Z-Boat

by Suzanne Robb

  Using his hands to guide him, he found the bilge pump. He knew that approximately fifteen feet to the right of it was the chicken switch. He felt his chest start to tighten as his need for air made itself known.

  He pushed off the pump with his feet and tried to go as straight as possible to get to the switch. He felt it a few seconds later and began to turn it. He struggled, pushed, and pried, but it wouldn't move. He swam back to the pump, then returned to the top.

  Marcus broke the surface, gasping for air. His hands were bloody from fighting with the switch, and he had never been so annoyed with the design of this sub as he was right now. Usually the switch was up top, but whoever designed this sub thought it would be better closer to the pump and out of sight. The idea was that it would most likely never be used. The problem with that theory was that Marcus needed to use it right now, and because of its location, it had rusted in place. He stood up and looked around for the piece of pipe he'd used earlier. It was his best shot at getting the switch to move.

  As he grabbed the pipe, he heard something near the stairs. He searched around and saw shadowy figures. He walked towards the entrance and yelled out to Iain.

  "You're going to have company soon, Captain."

  Marcus dove in and started the process all over again. Hopefully this time he would be successful.

  ***

  "Ivan, they're down the hallway. We have to go cover Marcus."

  Iain took off, tripping over a wire. His gun flew out of his hand, and as he got back up to his feet, he heard footsteps heading towards him. They sounded far too fast for his liking, and he began a frenzied search for his gun.

  He saw it lodged in some piping. As he headed towards it, the remaining zombies appeared. He stared at them, thankful Marcus had at least gotten under water before they found him. As they lunged for him, the sub jolted, and all of a sudden they were falling as they began a fast, out-of-control ascent.

  ***

  Marcus successfully got the switch to flip, but he hadn't counted on the sub reacting so violently. He had no idea where he was in reference to his way out. He started to panic. His heart pounded against his ribs as he tried to fight the force of gravity and push his way down to where he thought the exit should be.

  He grabbed onto anything, trying to find something familiar. He put his hand on something and thought it might be the base of the bilge pump. Forcing himself in the opposite direction, he found the grated ceiling and dug his fingers in, pulling himself as far as he could.

  ***

  Ally felt the jolt and grabbed the control stick. Usually the sub ran on a simple plot-and-go system, but with no automated navigation and with power gone, she had to navigate by hand.

  She could feel the force pushing down on her, and she gripped the stick with both hands for dear life. Ally felt herself knocked around, but the harness kept her in place. She thought of Marcus and the others and hoped they were safe.

  In about three minutes, the Betty Loo would break the surface. When it did, they needed to get out and into a safety raft as fast as possible.

  ***

  Marcus felt his vision darkening on the sides, his lungs burning with the need for oxygen. Then he found it, his exit. He pulled himself out and broke the surface, taking in great gulps of air.

  After a moment, the sub settled down, then levelled out. They were on the surface, but with the amount of water coming in, they wouldn't be for long. He forced himself to stand, pushing away the disorientation he felt.

  "Iain? You there?" he yelled.

  Marcus saw a body and ran towards it. He knelt next to it, rolling it over slowly. Kramer smiled up and him and let out a low moan as he reached out with and grabbed Marcus by the throat.

  Marcus scrabbled at Kramer's hand, trying to release the vice-like grip it had on him. About to pass out, he saw a shadow above him and heard a shot. He fell to the ground and choked for several seconds as he forced the air back into his lungs.

  "Just take a deep breath and relax. You will be fine." Marcus recognized Ivan's voice.

  Marcus nodded and got to his feet with the help of the Russian. He looked around to see if the other zombies were nearby.

  "I have not seen the captain or the others. I think we should get back to the control room."

  "Ally!"

  Marcus took off at a run, Ivan trailing behind.

  ***

  Ally let out the biggest sigh of her life. She didn't think she was going to be able to pull it off. She let her head fall back onto the headrest and closed her eyes. She heard the door open and smiled. The rest of the crew were okay.

  Then she remembered it might be something else. She reached for her gun and tried to stand up, forgetting she'd snapped her harness into place. She turned around and tried to focus on whoever had entered, but in the dimly lit room, it was nearly impossible; she only saw a shape.

  She struggled with the harness, aiming her gun. "Who is it? Who's there?"

  No response. Well, at least she knew it was a zombie. She fired one shot to try to scare it away and buy her some time to get out of the harness. The damn thing was tangled or caught. The shadow continued to move towards her. She grabbed her knife and started to cut frantically.

  The zombie stood three feet in front of her. Her heart pounding, Ally knew she was going to die. As the figure neared, she fired off another shot, trying to hit the head. Her aim was off, and she got it in the shoulder.

  The face of Maxine appeared, and Ally wanted to cry. If she didn't make it, Iain didn't either, which meant Marcus didn't have anyone covering his back.

  "Dammit!"

