“Very true.”
I turned to Lily so our masks were almost touching.
“Okay, once we get topside, we’ll still be inside. Remember the glass entryway to the deck where the Ferris wheel is?”
“I do.”
“Good, that’s where we should come up on, hopefully. We’ll wait there until just before sunset, and then head out. That way we’ll still be able to see, but we won’t be out in broad daylight.”
Lily nodded, and we started making our way up the stairs.
“What is that smell?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, wishing I could hold my nose. Even through the suit, the odor was almost unbearable. We reached the door leading to the Atrium just as Lily turned and nearly got sick. She dry heaved several times before regaining her composure. My stomach turned and I could feel myself breaking out in a sweat. I seriously think it would have been enough to kill us if we’d stayed there long enough.
Lily choked and gagged. “Creepers maybe?”
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I was afraid if I spoke I’d vomit. The smell will stay with me until the day I die. Sickly sweet with a side note of rotten meat. So strong I could taste it.
I tried to focus on the door in front of me, and what might be behind it. I held a firm grip on my spear as I pushed at it. Air rushed in as it creaked open. The scene lying before us was like something out of a horror story, only worse.
“Watch your step, Lily,” I warned as we shuffled around the bits and pieces the zombies had lost interest in. Congealed blood covered almost every inch of the floor, and festering tangles of intestine threatened to trip us up every few steps. Enormous dead flies were everywhere. The only thing moving were the maggots. Tons of them.
The set of glass doors leading outside were nearly covered in cracks, but they were still mostly intact. Rays of sunlight shined through bullet holes like flashlights in the dark. The overly ornate glass was smeared with something dark, making it nearly impossible to see outside. We dodged body parts and upturned lounge chairs as we navigated closer. The bullet holes were almost big enough to see through from a distance. I tried to catch a glimpse of the outside deck as we walked, but all I could see was sunlight.
“Why aren’t there any zombies in here?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know. It looks like there was a huge attack right where we’re standing, but all that’s left are the… parts”
Patches of clothing still clung to some of the flesh that lay around us. Most of it was a dark blue fabric. There was a thick, embroidered patch on a severed arm in front of Lily. I spotted it just as she pointed.
“It says Department of Homeland Security.”
I’d been wondering if they’d send a ground team to investigate. I didn’t expect to only find their remains. It looked like their weapons didn’t help them at all.
Their weapons.
My eyes darted back and forth as I searched the Atrium.
“Look for weapons, Lily. Guns, knives, incendiary grenades, anything. They must’ve been well supplied, and I don’t think the zombies ate their gear.”
We searched under chairs, around shattered vases, and even under several larger chunks of the corpses. We used our spears to nudge them aside. Despite finding hundreds of bullet casings, there was nothing. Not even a knife.
“I don’t understand it. Where did all their equipment go? No vests, no guns, it doesn’t make any sense.”
A man’s voice suddenly called out from behind us. “Well, well, we didn’t think there were any others left.”
Lily and I whipped our heads toward the opposite end of the Atrium. Standing near a set of large double doors were three people. Three living people.
“What in the hell are you two wearing?” the middle man asked. He had a short and stocky build, and what looked like a machine gun rested across his shoulder.
Lily and I looked at each other, but neither of us could find our voice. It felt like ages since we’d even seen another living person, let alone talked to one.
“It’s so the zombies can’t get to us…,” Lily replied, her voice muffled by the suit.
I looked over the group, taking in as much detail as my mask would allow. Two men, one woman. All three wore tactical vests and looked fairly unscathed. Well fed, well armed. On edge, but thankful to see other survivors, which helped ease my tension. I’d seen too many apocalypse movies where survivors were just as dangerous as whatever caused the end of the world. Right away it was apparent they’d beaten us to the ground team’s equipment. Their vests were dark blue, with patches bearing a crested eagle.
The older, heavyset man on the right chuckled. “I wouldn’t count on those flimsy lookin’ suits doin’ ya much good. Yer spears look decent enough though, that’ll be yer best bet. We haven’t seen anyone come from below in quite a spell. Where you two been hidin’ exactly?”
“Cabins, kitchens, wherever we could find shelter and food,” I replied.
“Couldn’t have had too much trouble findin’ yerself some grub, what with us bein’ on a floatin’ smorgasbord n’ all,” he said, slapping his stomach. “We were holed up in the mess hall in the beginning, nearly ate ourselves stupid. Eventually figured we oughta make our ways topside.”
The middle man stepped forward. “My name’s Flint. This classy fellow here is Bill, and this is my sister, Lizzy,” he said, motioning toward the woman on his left. “You two can relax, we cleared the necros from this place days ago, right after the government fellows high tailed it out of here. What was left of them, anyway.”
