Dead Calm (22 page)

Steve realized that he should have thought of asking
about the keys but this still didn't stop him from saying, “Okay
then, you're back on point. Lock all the doors you find open.”

Now moving at a much more rapid pace, they covered
half the distance to the stern in minutes.

Stopping when they reached a passageway that came
into theirs from the right, Tick-Tock pointed to footprints in the
dust that went back and forth from that hallway into the one they
were using.

Steve nodded and said, “Keep a close eye on our
backs, Tick-Tock.”

Now, with the additional threat of running into the
living as well as the dead, the three men proceeded at a slightly
slower pace. As they continued down the hall, they noticed that the
doors in this section were spaced more widely apart and were
labeled with their contents or function. Steve breathed a sigh of
relief that they were finally out of the crew area and into the
mechanical section.

Nearing the end of the passage, Brain suddenly called
out, “I found it,” as he stood and pointed at a steel door
surrounded by a heavy jamb that protruded an inch past the
wall.

Tick-Tock inspected the hatch, which to him looked
like it would be more at home on a nuclear submarine, and said, “If
we open this and Captain Nemo comes out, I’m gonna cap his
ass.”

“If anything comes out, cap its ass,” Steve
advised.

Seeing that the footprints in the dust ended at the
hatch, Brain was sure he had found the switching room. With a
simple sign over the door reading ‘Electrical’ and with all the
traffic in and out, it had to be the control room where power from
the generators could be shunted to different parts of the ship.

Six large, round, locking bolts activated by hand
levers were spaced equally around the hatch, of which five were
unsecured. After glancing at Steve, who nodded at him to go ahead,
Brain twisted the last one and pulled on it before jumping out of
the possible line of fire.

Cool air wafted out from the opening. Steve was happy
to see that the room was deserted and surprised that it was just a
twelve by twelve room with three computer work stations lined up on
the far wall. He had expected something larger and more complex,
since the area dealt with controlling the emergency power on the
Dead Calm. Shrugging it off, he realized that, with everything
computerized now, it was a wonder the entire ship wasn't controlled
from a laptop.

“A/C is on,” Tick-Tock noted.

Brain pointed to the computers and said, “They need
it. It's shut down everywhere else on the ship except for areas
like this.”

Even though the Dead Calm's main air conditioning
system was off, the ship didn't seem to heat up to the point of
being uncomfortable because the weather was mild. Despite this, the
men found it refreshing to feel the cool air blowing on them.

Brain entered the room and made for the center
computer. After moving the mouse around, the screen saver depicting
the logo for the Cayman Cruise Lines dissolved to reveal a standard
windows desktop. Sitting in the chair in front of this screen, he
indicated the empty chairs on either side of him and said, “It'll
take a few minutes while I find my way around the system, so you
might as well get comfortable.”

Pointing to the computer on the right, Tick-Tock
asked, “Think this thing has solitaire?”

Already lost in his own world, Brain didn't answer so
Tick-Tuck clicked the start button and was pleased to find it
did.

Forty minutes later, Brain leaned back in his chair
and said, “That's it. I rerouted power from the disco on deck ten
down to the water craft storage area on deck four.”

“Good choice,” Tick-Tock said. “Disco sucks.”

“Well, my reasoning is a little deeper than that,”
Brain explained. “I didn't want to cut power to anything vital that
Ricky's people might use on a regular basis. If something they're
using goes out, they’ll suspect we've been here. They'll just come
down and switch it back and cut us off.”

“Then to be on the safe side, we'll fill the gas
caddies as soon as we get back,” Steve said. “We can use them to
top off The Usual Suspects and then refill them so we can store
them on board.”

Making sure they left everything as they found it,
the trio started down the passageway until they came to where it
branched off to the port side of the ship. Steve suggested they go
out a different way in case someone had seen them and was waiting
in ambush. Brain made the turn with the others following a few
steps behind. They had only gone a dozen yard in this new direction
when a clanking noise from their rear made them spin around and
raise their weapons as they searched for a threat. Although the
ship made all kinds of creaks and groans, this sound was one they
hadn't heard before. It sounded like something had fallen or been
dropped on the deck.

