Anna crouched inside the ladder hatch and climbed back into the passageway below. As she headed back the way that Damien had brought her from, she was running as much on the walls as she was on the floor. The ship had turned almost sideways. It’s like a maze in here. I don’t know if I’m heading up, down, left, or right.
When she finally made it out to the aft deck, she had to grab a hold of the hatch doorway before she plummeted into the sea. The deck had become a steep ramp, leading down to the sea. A dozen men and women nearby clung to whatever was bolted down, while another handful battled to stay afloat in the frothing waters below. A smattering of boats had dared get close enough to offer rescue, but it was a dangerous task as the sinking frigate created a vortex and pulled down anything caught inside it.
I’m screwed, she told herself. Even if I survive the fall, I’ll end up drowning. If a boat picks me up, they might just turn on me for being a ‘terrorist’.
She glanced off into the distance. It was a nice day. There was no rain for once and the sky was clear. The sun shone. The pier sat peacefully beyond the shore and almost seemed to call to her. All of the fires there had now gone out and it once again looked like home. But she would never get to return. I knew this was a one-way journey. I came here to kill Samuel and I have. I won.
So why do I feel like I’ve lost?
Anna wondered if Garfield was at the pier, watching the ship as she watched the shore. Would he have Poppy’s body in his arms, or would it hurt him too much to even look at her? Anna wished she could be there to tell him ‘sorry’. She could have done things differently, and would have given the chance. Poppy might still live if she’d made different choices. At least I killed the son-of-a-bitch responsible.
“Whore!”
Anna spun around, balancing precariously in the open hatchway. She was startled to find Samuel standing behind her. The sword was still poking through his chest, but he didn’t seem to care. Blood stained his teeth and made him look demonic. He snarled like a demon, too. How the hell is he still alive?
Anna was defenceless. She had no weapon and both her hands clutched the open hatchway and kept her from falling. So when Samuel charged her like a bull and struck her in the stomach, she had no way to shield herself.
Her breath escaped her body and she plummeted backwards through the hatch. Samuel stayed right with her, his arms and legs entangled with hers. They fell fifty feet before they hit the hard surface of the water.
The ice-cold sea took her breath away. Her lungs seized up and she felt like she would never take a single breath again. She sunk beneath the surface, her eyes stinging and blind with salt. The swirling water almost rocked her to sleep. The weariness seemed to ebb from her bones and turn her to jelly. It was peaceful beneath the sea. Part of her wanted to stay there.
But a bigger part wanted to live.
Anna kicked her legs and clawed with her hands. She didn’t know which way was up but she prayed it was the direction in which she was heading. Her lungs ached and she felt like her chest was going to implode. The surface of the water seemed forever away and light and darkness mixed together and disorientated her. I’m not going to make it.
The pressure in her chest was unbearable now. She wanted more than anything to take a breath, but the moment she did the sea would take her. I’m going to drown. My body will sink into darkness and never be found.
Anna’s lungs could take no more. She opened her mouth to take the breath that she knew would end her.
Something grabbed her from above, snatching at her as if she were a fish on the end of a hook. She took a gasping breath and her lungs filled with blessed oxygen instead of the suffocating flood of seawater she’d expected. She found herself being dragged upwards. Two men were yanking her into a small fishing boat. She gasped at the air and pawed at her saviours – I’m still alive – but something else pulled her in the opposite direction.
Samuel leapt up from the water like a shark and seized her around the throat. Anna slipped from her rescuers hands and clung to the side of the boat. Suddenly her air was cut off again as Samuel squeezed the life out of her. His black eyes swirled with malice and bloody spittle flew from his mouth. The sword still jutted from his chest, but he had lost none of his strength as he kneaded her windpipe with a vice-like hand.
The men aboard the ship reached down and tried to free her from his grasp, but it was no good. They tried to drag her upwards, and almost got her over the railing, but Samuel seized the side of the boat with one hand while he continued to choke her with his other. She slipped back down again. Samuel would not let go. Anna gritted her teeth as she felt the blood collecting in her head and the oxygen in her lungs dry up. He’s going to kill me. I stabbed him but he didn’t die. It isn’t fair.
