Z-Boat (Book 3): Z-End

by Robb, Suzanne

  Groans, metal dragging on metal, the stripping of flesh from bone; nothing good to hear in the dark. Daniel went still beside her, his arm colliding with one of hers.

  "What the hell is this place?" he said.

  "Just another screwed-up version of what happens when people play God."

  Above them a bulb flickered to life. They were in a cavernous room. Ally guessed it to be a hundred feet long by forty feet wide. In the center, two zombies were eating what remained of a man, she assumed one of those Steve had had executed. She wondered why there were only two. How did they get the bodies down here? She glanced up and saw a paper-thin slit of light in the overhead. Must have been dumped.

  One of the ghouls caught scent of their fresh blood and raised its head. Ally prepared to fight. Two was a manageable number. The thing lunged at her, but jerked back when the chain around its leg went taut.

  A boom echoed around the metal room and she looked down. The whole ship shook and cracks splintered across the grit-covered walls. With the light she saw crude drawings and written expressions etched in blood decorated her surroundings. Warnings about "what lurks below" and "time is running out," were scrawled in thick, dark letters. Ally inspected them and confirmed her fear: they'd been written in blood.

  Whatever it was banged into the bottom of the ship again, and Ally took the warnings to heart. Did the mutated whales and sharks follow them? Were they powerful enough to take down the vessel she was on? What about the barges outside?

  She avoided thinking about Sean. He would be fine no matter what happened to her. Kevin promised. Daniel stared at the zombies, transfixed by them as they stretched and pulled against their restraints to get at fresh food. The floor trembled beneath them and she slipped. Daniel tried to help, but lost his balance, too.

  The two of them fell to their knees as the floor angled. Ally scrambled toward the wall. "Find something to hold onto, if this thing keeps tipping we'll slide right into that mess," she said, pointing to the pile of bodies inching across the floor.

  One of the zombies reached out and yanked the corpse's arm out of its socket. Ally felt her stomach lurch at the sucking sound. Another sound, this one far more worrisome, made its way into the cavern. Water poured in from somewhere after another jolt hit them.

  "You didn't come on board just to say no to the little shit, so what's the plan?" Daniel latched onto her arm as her feet slid on the slick deck.

  "What can I say, curiosity got the better of me. Want to tell me what made you and Jason act like a couple of idiots on a playground?"

  Daniel snorted. "Your friend Jason tried to barter for his life by trading yours to Steve."

  Ally smiled sweetly. "And you defended my honor? Aw."

  Daniel pulled on the handle of the door they'd entered through. "Something like that, but it had more to do with the way he offered you up. Creepy little shit. That Steve guy, not sure what to make of him. He seemed as disgusted by Jason as I was."

  Ally felt the ship level out. Water sloshed against her feet, ankle deep. She scanned the room for any way to raise themselves up and found none. Blood and bits of flesh mixed with the brackish water.

  "Wait. I thought it was something Steve said?"

  Daniel grinned at her. "It was. He said Jason was an asshole and I agreed."

  Ally walked the diameter of the room, avoiding rusted patches and other areas that didn't look safe. She found nothing of use and wondered if her plan might not work this time. Kicking the bottom sections, she tried to find a hollow space they could escape through.

  Her body lifted off the ground and she landed in Daniel's arms when gravity reasserted itself. He gave her an awkward smile. She pushed away and pointed over his shoulder. The pile of dead bodies had slid to where they entered the room. The two zombies scratched at the deck, breaking off their nails and rubbing fingertips to the bone.

  "Please tell me you have a plan."

  Pounding reached them, and she put her ear as close as she darted to the wall. The pattern she had worked out with Kevin.

  "Sort of, if it works."

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  Ally held up a finger as she listened to the pattern of the pounding from outside. Something felt off, the pattern rushed and frantic. She felt the pressure build as the ship leveled out again and realized what the problem was.

  "We may have an issue."