Turns out the dark stuff on the glass was mostly zombie guts. They’d smeared it over the glass to try and deter more of them from coming inside the Atrium. They’d figured out that it blocked the zombies’ senses, too.
Flint and his sister were from Florida, too. Both of them came out of Hollywood, and were on the ship with their parents and two cousins. They’d gotten separated during the initial outbreak and hid in a cabin before heading to the mess hall to find food. Bill was part of the crew, though he never mentioned what he did.
“I was due on the mainland for six weeks come next port,” he said. “Was packin’ my stuff when all hell broke loose. I ran into these fine folks in the mess hall shortly after,” he said.
I remember they hadn’t been shot at, and were still holding out the hope of a rescue team. We told them everything we knew about the ship’s fate; how they had less than a day before The Wellspring was nothing more than a memory. Unfortunately they didn’t believe us, even with Lily in tears, insisting they should try to abandon the ship. I wish we would’ve tried harder… we just didn’t have the time.
“You really should wait here with us,” Lizzy replied. “We stand a chance if we just stay put. They will come for us. We have food, water, and weapons. We can hold out for weeks…”
“I think their minds are made up, sis. If they want to die, it’s their choice how they make it happen,” Flint huffed. “You two are going to die, you know that, right?”
Lily nodded. “Probably.”
I hadn’t told him about the rescue helicopter that was coming for us, only that we were headed through the Avenues. I figured it’d be the best bet as I remembered the phone call. “I can only get you and Lily out. Anyone else and they’ll leave you there to die,” the man said just before hanging up.
“Probably he says…” Bill mocked as he sauntered toward the glass doors. “Sorry to burst yer bubble there, youngin’, but take a look. There‘s no probably about it.”
I walked over to a particularly large bullet hole in the glass. Even in the suit, the smell of the black slime around me was almost overwhelming. When I saw what was just beyond the glass doors, however, my legs nearly gave out.
It was a horde so massive; I couldn’t see the end of it. Hundreds upon hundreds of corpses flooded the Avenues. I wondered where they all came from. I’d thought the majority of the ship’s passengers were in the theatre, but I was wrong. Dea
d wrong.
I could see a handful of creepers, groups of skinny sprinters, and countless others in varying stages of decay. Some were shambling along, bumping and falling into each other as they went. Many were missing legs, and were crawling along the deck aimlessly. Every few seconds a breeze would knock one over, causing the ones around it to turn and investigate.
I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes.
I couldn’t let myself falter. I knew I had to be strong for Lily. She was directly behind me, and had no idea what was waiting for us just outside the glass. It was heart wrenching, seeing the color drain from her face as I told her.
“Finn. What if we don’t make it? What if… we can’t?” she whispered, eyes glistening. I secretly prayed she wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t take any more of her tears. I’d seen enough to last me a lifetime.
“We have to try. Either way we’re dead if we stay here, you know that. Our best bet is to either jump overboard or head to the Ferris wheel. If we jump ship, there’s no telling whether or not we’ll be spotted by the helicopters. If we are, we’ll be sitting ducks. Plus, even if we aren‘t spotted, we‘re still in the middle of the damn ocean, floating around with no idea how far we are from land.”
Lily stood there for a while, seemingly lost in thought. I thought she was going to cry, but she didn’t. I just opened my mouth to tell her I was scared too, but she looked up, smiling. I’ll never forget that look. So unexpected, so defiant.
“What?” I said, taken aback.
“For better or worse,” she replied as she took my hand.
I hugged her, all the while struggling to keep my breathing steady. I was more scared than I’d ever been in my life. Not so much for my own well being, but for hers. My only thought was to make sure she made it out alive.
I wish I could’ve kissed her, but those damn suits made it impossible.
It took some convincing, but I managed to talk Flint and Bill into helping me move a table they’d used to block one of the larger holes in the glass. They lifted it as quietly as possible so Lily and I could squeeze through. I barely managed to fit with the duffel bag on my back.
“Good luck to ya,” Bill whispered. He extended a hand before I ducked through the hole. I pleaded with him one last time to find a way off the ship.
“Please believe us. They’re going to destroy the ship. You’ll all die if you don’t leave. Stay out of sight and make for the water somehow. They’re trying to contain the infection by any means necessary, which means killing anyone or anything that leaves the ship. Deck four is lined with covered lifeboats. Get to one and hide in it. Don’t release until you hear the first round of explosions.”
Bill nodded, and it was the last we ever saw of him. I still don’t know if any of them made it off the ship.
We found ourselves standing at the edge of the Avenues, which comprised the back end of the ship‘s uppermost deck. Bill and Flint quickly replaced the table, so any chance of retreat was effectively cut off. I quickly realized we’d spent too much time talking. The sun was already dipping below the horizon. The Ferris wheel was about two hundred feet away, but it might as well have been a mile. A sea of grey, rotten flesh stood between us and our rescue point.