Motioning for Brain to stay where he was, Steve
signaled Tick-Tock that they go back and investigate. Brain watched
as Tick-Tock dropped into a half crouch and cautiously made his way
down the passageway. Steve followed a few feet behind him.

Watching his friends' progress down the hall, Brain
was suddenly distracted when he heard a familiar sound coming from
the other side of the door he was standing in front of. Curious and
excited at what he thought he'd heard, he forgot all about covering
his friends as he stepped closer to the hatch and listened.

The mewing noise came again and Brain was sure of it.
On the other side of the door was a cat. Remembering how Connie had
told him she loved cats, he decided this could be his chance to
make major points with the girl of his dreams by bringing her a
furry little companion.

Turning his attention back to the end of the hall,
Brain saw Tick-Tock cautiously look both ways down the passage they
had just come from. Shrugging, he turned to Steve and said,
“Nothing there.”

Brain heard the mewing noise from beyond the door
again. Excitement coursed through him at his find.

YES, he thought to himself. Connie's going to love me
when I give her a cat. With his eyes on Tick-Tock and Steve, he
reached out with his right hand, and grasped the doorknob. As he
turned it, he called out, “Hey guys, I think someone locked a cat
in here. Help me catch him for Connie.”

Tick-Tock looked beyond Steve and saw what the tech
was about to do. At the top of his voice he screamed, “No
Brain!”

But it was too late. The door swung open.

The dead thing standing there made a mewing noise as
it lurched forward with outstretched arms.

***

Heather tried not to show her nervousness as Reverend
Ricky made his way down the stairs. Still twenty feet from where
she stood, she called out, “Far enough. Hold it right there.”

Smiling and holding his hands out to show he was
unarmed, Ricky said, “No need to fear me Sister Heather, I come in
peace.”

Since Steve, Tick-Tock and Brain were out exploring,
it left only Susan and herself to hold down the fort. With their
diminished firepower, Heather wanted to get rid of Ricky as fast as
possible. Although Susan had a rifle, out of the rest of the group
only Sheila had ever handled a firearm. Steve didn't want anyone
who was unfamiliar with a weapon, or in Sheila's case couldn't be
trusted with one yet, walking around armed. If Ricky found out that
the group was split up and under gunned, he might try
something.

Wanting to put Ricky off by being rude, Heather asked
bluntly, “What the fuck do you want?”

“I've come to talk to you and Brother Steve,” Ricky
said.

“Steve's asleep,” Heather replied. “Tell me what you
want and I’ll tell him when he wakes up.”

Ricky smiled at the woman's lie, knowing from his
informant that Steve and two others named Randy and Tick-Tock had
left on their little tour an hour and a half earlier. He was
tempted to call Heather’s bluff by insisting he talk to Steve. This
was followed by the wild urge to blurt out, 'I know where they are'
and then tell her, so he could show how smart he was. Pushing these
feelings down by reassuring himself that the people from the
sailboat would soon realize how much more intelligent he was than
them as they lay dying, choking on their own blood, he turned his
attention back to the task at hand. Giving Heather an appraising
eye, he decided that, while she wasn't bad looking, she was too old
for him. Considering how things might play out, he decided that if
she was taken alive, he would give the little blonde to his Head
Ushers to use before having her thrown into the Sound's Lounge.

Alive of course.

With that settled, Ricky turned to business by
saying, “I've got good news for you, Sister Heather. If you'll look
up to deck five, you'll see that the three people I've got watching
you are packing up and moving out.”

Not wanting to turn her back on Ricky to confirm
this, she replied, “So what?”

Ricky's smile faltered for a second at the woman's
insolent tone and he wondered if it was possible to have her raped
by one of the dead.

Why not, he thought. I've had a few of the woman.

Deciding it was something to look into, he said,
“It's a sign of my trust by pulling those people back. At first I
didn't know if you meant us any ill will, but now that I've seen
you're not a threat, I've decided to let you have the run of
restaurant row.”