  Daniel raised an eyebrow and held his arms. "Our current situation is one big damn issue."

  This time the boom came from the other side, and Ally and Daniel were thrown against the wall. A finger, arm, foot, and internal organ moving too fast to identify slapped against the joint they rested in where wall met floor. The zombies dangled above them.

  Screams and yells rang in Ally's ears. She caught sight of a pair of hands gripping a slot forty feet above her. A man's head peered in, begging for help before he was swept away by something.

  Fear enveloped Ally. Not for herself, but for Sean. If they were being attacked by some mutant sea monster, what would happen to him? Kevin would have to pick, and by God, if he chose to help her over the boy, she'd kill him.

  A link on the zombies' rusty chains snapped and one of the ghouls sprang toward them, its mouth open. Daniel kicked out and stopped its momentum, but gravity was working against them. The undead thing wedged between them, the two pushed away in order to get some space to move around.

  Water and other liquids she didn't want to think about soaked her left side to her hip. She pulled the small knife from her wrist sheath and tossed it to Daniel, who wrestled with the zombie. He brought the blade down several times but it slid off the skull. Damn things were well-fed and strong.

  Ally reached for the breast dagger under her shirt, falling backward when the second zombie landed on top of her. The thing snarled at her, blood and bits of skin spraying her face. They sloshed around in a mix of toxic water and body part stew. A hand clamped around her neck and she jammed the dagger into the thing's forearm so she could use both hands to free herself.

  Daniel grunted, but there was nothing she could do. She continued to push at the arms holding her and got a breath of air when one of them snapped. Pulling the blade out, she gouged out the zombie's eyes and pummeled its nose until it was nothing but a grey, pulpy mess.

  The ship leveled once again. Unprepared for the change, the zombie couldn't hold on. When Ally stood, the weight of the thing won out and the second hand clamping around her neck slipped away. She dealt a vicious kick to its knee, crippling it, then knelt on its neck to keep it in place. She drove the knife deep into its ear with both hands and gave the blade a twist.

  Pounding on her left, yelling on the right. She raised her head to see a waterlogged Steve standing in the doorway. Daniel muttered something and the knocking on the side brought her back to her senses. She pulled the knife free and went to Daniel.

  "Ally, we need to get out of here. This thing is going under…something's attacking us." Steve cupped his hands around his mouth to be heard.

  She ignored him, covering her ears when the screech of metal being torn filled her head. Water poured in and she was knocked backward by a bloodied nose as large white teeth chomped down on the zombie she'd killed. Her hands slid on the slick surface and the cold water stole her breath, but she forced herself to skitter backward out of the way of the hungry shark. Its skin glistened with dark spots and yellow pustules, the black eyes ringed with red.

  "Ally, you need to get out of here…I can't." Daniel struggled with his words.

  She didn't want to take her eyes off the threat, but something about Daniel's voice set off alarms. He was stuck under the pile of dead, the zombie unmoving at his side. She pushed back to reach him but he held up a hand to reveal the bite.

  "Son of a bitch got me. Now get out of here."

  Ally didn't know what to do. "I can't."

  Kevin's voice outside reminded her why she had to. She'd asked him to find a way in from the bottom of the ship b
ecause she assumed it would be structurally weak. She also knew whoever was in charge would use the lower levels as a holding area; she'd seen pirates do it too often.

  She struggled to free Daniel, not caring about his bite. She needed to do something. Kevin was entering an area with mutated sharks. And if they weren't here now, the whales would be arriving soon.

  "Ally, dammit, come here. We can still make it," Steve said.

  She eyed him. Why the hell did he come down here for her? He should have left with the rest of his cronies. A thought pierced her muddled brain and she realized they would use the barges to escape…if they were still operational. Most of the men would hop to another ship and write this one off, but a few…

  Sean.