“Right behind me Lily. Stay as close as you can manage. And watch your spear please…” I said as her spear tip brushed against my backside.
We tiptoed around a dozen sleepers. Several were emaciated, and my hair stood on end as I remembered how fast the one in the buffet was. Twice we had to step to the side in order to avoid crawlers. They never looked up as they slid and scraped their way across the deck.
Lily tapped my shoulder. “Finn.”
“We have to be quiet,” I whispered.
“Finn. Look,” Lily said, her voice clipped.
My face fell as I turned to see what she was talking about. Just ahead on our left were four zombies. They weren’t like the others we’d seen, not at all.
They were children, or at least they used to be. None of them looked old enough to be out of elementary school.
They were huddled together, nearly shoulder to shoulder, as if they were going on a field trip. I hadn’t seen them because of my suit’s narrowed vision.
“There’s nothing we can do for them, Lily,” I muttered. “We have to keep moving.”
It was all I could do to not lose my mind completely. I was so upset and angry at the sight of those kids.
I’d always wondered why movies almost never showed children who’d turned; now I understood. Just the sight of them made me want to give up on the world altogether. What was the point of even trying to survive if the fate of innocent children was something so horrible?
I took a couple steps forward before I realized Lily wasn’t right behind me anymore. I turned and saw she hadn’t moved since we‘d seen the children, and she was losing it in front of them. Her eyes were red and puffy, and I could hear her ragged breathing as she started to sob. Her mask was fogging up, and it wouldn’t be long before she couldn’t see at all.
“Get it together,” I snapped. “Take a deep breath, and put one foot in front of--”
I stopped when something bumped into me. I turned and found myself face to face with an enormous corpse, only the thing was, it wasn’t fat. It too was unlike any others we’d seen before. It was a guy who must’ve been a body builder before he turned. It had heard us talking, and its head jerked erratically as it searched for the source of the sound. The creature’s teeth were snapping just inches from my mask, but it couldn’t smell me. I kept as still as my body would allow, and as I stared at its overly muscular arms, my eyes fell to its stomach. Its arms were as thick as tree trunks, but the rest was emaciated. The thing‘s skin was so taut around its rotten chest that two ribs had broken completely through.
I was just about to step back when a gust of wind rolled across the deck, knocking over several zombies near the seafood restaurant on our right. The sprinter’s head jerked toward the sound, and in a flash it was gone, followed by several more.
I let myself breath again and continued forward. Lily had regained control during my encounter with the sprinting bodybuilder corpse. She was still sniffling, but at least she was moving again.
We were two thirds of the way to the Ferris wheel when we found ourselves surrounded by a small group of creepers. There was no avoiding them, as it was almost shoulder to shoulder corpses on either side. I thought about climbing over or under some of the tables to our right, but our suits and gear would make it almost impossible to do quietly. We had no choice but to go straight through, which meant brushing against at least half a dozen of them. At some point I noticed we hadn’t seen or heard any helicopters or jets since we’d been topside, but I kept it to myself. I didn’t know if it was good or bad, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause Lily to worry.
Back to the creepers. I still can‘t figure out how we survived the stench.
Their rancid smell crashed into us like a wave as we inched through them. The suits didn’t seem to help at all.
It went okay for the first couple of feet, but a gust of wind caused one of the creepers to sway in my path. I jumped sideways to avoid it, but there was another to my side, and I crashed right into it. It tipped over like a statue, and as it fell to the deck its stomach cracked open like a rotten egg. Black, putrid slime exploded from its innards, spraying our legs and nearby corpses with its filth.
My throat burned as bile fought its way up for air. I still don’t know how I kept from vomiting, but Lily wasn’t as lucky. She ripped the mask from her face and retched all over the deck.
The effect was almost instantaneous.
Banshees around the deck lets their jaws go slack, and the air was suddenly filled with their inhuman sound. Sprinters moved in from all directions as the nearby creepers turned to face us.
The fact that Lily was so close to me probably saved both our lives. My hand was grasping the hood of her suit before she looked up after vomiting. I pulled it
back over her face just as the first wave of sprinters got to us. One bumped into me, only to turn and run to a nearby howler. A second slipped on Lily’s vomit and tumbled behind us. Its taut, dry skin cracked and tore down the length of its body, exposing rotten flesh and bone. I almost slipped myself, and realized I was standing on the oil of one of my Molotov cocktails. One of the bottles had cracked when the sprinter ran into me, and it was dripping down my side. That’s when it hit me.
I was an idiot.
I’d completely forgotten about the cocktails. I plucked a lighter from the only pocket on my suit and handed my spear to Lily. Even from behind her headgear I could see her eyes blinking wildly. I don‘t know what she was thinking, but she grasped the spear tight and held parallel to the deck, ready to attack.
Undead Honeymoon Page 11