Yip!
Anna was taken by surprise as she saw Houdini leap from atop the fishing boat’s railing and clamp his tiny jaws around Samuel’s supporting hand. The little dog balanced half on, half off the side of the boat and tore and twisted at the fingers in his mouth. If Samuel moved his hand away, he would slip into the sea. The only free hand he had was the one around Anna’s neck. He cursed and let go of Anna in order to swat the small dog aside, but Houdini dodged the blow and clambered back aboard the boat.
Anna seized on her chance and grabbed the tip of the sword jutting out of Samuel’s chest. The sharp blade opened her palms like a knife through butter, but she hissed through the pain and yanked it upwards, twisting it.
Samuel’s mouth exploded with more blood. Anna twisted the sword harder. The blade shifted inside his chest and cut a furrow through whatever organs lay in its path. His body shuddered. He glared at Anna and snarled, but then he coughed and choked on his own blood. The swirling of his black eyes ceased and his body slumped against the side of the boat. He hung limply from the railing by one hand. He looked at Anna and spluttered. “You…you…whore!”
Yip!
Houdini bit Samuel’s hand again and he finally let go. The two men on the fishing boat hoisted Anna upwards and Samuel sank beneath the water. He stared up at her as he descended, but seemed more confused than angry.
Anna collapsed onto the deck of the fishing boat, panting, wheezing, bleeding, and crying. Each time death had tried to snatch, she’d escaped, but she was tired and upset and broken. I can’t take any more.
Hugo peered down at her and smiled kindly. “I am glad to see you again, Anna. I think your mission was a success, no?”
The American man, Wade, was standing beside Hugo, peering down at her with the same kindness. “You told me to find a boat, so I did. Didn’t want to leave without the two of you, though. I take it Roman…”
“He didn’t make it, and his name was Damien.” Anna sat up and caught her breath. “Hugo what…how?”
“Garfield is back,” he said. “He has a tank. He fired at the Kirkland and tried to sink it. He was about to fire again, but saw you were onboard. Then a fishing boat came ashore to greet us. Three fishermen wished to flee the fighting and try to make it on land – they had been planning to set off for Spain a few weeks ago, they told me, but Samuel had made one of their friends disappear for even discussing it. They do not love the fleet.
“They were not using their boat, so I took it to come and rescue whomever I could find. I found Wade and he told me you were still alive. I am glad to have found you, Anna. My girls and your campmates are waiting for us back at the pier. Are you ready to go?”
Anna nodded emphatically. “Yes,” she said. “I want to go home. Get me the hell away from this goddamn ship.”
Hugo nodded behind her and made her turn around. “Anna, my friend, there is no more ship.”
Anna couldn’t help but laugh. The Kirkland was gone, sank beneath the sea. Good riddance.
GARFIELD
Garfield had fired at the Kirkland as retribution and had been intending to do so again, but when Price allowed him to look through the Challenger’s targeting optics he’d been surprised by the magnificatio
n. The damage to the large grey vessel had been mostly cosmetic, but had wiped out a great many members of the crew. Garfield was shocked to see Anna standing amidst the chaos. He couldn’t fire on the ship again with her still alive onboard, so he told Barker to hold off. He had to think of a way to get Anna back.
When a group of fishermen came ashore, wishing to escape the fighting, the opportunity presented itself.
When another explosion rocked the frigate, some sort of combustion from within its bowels, the timing seemed perfect. Garfield wasted no time in sending Hugo out to the sinking frigate; to rescue Anna on the off chance she’d been lucky enough to survive the explosion. The chances were slim, but she at least deserved a chance.
Garfield peered through the Challenger’s powerful optics again an hour late and could barely believe it when he saw Hugo start the journey back to shore with Anna safely onboard. The chances of her having survived all of the fireworks and bloodshed had been astronomical. Despite the sorrow in his heart for Poppy, he couldn’t help but smile as he greeted Anna at the shore.