  Her hand came away slick with blood. Someone yelled for her to watch out, but she felt the bump and scrape of sharp teeth before she registered what was happening. Daniel's eyes were filled with fear. He fought with the bodies on top of him. Steve waded through the frigid water toward her.

  The minute her head went under it was too late. She held her breath and rolled with the force of the current. She broke through the surface with a gasp and sucked in a lungful of water, then saw Daniel slice his arm open and blood spurted everywhere. The two large bodies fought to get at him. Her bruised body bounced between the massive creatures and ended up far below the surface of the ocean. She opened her eyes for a second in an attempt to get her bearings and regretted it. The water burned worse than any pain she'd ever experienced. She swam blind, trying to find something to orient herself. Using an old trick her grandfather told her about she cupped her hands around her face and blew out precious air. When she opened her palms the bubbles floated up and she tried to follow them.

  Something clamped down on her arm and for a moment she thought it was one of the sharks. When nothing ripped her apart, she let it carry her away, strength fading and the need for air overriding her need to hold her breath. Her body was tugged against bits of metal and other debris, poking and scratching her.

  She felt a pinch on her back and then her face hit something hard. She gagged a few times then threw up. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't see. Someone screamed, but it was faint, because her ears were full of muck. She frantically tried to get the goop out. Large, strong hands slapped her back and she heaved more of the vile liquid out.

  "Ally, it's Kevin. I got you. We're on the first barge but need to make for the other. Those damn monsters came out of nowhere and started beating the shit out of the ship you were on. Can you make it?"

  Sean was there, so she didn't have any other answer than yes. She got to her feet stumbling like a newborn. Kevin held her arm in a firm grip and together they ran across the gangway, their footsteps echoing in her head.

  "Jump."

  She took off and landed on her knees. Pain shot up her thighs and she screamed. Kevin shouted, but she heard nothing her heartbeat. She felt herself being carried and then placed upon a hard surface. Hands unzipped her jacket and something warm was dumped on her face. Boots came off next and then her pants. The burning sensation in her eyes and the feel of movement on her skin caused her to convulse. Hands held her down and she fought against them. Pain blossomed in her side and she knew her bruised ribs were now broken.

  "Someone clean out those eyes, now." Kevin's voice sounded panicked.

  She forced open the lids and saw nothing but darkness. In her time on the sub she'd seen similar injuries. The chemicals in the water bound themselves to almost anything and if you didn't break the bonds soon enough…she shook off the thought. Her eyes were not going anywhere. Focused on the rough bristles removing any trace of the ocean water from her skin, she wondered if Steve made it out. She opened her mouth to ask but found something poured in that fizzed and bubbled all the way down to her stomach until she retched more.

  Sharp bristles scraped back on forth on her skin. She reached out to stop it but couldn't move her arms. Didn't they realize they were removing her skin? Didn't they know she was in agony?

  A cold sensation hit her ears and pops rattled around inside her head as the cleaning solution went to work. She arched her back to escape the pain but restraints held her in place. Kevin held her hand, reassuring her, but nothing registered with clarity. Giving in to the fatigue, she went to sleep hoping when she woke up her eyes would still be there.

  Chapter Thirty

  Ally remained still while she took a mental inventory of her situation. Her body was covered by a thin sheet, but even the weight of that was too much. The heat was unbearable. Trickles of sweat beaded on her forehead before flowing down a familiar pattern on her face. She tried to move one of her hands and sighed when it cooperated. She felt along one of her arms, wincing when she brushed against crusty scabs.

  Her eyes. She needed to open them. They didn't feel different. Were they still there? She clenched her teeth together and lifted the heavy lids. Light around the edges eased her apprehension, but didn't last long. No shapes or colors.

  No, this can't be happening.

  "Hey, take it easy. I need to rinse the gel out," Kevin said.

  He wiped a towel across her face, pulling the substance in her eyes away. A slight itch remained and she blinked several times until she felt something in her hand and scrubbed with as much force possible to remove the remnants of the optical lotion. Colors and shapes danced in front of her, and thing she wanted most, the smiling face of Sean. He leaned over to look at her.

