by Trimboli, TJ
She ignored the dig. “Until we start catching more fish, everyone is going to have to get used to one meal a day.”
“And Kendra?”
“We will deal with Kendra…Together. At today’s meeting we…” At the drop of her name, she appeared.
Valentina cut herself off as she watched Kendra stride into the room adorned in rugged brown drapes that once hung proud in the auditorium theatre. She looked like a common feudal peasant would tending to their farm centuries ago. Her followers kept in line behind her. There were dozens of them, each draped in their own robes. Where hers was brown, theirs were white.
They had been dirtied and looked as if they hadn’t been taken off since their inception. Everyone’s heads were shaved. In fact, Valentina couldn’t spot a hair on their body besides their eyebrows. Men, women, and children all looked exactly the same. If it wasn’t for some women’s large breasts, no one would be able to tell anyone apart. Two of the followers carried a large bucket filled with sea water. Kendra was smart enough to know not to mess with the supply of natural drinking water they had stored. That fiasco would be as devastating to her as it would to the rest of us.
Kendra strode to her place in front of the tables.
All eyes had turned to her.
Valentina looked around for her guards but remembered she had sent them to take the sickly man to the infirmary.
“Here we go again,” Morris chimed in.
Kendra looked out over the people silently eating.
They stared back at her, confused and cautious. She was a wild card aboard this ship and one which no one took lightly.
She smiled. “Good morning all. Sinners and freeborn alike. I come to you today as I have every day since the dreaded night of turmoil; to see which of you is ready to be saved. It is the lord’s bidding that we are stuck here. Stuck in an endless rut of castigation. The dead now reside over the land leaving us to navigate foreign soil. One we are not meant to suffer through forever. This is but a purgatory for us. A test if you will. We have been spared God’s army of flesh eaters, only to waste away in endless waters but it does not have to be so my children. We were put here for a reason. To prove ourselves worthy to the lord that we deserve this right to live. That we deserve our place in the new world.”
Valentina studied every motion Kendra made and every word she uttered. She walked with a calming tranquility about her. Every step she made was planned and every word she spoke had meaning. Valentina didn’t believe a word of what Kendra spewed but she did believe that Kendra believed it to be so.
All throughout eternity, zealots have proved to be a problematic bunch and this one looked to take the rug out from all of them.
Valentina had done the best she could to leave Kendra alone to her machinations. After all, she was a small fish in a large pond but seeing the crowd of followers she’d now amassed, she knew Morris had been right. If we don’t do something soon, this woman would convert every single person on this ship and drive us right into hell with her.
Kendra turned her attention to her followers.
They all stood upright as a board staring at her as a child would its parents. She had their absolute loyalty.
Valentina feared that given the word, these men and women would do anything she bid them to do. She slowly settled her hand against the butcher knife she carried. She turned to Morris. “If she tells these people to attack, I want you to lock the entrance doors and find Bobbi. Do you understand?”
Morris saw her hand clutching the knife. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
Kendra began again, “Bring forth the sinner.” “This is new,” Morris muttered.
The followers broke out of formation to reveal a young Hindu boy in the center. He looked around nervously but determined. He couldn’t have been any older than fourteen. He approached Kendra.
The two followers that held the bucket of water dropped it by Kendra’s feet.
Valentina wanted to reach out to help but the lad walked of his own volition. No one held him prisoner, though. He was free to do whatever Kendra had planned for him.
Becky gasped.
“Do you know him?” Valentina asked.
“That’s Anjal. I met him the second night of the cruise. He was here with his parents. This was their first trip outside of India.”
“Do they know what their son is about to do?” Morris interjected.
Becky glanced over at him. “They died two days ago.”
“Dysentery?”
Becky didn’t reply. She just looked away back at the young kid kneeling before Kendra.
He had a beautiful head of black hair that Valentina feared they were about to see the end of.
Kendra stroked the boy’s hair looking over the crowd. “This boy is Anjal. He came to us from India to seek out God’s repentance and to find a place in this new world. He has come to bare his sins in front of the world and shed his wicked soul in hopes that you too will follow this brave man’s path to salvation. Through all of our purging of sin, this ship will cling back to life and take us home. This I promise you. Anjal, when you are ready.” Anjal stared down at the bucket of water in front of him.
Four followers approached carrying scissors and razors.
Kendra knelt down to the boy’s level undoing the buttons on his shirt.
That’s enough of this. Do something for god’s sake. “On me,” she told Morris. Valentina approached the scene, Morris one step behind.
The followers saw them come forth. They stepped in front of Kendra forming a human shield of protection.
Kendra stood up smiling. She placed a hand on one of her followers. They stood down. “It’s quite all right my friends.” She stared at Valentina. “Are you here to defy God’s will?” All the citizens of the room turned their gaze to Valentina and Morris.
Valentina took note of the massive amounts of bodies in the room. If she made one wrong move, the room would descend into chaos. Patience. She wants you to try and stop her. She glanced at the young man on the floor. “Anjal. If you don’t want to do this, you can get up and come with me right now.”