Instead of saying thank you, Heather gave a curt nod
and asked, “ls that all?”

Ricky had planned on spending some time giving this
woman the details of how the power had been kept on for the coolers
in the restaurants on deck five and how they should feel free to
explore the rest of the ship at their leisure. Feeling increasingly
uneasy at the blank stare he received from her, he instead gave
Heather the abbreviated version of his speech then bid her good
evening and made his way up the stairs.

Heather risked a quick glance over her shoulder and
saw two men and a woman making their way along deck five to join
Ricky at the top of the staircase. After losing sight of them as
they ascended onto deck six, she breathed a sigh of relief.

***

“Get him off me,” Brain screamed weakly from flat on
his back.

When the Zombie had appeared in the doorway and
reached for him, he had reacted like a civilian as opposed to a
hunter. Dropping his pistol, he reached forward and grabbed the
dead man's outstretched hands with his own. And while he may have
been working out, he was no match for the strength born of the need
to feed on human flesh that the dead possessed. Pushing forward as
it lunged toward him, the zombie stepped on Brain’s right foot,
tripping him and causing him to fall backwards.

Thinking that if he could get his foot into the
zombie's chest he could flip it over him, Brain tried to raise his
leg. He moved fast but not fast enough, only putting his knee into
the zombie's solar plexus as they both went down onto the deck.
Holding tightly onto the creature’s wrists and bracing his knee as
he fell, Brain felt the wind knocked out of him as he landed hard
on the tile. In a small voice, he called out for someone to get the
dead thing off, feeling his strength flow out of his body along
with the last of his breath. Every muscle in his body went weak.
His knee slipped from its position down to the dead man's stomach.
Now with nothing to hold the dead thing back, Brain knew it would
be over in seconds. The thing would lunge forward and bite him. Now
wanting to see it coming, he screwed his eyes shut.

Expecting to feel a wet gnashing mouth on his cheek
or neck, Brain felt nothing. Thinking he was in shock and that his
body wasn't registering the pain, he hoped it didn't register the
feeling of the bullet that either Steve or Tick-Tock would fire
into his head either. As if from a distance, he heard a voice
saying his name and wondered if it was Jesus calling him home.

His mind cleared when he realized it wasn't Jesus
calling him but Tick-Tock. Opening one eye, he saw his role model
straddling the zombie from behind. Tick-Tock had one hand dug into
the dead things hair and the other grasping its collar to keep it
from rearing back at him or lunging forward. Steve stood to the
left with his rifle aimed at the abomination’s head.

Seeing that Brain had opened one eye, Tick-Tock
changed from calling his name to saying calmly but firmly, “You've
got to let go, Brain. I can't pull him off you because you've still
got hold of his hands.”

Opening his other eye, Brain glanced down to see that
he still had a death grip on both of the zombie’s wrists. Revulsion
at what he was touching shot through him as he felt the leathery
skin and the dead thing’s wrist bones grinding as they worked back
and forth under this grip. Forcing down the bile that rose in his
throat at the smell of the zombie, he croaked out, “Tell me
when.”

As if in answer, the dead thing made a mewing noise.
When it did, Brain saw that part of its throat that had been ripped
away, causing it to sound like a cat.

I'm such a dumbass, he thought.

“On three, let go and roll to your right.” Tick-Tock
said in a calm voice and then started counting, “0ne, two, three,
NOW.”

Brain let go and rolled.

Tick-Tock braced himself with his feet and lifted the
zombie up while pivoting his body. Using his momentum and the
weight of the dead thing, he spun it around and half threw it back
through the door it had come out of.

Seeing their plan had worked, Steve moved forward.
Before the zombie could regain its feet, he shot it once through
the forehead. Ready to fire again, he saw that neither the south
nor the Z was ever going to rise again.

Steve spun around and saw that Brain had made it onto
his hands and knees and was vomiting onto the floor. Tick-Tock
leaned against the wall with his rifle at the ready for any other
threats. Seeing that the danger was over, he watched as his second
in command slid down to sit on the floor and laid his M-4 across
his knees. All of them were breathing heavily.