  "You look like you hurt," he said.

  She had no idea what condition she was in, but if the way she felt was any indication, she must have looked like hell. She moved her arms, and Kevin helped her into a sitting position.

  "I'll be fine. How are you?"

  He grinned and the pride was unmistakable. "I did just like you said. Even when the gunshots got close and were scary, and when people were screaming, I stayed put with Amy."

  "Good, I'm so happy to see you. Give me a hug." He reached over and embraced her in a loose hold. She grabbed him with both arms, the pain well worth the feeling of holding him close.

  "Sean, why don't you go find Amy," Kevin said. "I need to talk with Ally for a minute."

  Kevin waited for the door to close before he said anything.

  "There's no sign of Daniel, I'm sorry. Jason made it out in time and tried to get us to leave without Steve, but you put up such a fuss we made sure to rescue him, too."

  Ally placed a hand on his, too weak to do much else. "I don't remember."

  Kevin rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. "You were pretty doped up. I thought we were going to lose you for a bit."

  The crack in his voice made her heart hurt. No time for that. "What happened?"

  "Everything went wrong. You know, the usual. I waited until you'd been on board twenty minutes like you said, all the time you needed to piss someone off. A group of guys and I went to attack the other barge, but they surrendered, it was the weirdest thing." Kevin shook his head.

  Ally squeezed his fingers now entwined with hers. "Did they say why? Did they talk with someone first?"

  "No, I don't think so. They just gave up. I started to search for weak points to infiltrate and get you out of there, but those freak sharks showed up. I told everyone to get to the second barge and cut loose if things got too dicey."

  Ally closed her eyes, a memory trying to surface. "The ship, it was tilting back and forth…Steve kept Jason in his office."

  He made soothing sounds and she eased back down onto the table.

  "We know, we can't trust Jason. Steve tried to save you, but I have people watching him to be safe. Anyway, when I saw the ship couldn't take much more, I had one of the guys blow a hole in the side. Of course that let the sharks in…I didn't think that part through. I was too focused on getting you the hell out of there."

  Ally's body ached, she forced herself to move. "Help me up. I need to get dressed."

  Kevin frowned at her. "But you need your rest. It's only been a few day
s. You almost went blind."

  "I need to. I have never done well staying idle. Fill me on what happened while I find some clothes."

  "I liked taking care of you…" Kevin turned away when the sheet slid off her body.

  Unsteady at first, she listened to the story of how they used a boathook to snag her and get her on board. She pulled a thermal shirt down and pretended the action didn't drain her. Kevin said several people went to work on her, scouring the oily substance and ocean residue off her body. How they pried her eyes open and doused them with the gel. The use of medicines to clean out her mouth and throat and make her expel anything in her stomach.

  She listened, taking a moment to regain some strength, then gave up and let Kevin lace her boots. For three days she'd remained unconscious, scaring Sean. Kevin told her about a rough night where Ally thrashed so much she broke his nose, which explained the restraints.

  Why did they work so hard to help her? She hadn't done anything to earn that kind of loyalty. Did they keep watch over her with Jason and Steve on the loose? She leaned forward to let herself rest against Kevin's chest. A breath escaped and she stood straight. The room faded in and out but came back into focus a moment later.

  "Ally, you need to take it easy."

  "I can't. Daniel died because of me. He got stuck in that pit of death, and then after getting infected, he repays the favor by slitting his goddamn arm open so the sharks would go for him, if only for a second." Her hand found the wall and she steadied herself.

  "Here, at least take this."

  Her throat felt like sandpaper but she accepted the glass and swallowed the contents greedily as the pain eased.

  "I have to talk to Steve. Figure out what our next move is…"

  Kevin grabbed her by the shoulders. "You're not alone, I'll go with you. I don't want to let you out of my sight again."