Anjal peered up at her.
Valentina saw that whatever confusion he had in his eyes was swept away at the sight of her.
She could read his mind instantly. He blames me.
“I come before you all to confess my sins and shed my soul.” He took off his shirt. He held his arms out, never once taking his gaze off of Valentina.
She saw the smug grin Kendra sported, daring her to make a move.
Valentina stood down.
Kendra turned her attention back to the people. She snapped her fingers.
Her followers set to work cutting the voluptuous hair Anjal flaunted.
Kendra walked up to the boy slowly unbuttoning his pants. She pulled them down exposing his dirty white underwear, complete with a streak of poo like tire marks down the back side.
He began to purge his sins, “Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been my entire life since my last confession. As a boy, I often had impure thoughts about my sister. I bullied and beat a boy smaller than me because of his gay feelings for me…”
As he purged his soul, Kendra stood in the corner basking in the moment. Every sin, every word out of his mouth like music to her ears.
Worse so, Valentina could see Kendra had hooked some of the people in the crowd. The followers finished cutting his hair and went to quick work shaving his entire body. It pained her to watch them shave his head without any shaving cream.
They had left his head with patches of hair and a bloody scalp. They stripped him of his underwear revealing his tiny prick buried beneath a fur of pubes. They went to work.
Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes as his sins continued, “…I spoke back against my father. I took the lord’s name in vain many times. When my parents took sick and I had to care for them I prayed…” He paused choking back the tears. He tried to compose himself but to no avail. He
simply cried. “I prayed for their deaths, so I wouldn’t catch the sickness from them.” The boy stood there crying naked as the day he was born. His body devoid of hair.
Kendra walked up behind him soothing his cries. She rubbed his head forcing him to his knees.
He stared down at the bucket in front of him.
The crowd seemed to be mesmerized by Kendra’s actions.
Valentina found herself unable to look away as well. This woman had a mysticism about her.
“Anjal has bared his soul. He exits this world a boy and comes back to us a man. A man who has earned his place in the new world. Amen.” She took his head driving it into the water. He thrashed and kicked but Kendra’s strength kept the boys head in place.
Morris darted forward but Valentina grabbed him.
“You’re just going to let her drown him?” he shouted at her.
“Look around you, they want me to try and stop this. She’s testing me. He did this under his own free will. We can’t intervene.”
“The hell we can’t. She’s killing the kid. She’s doing it right in front of our eyes and we’re doing nothing to stop it.”
Valentina stared at the boy. She desperately wanted to spring into action but Kendra’s followers outnumbered hers ten to one here. Even if she did try to stop it, this ship would descend into chaos. That was something she couldn’t allow. Besides, she had a sneaking suspicion Kendra wouldn’t let this boy die. That didn’t seem to be her M.O. She let go of Morris and he made no move to free the boy.
They simply watched the scene unfold.
The kid held on for a while. He thrashed, kicked, and scratched but Kendra had the strength of God. She held him under until the bubbles subsided and his kicks diminished. Only then did she release him from her grip, pulling him out of the water.
He fell back onto the floor unresponsive.
Kendra knelt down beside the boy. She listened for a heartbeat.
Valentina stared intently. That clever bitch.
Kendra pressed her hands to Anjal’s chest performing CPR on the boy.
It took two rotations but the boy puked up his water clinging back to life. He gasped heavily, rolling over onto his side.
Kendra stood up facing the crowd before her. “A boy of sin came to us looking for guidance. A man rises now, born anew, free of sin. Rise Anjal. Claim your place in the new world.” Anjal slowly rose up.
The followers surrounded him adorning him in their robes.
“I implore all of you to follow in his place. Let me help you. Let you help us. Let us all help each other save this ship and our humanity. I look forward to your arrival.” She turned and made her exit.
To add insult to injury, the followers had Anjal carry the bucket of water out of the room.
Valentina watched her go in awe and in shock of what had just occurred.
Morris leaned in towards her. “She will be the end of this little experimental society, mark my words.” He grabbed his food cart and left.
Valentina looked out at the people around her terrified to see that for once, they were all talking amongst themselves.
CHAPTER FOUR
BOBBI
She sat on the ledge of the top most deck peering down to the depths below. It was easily high enough for the impact to kill her; all she had to do was push off. The wind gusted around her giving off the perfect chance to just let go, yet she held on. As much as she just wanted to turn away and run from her responsibility, she didn’t jump. There were too many good people on this ship relying on her.
Besides, Valentina would come into the afterlife and drag me back.
In her left arm, she cradled the dead child. She covered the baby in the oriental dress she wore the last night of the cruise. It was her way of letting go of the old world she supposed. She did her best to ignore the smell but the air was stained with death. Dozens of dead bodies littered the pool deck behind her, all waiting their turn to be dropped to the ocean deep.
“I was wondering where I’d find you. You missed roll call. Valentina was none too pleased.”
