Z-Boat

by Suzanne Robb

  Ivan hit the panel, and sparks flew everywhere.

  "Damn it, tell us what you know."

  "I know what you know. The things eat people. They can survive at low temperatures with little food, but they waste away and become weak when starved. They seem to have minimal brain activity, but fine motor control. From what I saw on the other sub the only way to kill them is to stop all brain activity. In essence, we are dealing with zombies, whether you believe it or not."

  Marcus didn't want to believe it, but he knew everything Maxine said was true. The things he saw on The Peacemaker weren't human. They might look human. They might once have been human, but now they were walking corpses.

  He peered out the porthole and wondered how many they were dealing with. Nina, Kramer, Johnny, Tom, probably Dutch, he thought sadly. Only five; they could take them on. The problem with his action plan was that it put Ally in danger, and they were already in a precarious situation with the lack of power and life support.

  On The Peacemaker, they had lots of guns, and the zombies were weak. These zombies were strong and fast, newly made and had eaten fresh meat. Marcus knew they would not go down as easily as their predecessors.

  One of the panels began to flash and emit a low, pathetic beep. He walked over. Ally was already there, examining the alarm.

  "Crap, power grid just went down. The bilge pump is offline. Marcus, how long do we have?"

  When he answered, Marcus tried to hide the fear in his voice. "With the rate of water coming on, I give us an hour unless..."

  Marcus hesitated, not wanting to use the only option they had. With the things out there and the state of the Betty Loo, it was far too dangerous.

  "Marcus, spit it out. We are all out of options here." Ally grabbed Marcus by the arm imploringly.

  "The chicken switch. If we flip it, the ballast tanks will essentially rocket us to the surface."

  Ally nodded, then looked away.

  "What about the submersible?" Maxine sounded desperate to get off the sub as fast as possible.

  Iain smirked at her. "The thing is trashed. You're welcome to use it, but you'll die."

  Marcus watched the captain as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. He tried to get Ally's attention, though she still refused to make eye contact with him. He sighed, knowing what he had to do.

  "I'll go flip the switch before the area is too flooded. As soon as I do, brace yourselves."

  "No, Marcus. With those things out there, it's way too dangerous. There has to be another way."

  Marcus stared down into her eyes. He touched his forehead to hers and smiled.

  "I'll be careful. I promise we'll see this through. You just need to let me do my thing."

  Iain cleared his throat. "Maybe this is a good time to bring up the cameras. This would be an ideal time to tap into them. Then at least Marcus has a chance to navigate his way to the switch without running into any zombies." His eyes focused on Ivan.

  "I planted them in case of an emergency like this. I figured with the likes of Kramer and Maxine, the likelihood was high we would run into issues." Ivan pulled out a small device from his pocket and keyed in a code.

  "Does anyone care that I'm the captain of this sub? People just go around doing whatever they want, not telling me anything." Iain sat in his chair.

  Ivan keyed in the code, activating the cameras he'd hidden throughout the sub.

  "There were thirty total, but I only have signals from seven. Most likely water damage and electrical interference from the beating the Betty Loo took on her descent."

  Ivan handed the display over to Marcus.

  "Out of the seven cameras, only one of them is from the lower area. The others are in the medical lab, rec room, diving room, research lab, captain's quarters, and the control room."

  Marcus examined the one camera that worked from down below. He could barely see anything other than a rapidly rising water level. He didn't have time; he needed to go now.

  "Thanks, Ivan. I don't see any of our friends on the display, so they could be anywhere. I'm going to go down and flip the switch. It should take me about five minutes, barring interruptions."

  Marcus turned to Ally, who had tears in her eyes. He had no idea what to say to make her feel better. He chose to wrap her up in his arms and kiss the top of her head.

  "I'm going with you." Ally tried to pull away, but Marcus wouldn't let her.

  "No, babe. They need you here to pilot the sub. You know how crazy it's going to be on the way up, like an out-of-control rocket." Ally sighed and fell back into his arms. He could feel her frustration and tension.