Garfield had gotten the whole story of the past few days from old man Bob – about the men who had come ashore and how one of them had abducted Poppy. He didn’t blame Anna. It was a harsh world and all anyone could do was his or her best. Anna would never have let Poppy come to harm if she could’ve helped it. He would rather mourn with her as a friend than hate her as an enemy. The man responsible for Poppy’s death was dead. Maybe that would be enough in the end.
I don’t think anything will ever be enough.
There was no place to lay Poppy’s body so Garfield decided to carry her out onto the beach. She had wanted so much to explore, that it felt right to let the waves take her small body into the Channel and carry it away. Who knows where she would end up? Her body could circle the globe with time. Poppy would have liked that.
Price and Barker secured the area with automatic rifle fire, while the survivors of the pier said their goodbyes to those they’d lost. In the background, ships scattered into the distance and left them alone with their grief.
Old man Bob went first. “Alistair liked his food and not a fat lot else. He cared about everyone, though, even if he didn’t always show it. Sometimes he would get drunk and tell me about how he was bullied as a kid. I think that had a lot to do with how he was as a man. I’m glad he was part of our family, though. I think, before he died, he truly felt like he belonged.”
Everyone nodded and Jimmy had his say. “Chris was always walking around in those stupid red wellies. He used to say the salty air gave him athlete’s foot, but I think he just liked them. They made him look like a clown at the beach.”
That was all Jimmy had to say, so they moved onto Samantha. Old man Bob spoke again. “Samantha was a fox. If I’d been twenty years younger…well, all I can say is that she was a sweetheart and things won’t be the same without her. Her pretty face and friendly smile used to brighten up my day.”
“Me too,” said Jimmy.
They all stared at Garfield. It was his turn and they all knew whom he would choose to speak about. “Poppy was…” He sighed and stared out to sea. Her body had almost disappeared beneath the waves, but the golden white of her remaining braid still floated on the surface of the water. For a moment he wanted to dive in and bring her back, but he knew he had to let her go. He pulled out the crumpled drawing from his pocket and examined it. The peaceful pond with the moorhens was as beautiful as ever. If there was a Heaven, he hoped Poppy could go back there and be with her parents. The thought made him smile. “Poppy was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “Not just in the last year, but in my entire life. She’s the reason I’m alive. Before I found her I was slowly losing part of myself, but she made me keep a hold on who I was, and then she helped me become someone even better. Having her around the pier was good for all of us. Her innocence reminded us what we were all living for. She reminded us of the good things we’d lost and why we had to get them back. She was our only child and she’s gone, but we have to keep going, so that one day there will be more little girls like her. Keeping her safe was my biggest failure, and it probably won’t be my last, but I swear that I will never let another person I love be taken from me. We’re going to make it through this, and when we do, we will remember those lost to us. We can use their memories to give us strength, so that we never give up, no matter who turns up on our doorstep and tries to hurt us. We’re a family and as long as we have that, the world will never be over. We didn’t ask for this, but it’s what we’ve got, so let’s make the best of it – together.”
Everybody nodded, Barker, Price, and the newcomers included. Garfield walked up the beach towards a rocky outcropping where Anna was sitting. The two French girls sat in the sand with their dog and smiled when they saw him coming. He smiled back at them, but it was Anna he wanted to talk to.
During the funeral, she had stayed back, tears in her eyes and blood on her face. She had been through something terrible, something she probably would not speak about for a while, if not ever. The thing that was truly hurting her, though, was the people they had just cast out to sea. She feels responsible. Perhaps she is. Perhaps we all are.
He sat on the rock next to her and placed an arm around her. She stiffened up at his touch, but did not fight him as he pulled her into a cuddle. The two of them had never been intimate as friends or otherwise, but Garfield was tired of being so guarded. The time of low self-esteem and personal barriers seemed petty now. Anna was family and right now she was hurting. So was he.
