it towards the monster again, but not before wiping her sweaty palms off on her jeans and clutching the gun harder.
She took a deep breath and without closing her eyes this time she fired.
Lori, following the trail of destruction and taking every and any means to avoid running into crazies, heard the gunshots, adding credence, however small, to the hope that she was going the right way.
Soon enough she came to the end of the trail and found herself staring at something she couldn’t understand, wedged into a narrow corridor. Arms protruding from its colossal body and its legs attempting to push itself further into the narrow space, she wouldn’t be able to find the words to describe just how horrified she was if she tried.
She stood there staring at the monstrosity in utter shock and confusion. Where the hell had such a thing come from?
Another shot of what sounded like a gun, this time coming from the very corridor the colossal creature was stuck in. Lori ducked and covered her head with her free hand. She only stood up again when she heard voices.
“I squeeze you, mummy, I’ll crush you… I’ll eat you and your bones too”, came an unfamiliar, heavy voice rife with aggression.
“Why won’t you fucking die?” A panic stricken female voice that Lori did recognise snapped back.
Not wanting to give away her position just yet, Lori texted Rachel, informing her that she was outside and had come to help, only to receive an angry text back that she should have left when she had the ch
ance, which was followed up with a text thanking her and informing her of the situation and how terrified Rachel was.
Lori reassured her that she wouldn’t let that monstrosity lay a finger on her, regardless of how many it had.
Holding the fire axe to her chest and taking deep breaths, she braced herself to do something completely stupid and without a follow-up plan. There was no telling what the result of this would be, but at this point anything was better than just standing here doing nothing and every second wasted on pondering what to do, was another second closer to her girlfriend’s death.
She charged forward, raising the axe and swinging it with all her power to hack off one of many arms. She was rewarded with a seemingly endless spray of blood across her face and clothes.
Evidently posing a threat to the monstrosity, it’s other arms began swinging wildly in an attempt to grab her, but she fought back, chopping off more arms and hacking into its back like a crazed person herself, disregarding the blood spray and dismembered limbs.
“Fuck you! Fuck you!” She screamed.
The colossal monster, now aware its back was left vulnerable, attempted to push its way back out, abandoning its determination to reach Rachel.
“Lori! Whatever you are doing is working! I don’t know how many bullets I have left, but I’ve already shot three!” Rachel yelled over the roar of the monster obstructing her.
“Stay there, Rachel! I’m coming for you! I won’t let this fucker touch you!” Lori shouted back.
Lori, unaware that it was slowly slipping loose of the narrow corridor, hacked away, covering herself in blood and innards. It was gruesome, but her sheer drive to save a loved one was more than worth the unpleasantries.
Rachel on the other side fumbled with the gun, stepped a little closer and pointed it towards the monster again.
“I’m going to shoot it, Lori, but I don’t want to accidentally hit you!”
“Just shoot it! I’ll be okay! Shoot, shoot!”
“Okay...” Rachel replied hesitantly. She aimed towards what she believed to be its head, but just as she fired, it slipped back, freeing itself of its confines and knocking Lori back to the ground behind her with it, the bullet missing and completely wasted.
Lori yelped as the creature landed on top of her, but she didn’t stop her attack, only infuriating the monster as it flipped over to attack her.
Noticing the peril Lori was now in, Rachel wasted no time in taking another shot, just as it pounced upon Lori with a frightening aggression.
Flinching from the gunshot, the monster gave Lori that precious moment to scramble to her feet and slip out of harm’s way.
“Lori!” Rachel yelped, seeing all the blood. Lori grabbed her hand.
“Go, go, go!” Lori ordered, dragging Rachel behind her.
They fled, using the very brief opportunity they were given to create a gap between them and the monster, but as luck would have it, it was soon hot on their heels once more, smashing everything in its path to debris.
Rachel spun around and fired two more shots at their pursuer, but one bullet missed entirely and the other did only enough to buffer it momentarily. She was empty, no more bullets.
“Shit! I’m out of fucking bullets! It’s going to catch us, Lori!”
“This way!” Lori shouted back, dragging Rachel into a deserted ransacked Thai restaurant, a split second decision they would quickly come to regret as not one, not two, but four bloody mouthed heads of crazies popped up from behind restaurant tables and seats, twitching erratically, before pouncing towards the two.
“Shit! Duck!” Lori cried and they ducked just in time to narrowly avoid a leaping crazy, as she sailed overhead, crashing into a table opposite.
Lori released Rachel’s hand to push over a table, whilst Rachel threw plates.
Suddenly, through the glass window pane the colossal brute crashed, flattening tables and seats and sending shards of broken glass flying everywhere.
The young women’s hearts almost leapt from their chests as it landed on the floor before them.
“Holy shit!” Rachel screamed, they were completely surrounded.
Panting, the two women knew their time was up, it was over, there was nowhere left to go, this is how they were going out, so as their backs pressed against one another, Rachel accepted her fate.