  "I will go with you," Ivan offered. "You need someone to guard your back."

  Marcus just nodded. As he turned to go, Ally grabbed him and rose up on her tiptoes.

  "You come back to me, or I'll find a way to kick your ass. That's the deal, remember?" Then she reached up and kissed him.

  Marcus and Ivan approached the door. Iain and Ally stood there as backup, guns raised. Maxine chose to stand in the back of the room, unnoticed.

  Marcus turned the handle, and as soon as the click echoed throughout the room, he pulled open the heavy door. Half expecting to be swarmed, he sighed in relief when he saw nothing.

  Using a flashlight, the two men left the control room, listening to the door slam shut behind them. Marcus glanced back and saw Ally's face in the porthole. He smiled, then went to do his job.

  ***

  Ally, frantic with worry, went to work preparing Betty Loo as best she could for an abrupt surfacing. She didn't have to prep, since they didn't have any power or life support. The best she could do was try to minimize damage by turning off any relays or circuits near her so that if they got wet and fried, she wouldn't be electrocuted.

  She busied herself with these things to keep her mind off of Marcus being out there with those zombies, and the fact that several pounds of G-Tex sat at her feet. She glanced down at her watch. It had been two minutes. Time was dragging.

  "Maxine, are you sure there's no other way to get infected? I mean, if Johnny did because he was doing squish, then perhaps it's more than just the bacteria. Maybe it's the water from deep down."

  Maxine met Ally's eyes. "I guess it's possible. The water down here hasn't been studied as fully as it should have been, but you know the state of affairs up top. People are starving; crops need water to grow."

  "If that's the case, how many people have we put at risk by bringing up water tanks from here and calling it safe? How long until we have an epidemic of zombies to deal with?"

  "I have no idea. Could start tomorrow, might never start. We don't even know if it's the water. It very well might just be the bacteria. No need to worry about it until we know for sure."

  Iain spoke up. "Ladies, this can wait for another time."

  A beep stopped the conversation. Ally stared down at the panel in front of her. The grid for mechanics had just gone offline. She got a bad feeling and wondered how much intelligence these things maintained after they rose. If they knew to turn off her control of the diving planes, there was no way she could pilot the ship. They would essentially be tossed around in an upward direction, then plummet down.

  "Captain, I think we may have a problem." Iain looked up from his gun. He was spinning the bullet chamber over and over again. "What now?" "These zombies seem to be taking what we do have control of offline from the electrical and engineering areas. If they take the diving planes and rudder control offline, I'll have no control over the Betty Loo when Marcus flips the chicken switch."

  Ally stared at Iain, knowing what he had to do, but also knowing he was scared to death.

  "So what you mean is we need to find them and stop them from doing any more damage."

  "Yeah. I can go if you want."

  Iain snorted. "Ally, we both know if you aren't behind the controls when this tub starts to surface, we're all dead."

  "I'll take Maxine with me. Knowing who she works for, I'm guessing she's proficie
nt with a gun."

  Ally turned to look at Maxine and almost laughed at the expression on the woman's face.

  "I didn't sign up for this. I'm not going anywhere."

  "Actually, you did sign up for this when you decided to take on a contract from the Koreans, and if you stay here, Ally will kick your ass for the fun of it."

  Maxine glanced at Ally, then back to Iain. She sighed and pulled a gun out of the back of her waistband. Ally watched the two head towards the door. She stood up and followed behind them, gun drawn.

  Iain turned to look at her. "Ally, we'll have to go to Marcus first and tell him to hold off on the chicken switch so we have time to take out the zombies. Give us fifteen minutes. If we're not back by then..."

  "Iain, just go. Everything will be fine. You need to hurry."

  Iain opened the door, and Ally watched the two of them step cautiously into the dark hallway. As they moved forward, she closed the door behind them and locked it.

  ***

  Marcus led the way down to the engine room. They had to duck several times to avoid dangling wires and sparking panels hanging from the ceiling. They reached their destination and found their friends waiting for them.