He reached into his coat pocket and handed her something.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s a Army ration pack,” he explained. “It has a multivitamin in there. You wanted vitamins, right?”
Anna laughed and nodded, but then her expression creased and she fought not to cry. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be. Looking back at the way things might have gone is no different from imagining how the future might be. It’s out of our control. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”
“But I didn’t have to start a fight. I could have played ball with the men on the boats.”
Garfield huffed. “And then what? Get treated like slaves or intimidated into giving away whatever we had. They tried to hurt Poppy, I heard all about it. If I’d been here, I wouldn’t have done anything different. You were protecting Poppy. I wouldn’t have had you do anything more.”
“I got her killed.”
Garfield shook his head. “We’re all on borrowed time. You kept her safe for the last year, we all did. We should be thankful we had her while we did. There’ll be time to blame ourselves later. Right now we need to stick together and get out of this alive. We still need to leave.”
Anna nodded.
“I won’t leave you again, Anna. From now on, we stick together no matter what. I abandoned you and I’m sorry.”
Anna wiped snot from her nose and chuckled. “You’re saying sorry to me?”
“I am. I’m sorry for a lot of things. I’m sorry I’ve never given you a cuddle before. I’m sorry I brought Poppy a bunch of magazines she didn’t want. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you when you needed me.”
Anna leaned into him. “I forgive you. You did bring a tank back for me, after all.”
“Yeah, I did do that, didn’t I? And here was you saying that a tank would be useless.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll let you ride in the turret if you want.”
Anna giggled. “Tell you the truth, I would rather just sleep in the back of the truck and have you wake me up in a year. I don’t think I could take any more excitement.”
“So I hear.”
“Thanks for rescuing me.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, then looked out to sea and saw that Poppy was finally gone for good. The only thing that made him feel better was the Kirkland was too.
Garfield had fired at the Kirkland as retribution and had been in
tending to do so again, but when Price allowed him to look through the Challenger’s targeting optics he’d been surprised by the magnification. The damage to the large grey vessel had been mostly cosmetic, but had wiped out a great many members of the crew. Garfield was shocked to see Anna standing amidst the chaos. He couldn’t fire on the ship again with her still aboard, so he had told Barker to hold off for the moment. He had to think of a way to get Anna back.
When a group of fishermen came ashore, wishing to escape the fighting, that opportunity presented itself. When another explosion rocked the frigate, some sort of combustion from within its bowels, the timing seemed perfect. Garfield wasted no time in sending Hugo out to the sinking frigate; to rescue Anna on the off chance she’d been lucky enough to survive the explosion. The chances were slim, but she at least deserved a chance.
Garfield peered through the Challenger’s powerful optics and had barely believed it when Hugo started the journey back to shore with Anna safely onboard. The chances of her having survived all of the fireworks and bloodshed had been astronomical. Despite the sorrow in his heart for Poppy, he couldn’t help but smile as he greeted Anna at the shore.
Garfield had gotten the whole story of the past few days from old man Bob – about the men who had come ashore and how one of them had abducted Poppy. He didn’t blame Anna. It was a harsh world and all anyone could do was his or her best. Anna would never have let Poppy come to harm if she could’ve helped it. He would rather mourn with her as a friend than hate her as an enemy. The man responsible for Poppy’s death was dead, thanks to her, and maybe that would be enough in the end.
The remaining members of the pier – old man Bob, Lemon, David, Cat, and Jimmy – made their way from the beach back up to the pier. With them went the new members of their family – Hugo and his girls, the soldiers, Barker and Price, an American named Wade, and the three fishermen who had surrendered their boat to Hugo. Garfield decided to stay with Anna on the rocks for a while longer, watching out for sounds of dead approaching down the beach. They seemed to have a bit of time for now. It felt good to just sit there and enjoy the warmth of another body. As long as there was time to do that, perhaps all was not lost. They had a good chance of making it.
The BIG Horror Pack 2 Page 59