“As morbid as this sounds, when I pictured my death, it was nothing as grisly as this will be”.
Lori chuckled between fear, the only thing she could do when faced with these odds.
“I know...”
“I don’t regret anything”.
“Neither do I”.
“I love you, Lori”.
“I love you too, Rachel. I want my last sight to be you”. She spun around to face Rachel and Rachel did the same. They locked lips in a passionate kiss and embraced tighter than they had ever before, squeezing their eyes shut so that their last sight was each other’s faces and braced themselves for whatever came next.
They heard the wails of the crazies as they leapt from tables and chairs, but felt nothing other than the breeze of something flying close by their heads and crashing into something else opposite. Rachel opened her eyes.
“Lori, duck!” She pulled Lori down just in time to see a table soar right over their heads and smash into several pieces across the restaurant.
“Fuck… thank you, Rachel”. Lori spun around to see the commotion and there opposite them was the colossal brute fighting off four crazed people as they clung onto it, biting and scratching, ripping off skin. The brute slammed one to the ground with tremendous force, enough to break any normal person’s back and flung another through the window pane.
“What the hell? They’re fighting each other”.
“Yeah… why?”
“I don’t know… but we should see this as a blessing in disguise and get the fuck out of here”. She couldn’t have been more convincing as the brute ripped a crazed human in two, raining the restaurant with blood and guts, before flinging the upper and lower torsos in opposite directions.
Lori grabbed Rachel’s hand and they dashed out of the restaurant, injured and shaken, but by some miracle, alive.
FINAL CHAPTER - EVERYONE
5:05pm - 10 hours, 18 minutes since outbreak in London.
3 hours, 55 minutes since outbreak aboard MS HotS.
. . .
. . .
Lori struggled to keep up with Rachel as they made their way back down the stairs towards the lifeboat, limping and appearing off balance.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked.
“I’ll be fine, just a fracture or something. I’ll worry about it once I’m off”, Lori replied, wincing.
“Just a fracture? Lori, that’s serious!”
“When you consider the fact that we both just managed to make it back here by the skin of our teeth and don’t know if we’ll have a lifeboat to escape with, given the fact we’re already late, I’ll take a fracture any day”.
“Come on, stay with me”, Rachel insisted, returning to Lori’s side and placing her arm around her. “We don’t have much further to go”.
They slowly made their way over to where they had left the lifeboat, avoiding remaining crazies along the way and much to their surprise and delight, there hung the lifeboat that should have long since departed without them.
Rachel sighed with relief as they approached the closed door to the lifeboat and gently knocked, trying to avoid attracting any more attention.
“Mum, gran, it’s us, it’s safe”, Rachel whispered close to the door. There was a few seconds of unnerving silence, before they heard a click and the grainy sound of the door slowly sliding down.
Out popped the head of Martha and Rachel wasted no time in embracing her, much to her grandmother's initial shock.
“Oh… I’m glad you two are safe”.
Rachel burst into tears.
“You waited for us”, she replied.
“We did, we’re in no rush. I’m
old and your mother has lost enough already without a daughter she could have saved to add to the list”. No sooner did she say that, Rachel’s mother came out and embraced Rachel as well, saying not a single word.
“We should go, the longer we stay here, the more we put our lives in jeopardy”, Martha insisted.
Christine climbed back into the lifeboat followed closely by Martha.
“Come, Lori”, Rachel insisted.
“Right behind you”, Lori replied, giving Rachel a reassuring smile, everything was going to be alright now, they were finally getting off this hellish voyage.
Rachel stepped inside the lifeboat and before she could sit down, she heard the jerk and grainy sound of the door sliding shut behind her. Not even given the chance to see what was going on, she was pushed forward, landing on her hands and knees with a painful thud.
“What the fuck?” She exclaimed, before spinning around to see the door halfway up towards shutting and Lori nowhere in sight.
“Wait… what? Lori? Where are you? Lori!” She clambered to her feet and scrambled over to the door. “Lori! What are you doing? What are you doing?”
“I’m breaking my promise… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry”.
“What do you mean? What are you doing, Lori?”
“I’m protecting you. I can’t go with you”.
“Why? Don’t do this! Don’t joke around, Lori!”
“I lied earlier. This wound is more than just a fracture, I don’t know if I was infected somehow, but I can feel it inside me and sooner or later I’ll become a danger to you all, just like… just like those others… so…”
“No Lori, then I’ll stay with you, I’ll stay here with you. We promised to be together to the bitter end, we talked about being an old bickering couple! Lori!” Rachel yelped as the gap between her and Lori shut. It was the last time Rachel would see Lori’s face, a meek smile concealing a shattered heart.
Lori, fighting tears, rested her head against the door as it slid shut and pressed the locking mechanism from the outside before Rachel could attempt to reopen it from the inside.
Cryptophobia | Book 2 | Hell & High Water [Fear The Unknown] Page 25