  Johnny, Tom, Nina, Kramer, and Dutch stood there, mouths agape, black ooze coming out. They emitted a screech that caused both Marcus and Ivan to take a step back and cover their ears.

  "We're going to have to fight them." Marcus searched the floor with his eyes for anything he could use as a weapon. A large piece of broken pipe caught his eye, and he went for it.

  Marcus watched as Ivan went to raise his gun. In the time it took him to do so, three of the zombies were on him, the other two eyeing Marcus. The damn things moved fast.

  Marcus came up swinging, catching Nina on the side of the head. He noticed a nasty-looking hole on the side of her neck. Something underneath her skin moved and slithered around. She didn't even flinch; it was as if he'd hit her with a feather.

  He gripped the pipe tighter and stared at Dutch. He and Nina seemed to be circling him, like he was some sort of prey. He swung hard and got a direct hit to Dutch's head. Again, nothing.

  "Ivan, when they're fresh like this, they don't go down easy. You need to take headshots."

  Marcus kept swinging the pipe, the only thing keeping the two zombies from jumping on him. When he didn't hear any gunfire, he spared a glace towards the big Russian. He didn't see him, but he did see the backs of Johnny, Tom, and Kramer bent over something.

  Marcus kept inching closer to Ivan. When he stood about five feet away, he could tell the Russian was in the fight of his life, the gun knocked from his hand and only a small knife in his hand with which to defend himself.

  Marcus spared a second to kick the back of Kramer's head as he saw him lean in to take a bite of Ivan. Kramer turned around and issued another angry screech. Marcus covered his ears, and in that moment, Nina leapt on his back. He dropped the pipe to reach back and grab hold of her.

  He could hear her teeth snapping at his neck, and the foul stench of decay enveloped him. Dutch stood in front of him, getting ready to do something Marcus knew he would find unpleasant.

  When he had a good grip on one of her shoulders, he used everything he had to flip her over his back and right into the rushing Dutch. They both went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Marcus scrambled for the gun. He got hold of it and aimed for Johnny, the one giving Ivan the biggest problem.

  He squeezed off a shot and blew half of Johnny's head off. Marcus aimed at Kramer when he noticed Johnny turning to look at him, one milky eye intact, the other dangling from a thread. Bone and rotten flesh made up the left half of his face.

  Ivan used the distraction to kick off Kramer and Tom. When Marcus realized Tom was missing an arm, he assumed he didn't pose much of a threat. Nina and Dutch were grasping at Marcus again. He kicked at them, but it did no good.

  "Marcus, you need to flip the switch."

  "I'm aware of that, but I'm busy at the moment."

  Marcus aimed the gun again, but he had to move around too much to avoid getting bitten. He was just about to risk shooting himself in the foot when they heard a voice behind them.

  ***

  Iain heard the gunshot and began to hurry ahead. He assumed Maxine was behind him, but when he looked back, she was gone.

  "Damn it!"

  He continued forward, hoping she got whatever came to her. As he cleared the corner, he saw both Marcus and Ivan on the ground and most of his former crew zombified and getting ready to chow down. He held up his gun and took aim at Nina, who had her mouth wrapped around Marcus's ankle, ready to bite down.

  The sound of the gun ricocheted around the metallic room, and Nina stopped moving. Dutch was there too, and just as he was about to take aim at him, Kramer stood in front of him, swatting the gun out of his hand.

  "You guys can't flip the switch yet. We need to make sure these things don't take the diving planes offline. They're smart, and they're systematically shutting down the Betty Loo."

  Ivan stood up, and suddenly Kramer had a hole about two inches in diameter through his head. Iain saw the pipe come out the front of Kramer's forehead. He fell to the ground twitching. Nina, Dutch, and Tom let out a screech and scurried away.

  "Thanks, Captain." Marcus stood up, black ooze covering him.

  "You guys okay? No bites to worry about?"