  A rush of adrenaline let her rip through the remaining threads of the harness and aim properly at Maxine as she lunged for her. They both fell to the ground, the gun falling uselessly out of her hands.

  Ally rolled around and traded blows with the zombie. Teeth snapped at her, and a black, rancid ooze poured from the bullet wound and her mouth. Ally tried to get the upper hand and rolled near the gun.

  The zombie must have known somehow, because it reached out, grabbed the gun, and tossed it away, a decayed smile on her face. Ally rolled them over so she straddled Maxine and reached into her boot. She pulled out a large bowie knife and smiled. Using both hands, she brought the knife down into one of Maxine's eyes and twisted several times.

  The body below her screeched, twitched, then moved no more. Ally fell to the ground from the exertion and saw a shadow running into the room. Her training kicked in, and she bounced to her feet in seconds, knife raised and ready to kill.

  "Ally, it's me, Marcus."

  Ally stopped the knife less than an inch from his chest. She let her hand fall to her side and felt warm arms wrap around her.

  "We need to get out of here." Marcus pushed Ally, and she could tell he was looking her over for injuries.

  "I'm fine. She didn't bite me. How about you?"

  "I'm good too. Ivan's right behind me."

  Ally picked the gun up off the floor, grabbed the first aid kit, and was about to hit the button for the emergency release when she saw something shiny on the ground next to Maxine's body. She walked over and picked it up; it was a data chip. She shoved it in her pocket and hit the emergency release, watching as a portion of the control room roof blew off.

  ***

  Iain opened his eyes to see Dutch, Nina, and Johnny staring at him. He reached for his gun, but it wasn't there. He tried to stand up and cried out when he realized the lower part of his right leg was missing.

  Nina smiled at him. She picked it up and waved it in front of his eyes, then started to much on the end of the tibia sticking out. He looked down and saw his other leg caught in some piping that had contorted during the ascent. He screamed as Johnny's mangled visage leaned in and started to eat his face.

  Iain raised his hands to try to push him away, but he had no strength left. Considering the pool of blood beneath him from where his leg used to be, it was no wonder. He begged God, if he was listening, to
let him die and not become one of them.

  ***

  Ivan made his way up the stairs, the blood loss slowing his progress greatly. Behind him, he could hear footsteps, though they didn't sound rushed. He pushed on, the control room within his view.

  He heard a loud pop and then a splashing noise. Ally released the emergency seal. He needed to hurry. They needed to destroy this sub. Sinking it wasn't enough.

  He pulled himself up a few more steps and made it to the landing. Marcus and Ally were talking. He yelled in an attempt to get their attention. "Marcus, Ally we need to sink Betty..." Ivan's voice gave out, and he slumped against the wall.

  He heard someone approaching him, and Ally came into his line of sight. She held a gun and stared at him with hard eyes.

  "You bit?"

  "I don't know, but it does not matter right now. You need to blow the sub. Sinking it will not be enough."

  "Where's Iain?" Marcus stood behind her in a protective stance.

  "I don't know. I think, in all the chaos, they might have gotten him."

  Ivan watched as Ally stood up and wrapped her arms around Marcus. Part of him wanted to ask her to shoot him now, before he turned. He couldn't do it, though. A miniscule part of him hoped he just had a bad injury and would make it out of this alive.

  "I have enough G-Tex to send Betty Loo to the bottom of the ocean for good. The problem is I have to make a fuse for it, and I don't have anything to set it off remotely."

  Ivan knew what she meant. He used all his energy to look up at her and smile.

  "Then make it quick. I do not know how much longer I have, and there are still zombies aboard."

  ***

  Ally collected the case of G-Tex and went below decks with Marcus, helping Ivan along the way. For optimal damage, the bomb had to be set in the engine room. She wholeheartedly agreed that Betty Loo needed to be sent to the bottom of the ocean, where no one would ever discover the horrors on board.

  She grabbed bits and pieces of panels, lengths of wire, and a toolkit from the locker. She got to work doing the best she could, the soldering iron an added bonus when Marcus dug it up. Ten minutes later, she had a passable trigger for the explosives. She was about to hand it to Marcus when they heard the telltale moaning of approaching zombies.

  From one side, Nina and Dutch approached. From the other, Iain crawled towards them with Johnny leading the way.

  "Ivan, how good's your aim?"

  The tall Russian opened his eyes, and the situation they were in began to dawn on him.

  "I guess we will find out soon." Ivan lifted his gun and took aim at the closest one.

  Ally handed the homemade detonator to Marcus along with the case of G-Tex.

  "Use the red wire to connect the device to the explosives, set it down gently next to Ivan, then keep your head down. It's going to get ugly."

  Marcus did as told- except keeping his head down, Ally noted with annoyance.

  She pulled out her gun and took aim at Johnny. Someone needed to put blenderface out of his misery. As he neared, she could see teeth hanging out of his mouth, tangles of black ooze the only thing keeping his head together. The exposed part of his brain was green and pulsed with movement.