She’d never even heard Richard approach. “Valentina can shove it,” she replied never taking her eyes off the dress in her arms. She pictured all the things this kid would never get to experience. His first steps, first words, first kiss. On and on, the thoughts flooded her, filling her mind up with what could have been. A solitary tear slid down her cheeks.
Richard leaned against the railing staring down at the dark blue water. “Long way down. Sure you want to be sitting like that?”
“Is there something you wanted Richard?”
“People can see you sweetheart. You’re worrying them.”
“I’m not going to jump.”
“I know that but they’re a fickle bunch Bobbi.”
Bobbi looked up at him. He’s right Bobbi. What were you thinking?
Richard put out his hand.
She accepted it, sliding down off the ledge back to solid ground.
Just then, Richard spotted the dress in her arms. “How old?”
“Can’t be more than a few months—months Richard! This is not what the world is supposed to be like.”
“Kid, the world is not supposed to be like anything. It just is.” He stroked her hair pushing the loose strands away from her eyes. “Good comes into this world and bad comes into this world. We just happen to be in one of those bad times.”
“Why did it have to be us?”
“Divine intervention? Fate maybe? Most likely, it was just pure dumb luck but take comfort in the fact that we are not the first society to go through this. Man lived for thousands of years the way we’re forced to now and they got through it. So too, will we. We just have to be strong and open to doing the things we never thought we’d have to do.”
Bobbi understood his meaning. He was right after all. He always was. She sized Richard up….One of the smartest men she’d ever met. A sociology teacher at the University of Berkley, he had all the knowledge necessary to help rebuild their world. Without him, she knew she would never have gotten to the point she was at now. Much like Valentina, Bobbi was resigned to wallow away on this ship. After all, hiding from her problems was the whole reason she was on this ship in the first place. It was Richard who picked her up, dusted her off, and put her to work after the atrocities of the Night Riot. It’s a shame he’s old.
At fifty three he was hardly what most people would consider old these days but Bobbi was never one to be into older guys. Besides, he sported practically every quality that Bobbi despised in men she fell for. Short and stocky with a bald spot that traveled around the top of his head, the spots with hair had grayed considerably since their first days on this ship. He obviously dyed it but without any products on this ship, he was resigned to let nature do its thing. His beard had stayed its natural black making the grey in his hair look all the more distinguished. He wore jeans that had been cut at the knees and a brightly teal button up covered in every spot with different types of birds. It was an odd juxtaposition to his scholarly mind.
She held the dress out over the ledge. The dress danced in the wind revealing the lifeless child’s face. Its eyes stared into Bobbi’s soul. She took a deep breath forcing herself to be strong and let go.
The dead weight of the child sent the dress careening into the waters below.
Bobbi couldn’t bring herself to watch. She stood there silently waiting for the splash of water signaling the deed was done.
Richard waited until he heard the splash to speak, “Are you okay?”
“As okay as I can be—I had the dream again,” she confided in him, he was the only one who knew of her night terrors.
“Simply dreams Bobbi. We’ve been through a life changing ordeal. It’s no different than watching horror movies as a kid. The brain sees and in its nocturnal slumber it reacts.”
“It doesn’t feel that way though. It feels like it’s trying to paint a picture for me, showing me something I need to know.”
&n
bsp; “Tell me about them.”
She recounted the contents of the dream to him.
Richard stood fully engrossed and never once made her feel stupid for her wild thoughts.
“And you think Trent is trying to tell you something?” he questioned.
“I think so. I can’t make heads or tails of what he’s saying but I’ve seen enough movies and
TV to know a premonition when I hear one. He’s trying to warn me about something.”
“But what Bobbi? The apocalypse has already happened. We’re floating on a boat in the middle of the water while slowly starving to death. How can it get any worse?” “It can always get worse,” she shot back.
He paused caught off guard.
She could see it in his eyes that she was right. “It already has, hasn’t it?”
“There’s something you need to see.”
She already knew what awaited her. “It’s another one isn’t it?” Richard didn’t reply. He simply strode towards the stairwell doors.
Bobbi took one last look around the pool deck before following him.
The citizens brave enough to volunteer had arrived. They set to work dumping all the dead bodies into the waters below.
We sit above an endless graveyard. She walked off.
No sooner had she stepped foot inside when she was ambushed by a frantic man uttering gibberish. Sweat dripped off his face, his movements were erratic like he was up all night drinking coffee or snorting Adderall. She couldn’t remember the man’s name, there was just too many on board the ship to know them all in such a short time frame. “We have to be quick. There’s no telling how quickly it could have spread. Those people out there dumping the bodies, you sitting out on that ledge, this feeble old man. We have to move now and move quickly…”
He sputtered so quickly she could barely keep up. “Slow down. I need you to relax and tell me slowly, what’s wrong.”
“Quarantined. You all have to be quarantined. There’s no telling how quickly the bites could have spread. It’s all in the mosquito’s man. I’m telling you they’re out there and they’re biting everyone who steps foot outside. It’s only a matter of time before you all turn and then we’re toast. WE’RE TOAST!” He screamed.