  Iain looked at Ivan. He had red spots on top of the black ones. Marcus turned to look at the tall Russian also. Ivan kept his expression blank.

  "I am fine to finish what we set out to do. We need to hunt down those other three and kill them."

  Ivan moved forward with a slight limp and favouring his left arm. Iain sighed. He didn't relish the fact that he would most likely have to put down Ivan. Not to mention the fact that these new zombies were faster, stronger, and a hell of a lot smarter than the ones they'd dealt with on The Peacemaker.

  Iain retrieved his gun while Marcus swiped an axe from the tool locker. The look on his face was murderous. That was what Iain wanted to see.

  ***

  Maxine took off as soon as she heard the gunshots. She wasn't stupid and knew they were no match for several fresh zombies. She would save her own ass via the submersible.

  She made her way down the hallway slowly, making sure none of the zombies was up here lurking about. When she entered the diving room, she sighed with relief. She took a moment to put down her gun and flashlight to open the hatch.

  When she stood up, she stared into the shredded face of Johnny Ventura. She opened her mouth to scream, but it was too late. His hand shot out, directly into her mouth. She felt him grab the top of her spine from inside. Something bit her leg as his hand tightened. She tilted her head enough to see Nina smiling up at her as she munched on her calf muscle.

  Bitch, she thought.

  There was a loud crack, and Maxine dangled like a rag doll from Johnny's hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ally sat in the control room, trying to think about anything other than the fact that seven minutes had already passed. She tried to calculate how long it would take to fight off a bunch of zombies, flip a switch and then get back to this room while the sub skyrocketed upwards, out of control.

  A thought popped into her head. If something happened to her, there was no way they would be able to get into the room. She had to unlock the door. She didn't want to, because she had no idea who would be coming in, and it wasn't as if, when she was in the middle of piloting several tons worth of metal, she could turn around to check.

  Her heart began to beat wildly. She was scared not just for herself, but for her friends, and most of all for Marcus. She wanted more than anything to be with him right now, and she hated the fact that they were apart.

  Ally stood up and walked towards the door. She looked out the porthole and didn't see anything, not that the red lighting provided much aid. She slowly turned the handle to unlock the door. Once she heard the click, she returned to her seat.r />
  She kept her gun within reach and strapped herself into the chair. She had a feeling it was going to be a bumpy ride.

  ***

  Ivan walked in front of the others on purpose. He had been scratched and cut, but he didn't think he'd suffered a bite. Though with the way everyone's nerves were frayed, he suspected they all had the inclination to shoot first and ask questions later. He certainly did after he saw how strong and vicious the things were.

  The water in which they were walking came up to mid-calf level. They didn't have time to hunt the infected.

  "Marcus, go and flip the switch. Iain and I will protect the controls for the diving planes and rudder. If we try to hunt these things down, we'll sink. There's not enough time."

  "What the hell does he do if they attack him while we're sitting here diddling our thumbs?" Iain didn't like the plan at all. Separation didn't seem the way to go.

  "Iain, it's okay." Marcus didn't sound convincing.

  Ivan interrupted. "Iain, you go midway down the path. If something happens, you will hear Marcus yell, then you can tell me and we'll go help. Unless you would like us to sink as we quarrel about this?"

  "Fine," Iain mumbled.

  Ivan watched Marcus and Iain walk off. As soon as he felt confident they couldn't see him, he leaned against the side of the sub. He was starting to feel dizzy and weak. He looked down and saw a large red stain starting from his side, covering him all the way down to his boots.

  Hesitantly lifting his shirt, he saw a nasty wound. He couldn't determine whether it was a bite or something else. He sighed, knowing the only way to know would be if he turned or not. He just hoped he stayed human long enough to get the rest of the crew to safety so they could warn the world.

  ***

  Marcus walked as fast as he could to the grating above the bilge pump. He pulled it up, struggling a bit due to the added weight of the water. The grate finally freed, Marcus pulled it to the side. He took a deep breath and dove in.