  "Now." Ally and Ivan fired at the same time. Johnny's brain exploded, sending green-and-black fluids everywhere.

  With the strobe effect of the emergency lights, Ally could see as his body fell to the ground, twitching. Ivan, on the other hand, missed his mark entirely. Ally stared down at him, realizing he was barely conscious.

  "Ivan, you need to stay with us, buddy." Ivan's eyes fluttered for a moment, then shut.

  Ally felt for a pulse, but found none.

  "Marcus, he's gone. We need a new plan."

  When she got no response, she turned to see Nina's hand covering Marcus's mouth. Nina smiled and bit down on his shoulder, tearing off a large chunk and chewing.

  Ally lifted her gun and fired three shots into Nina's head. She screamed all the while. Marcus fell to the ground, screaming in agony. She wanted nothing more than to go to him, change the past, hit rewind and do everything differently.

  Dutch and Iain still came, Iain's progress hampered by the fact that he was crawling. Ally needed to stop them first. With two bullets left in her gun, she waited for Dutch. He seemed to be biding his time for some reason, lurking in a corner.

  Ally realized too late what he was waiting for. Strong arms gripped her from behind, and Ivan held her in a death grip. Dutch smiled eerily at her and started to approach.

  Marcus rose from the floor, where he had been writhing in pain, and grabbed the gun Ivan had dropped. He lifted it, held it to the Russian's ear, and pulled the trigger. The top of Ivan's head erupted like a volcano, spewing ichor.

  The arms let go of Ally as the body fell to the floor, and Dutch stopped his approach. Ally lifted her gun to fire, but it simply clicked, out of bullets.

  She spotted an axe lying on the ground and ran for it while Dutch chased after her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Marcus standing there, a vacant look on his face.

  Renewed anger pushed her forward, and as she grabbed the axe, Dutch tackled her from behind. They both went down, the axe cutting deeply into Ally's shoulder as she fell on in it. She held in the howl of pain she wanted to let out, instead channelling it into fury. She tried to roll over, but he pinned her. The sound of his snapping teeth in her ear and the rancid smell of his breath were too close for comfort.

  Ally mustered everything left in her and knocked Dutch off balance. As soon as she had the upper hand, she rolled onto her back and punched Dutch in the face. He simply smiled and looked down at her, tarry saliva dripping onto her.

  She tried another tactic, raising her legs and locking them around his head from behind. She used the last of her reserves and flipped him over, then got to her feet and picked up the axe. She glared at Dutch and brought the axe around to decapitate him in one swift blow.

  Down the hallway, Iain still made his way, his progress slow. Ally walked down to see that both his legs were missing from the knee down. He began snapping his teeth at her.

  Tears flowed from her eyes as she brought the axe down on his head. Finally, done killing, she turned to look at Marcus, or at least she hoped it was still him.

  "Marcus, you in there?"

  He watched vacantly as she approached. "For now, but not much longer. You need to get out of here. Get in the escape boat and get as far away from Betty Loo as you can before she explodes. Promise me!"

  "I'm not leaving you. I have the right to kick your ass forever, remember?" Ally let the tears fall freely. She'd lost so much already.

  Ally couldn't lose Marcus too. He was the one who made life bearable. The only one who ever loved her.

  Marcus gripped her shoulders tightly.

  "Maybe there's a cure. You can come with me."

  "No, I won't risk turning and infecting you. Plus, someone has to stay here and sink this tub. We can't have an outbreak happen on a global scale."

  She could only nod her head through the new wave of tears clouding her vision.

  Ally grabbed his hand and kissed it. "I love you."

  "Love you too. Now go."

  Marcus shoved her, and Ally reluctantly made her way down the hallway. More lights flickered out; sparks crackled everywhere. The water was up to her knees by the time she reached the stairway.

  Before she went up, she took one last look towards Marcus. She smiled sadly, then forced herself to turn away.

  Ally went into the control room and climbed the emergency ladder, the escape boat inflated and ready. She tossed her bag in and jumped into it. She started the engine, acting on automatic pilot.

  Normally, she would not have cared if she lived or died, but the little bit of life left inside of her wanted to live. The tears would stop eventually. The pain would last forever, but so would the love. The best part would be getting revenge on all those who were responsible for the death of Marcus. She hoped th
ey were ready, because she was coming for them.

  Revenge kept her alive now.

  About the Author

  Suzanne Robb writes both creative non-fiction and fiction. She has over forty stories accepted into various anthologies which are currently out, or soon to be. In her free time she enjoys eating dark chocolate, writing, zombie wrangling, reading, squirrel watching, and when writer's block hits she breaks out puzzles. Her dog gets final say on all stories, so any complaints will be directed to the one with the T-bone. Z-Boat is her first novel, but she does plan to write more, consider yourself warned.