Survival Instinct (Book 3): Fighting Instinct

by Kristal Stittle

  The rest of morning recess was quiet. No one knew what kind of teacher Ms. Ellen was, they were used to only Ms. Lauren and Ms. Abby, who worked between both classes.

  “Okay, recess is over. Could you all take your seats, please?” Ms. Ellen announced.

  Hope sat down with Adam. Their desk felt empty without Peter there. Ms. Ellen told them all to continue with their morning lessons.

  “Where do you think they went?” Hope whispered to Adam.

  “I don’t know,” he shrugged, “but I don’t think they went anywhere good.”

  “Claire looked sad.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What if Peter gets sad?”

  “What?”

  “What if Peter gets sad? We should be there to make him feel better. Like when Becky’s dog died, we were all there to make her feel better.”

  “We’re in class.”

  Ms. Ellen walked past, ending their conversation. Hope tried to do her work, but she kept reading the same math problem over and over, not understanding it. She wished Peter were there to help her. If Ms. Abby or Ms. Lauren were there, she might have put up her hand and asked for help, but she didn’t want to ask Ms. Ellen.

  When it was close to lunchtime, a big kid from the other class came in.

  “Ms. Ellen? Tommy’s nose is bleeding again,” she said.

  Ms. Ellen sighed. “All right. I’ll be right there. Children, I want you to continue working until I get back. We’ll have lunch when I return.” She left the room, closing the door behind her.

  As soon as Ms. Ellen was gone, everyone stopped working and started talking. Hope had an idea, and got up from her desk to go share it with Becky. Wondering what she was doing, Adam followed after her.

  “We should go see Peter,” Hope told Becky.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “In case he’s sad. We should cheer him up.”

  “But we don’t know where he is.”

  “I’m sure we could find him.”

  “But we’re in class.”

  “We’ll be quick. Ms. Ellen won’t notice we’re gone, and we’ll be back before lunchtime is over.”

  Becky looked at the door, thinking it over.

  “He was there to cheer you up when you were sad about Shoes,” Hope told her.

  “That’s different.”

  “No it’s not.”

  “I want to go,” Adam added. “These lessons are boring.”

  “Come on, Becky.”

  “Okay. But if we get in trouble, I’m not talking to you ever again.” Becky got up from her seat. The three of them headed toward the door, but they were stopped by Dakota.

  “I heard you talking,” she said to them. “Ms. Ellen will notice you’re gone, and you’ll get into trouble.”

  “Ms. Ellen didn’t do a roll call. She doesn’t know who’s here,” Hope told her.

  “But what if she does?” Dakota continued to block their way to the exit.

  “We’ll tell her we really needed to go to the bathroom and couldn’t wait.” Hope had done that before when she didn’t like the lesson. She had told Ms. Abby she needed to go, and then just played with the taps in the bathroom for a while instead of learning.

  “Fine, but I’m coming with you. Someone has to look after you little kids.” Dakota turned around to open the door.

  “We’re not little,” Adam objected.

  Dakota ignored him as she stuck her head outside of the classroom. “The coast is clear,” she whispered back at them.

  Hope, Adam, and Becky, followed Dakota out of class.

  ***

  “Where are we going?” Adam asked for what must have been the hundredth time.

  “To the place where we had Shoes’ funeral,” Hope told him again. She was going to hit him if he asked again.

  “Yeah, but where’s that?” he added.

  “On the littler boat attached to this one,” Becky said.

  “Then why are we in here?” Adam asked.

  Currently, they were at the very back of the ship, behind the basketball court. The three of them were huddled inside a small building-like structure that was used to store garden supplies and basketballs. Based on the pictures on the walls, it used to be related to some sport that Hope didn’t know the name of; something that involved hitting little white balls with metal sticks.

  “Because Dakota is figuring out how to get there.” Becky rolled her eyes. “We don’t know where the littler boat is parked today.”

  “Oh. How will she figure out where it is?”

  “By looking over the sides of the Diana, duh.” Hope was annoyed by all his questions.

  “But-”

  “Shh, here she comes.” Becky had been watching out of a little window.

  Dakota opened the door to the building and stepped inside, quickly closing it behind her.

  “Okay, it’s docked at the front of the ship on the port side,” she told them.

  “What’s port?” Adam asked.

  “That side of the ship.” Dakota pointed to the left.

  “Then why didn’t you just say it was that side?”

  “Because that side is called port,” Dakota informed him. “Now, we’ll have to stick close together. If anyone asks us what we’re doing out of class, you let me do all the talking, okay?”

  The three younger kids all nodded. With Dakota in the lead, they exited the little building and climbed down the stairs that were hidden amongst the plants behind it. The next level down stuck out even further, and was filled with even more potted plants taking in the sun.

  This started Hope, Becky, and Adam bickering about whether they needed sunscreen or not.

  “Stop arguing,” Dakota turned on them all. “You won’t need sunscreen because you won’t be in the sun a lot.” She led them to the side of the ship that she had called port once they were silent.

  They walked along the side until they came to a doorway just before the pool area. Hope didn’t know why the adults always called it the pool area, or the pool deck; there weren’t any pools there. It should be called the tree area, or the tree deck, because it was the only place they were growing big trees. The only pool was a small one near the doctor’s office, where Hope had been learning how to swim.

  “Adults, hide,” Dakota hissed.

  The group scrunched together and hid behind a pillar. Adam was practically pushing Hope over. She tried to push him back, but that would have knocked him out from behind the pillar, so he held onto her. The two adults that had been walking toward them passed by without noticing the kids.

  “Come on.” Dakota took Becky’s hand and pulled her inside.

  Hope stomped on Adam’s foot before following after them.

  “Ow!”

  “Shut up!” Hope whispered at him, placing her hand over his mouth. There were other adults nearby, taking care of the plants.

  “You stepped on my foot,” Adam complained.

  “Don’t be a baby.” Hope jogged a bit until she caught up to Becky and Dakota. Adam was right behind her.

  Avoiding all other adults, they made their way to a staircase and began climbing down. There wasn’t anywhere to hide on the stairs if any adults came across them, but they didn’t see any until the eighth deck, where three of them were climbing up.

  “Hide,” Dakota told them again.

  Adam, Becky, and Dakota all ran toward the bedrooms, but Hope went the other way. She ran toward the middle of the ship and ended up hiding in the upper section of the library. A woman who was looking at a book pile didn’t notice Hope slip past her. Hope went to the back of the space and squeezed between two piles there. From her hiding place, she could see down the opening in the centre of the library to the lower floor. Looking through it, she saw a man standing near the front of the library, but he didn’t look very interested in the books. Then she heard the voices.

  Inching closer to the railing, Hope tried to see who was speaking. Whoever it was, must have been underneath her, because she
couldn’t see him or who he was talking to. Hope wanted to listen to what the men were saying, but she couldn’t understand them; they were talking in a different language. Hope sometimes heard other languages being spoken, but not very often. Although she didn’t know what the men were saying, she knew they were talking about secrets; why else would they be whispering so quickly?

  The woman at the front of the library left, and soon afterward, the other three kids came in looking for Hope. Not wanting to be heard by the adults below, Hope crawled out of her hiding space and waved them over.

  “They’re talking about secrets,” Hope whispered to Dakota, cupping her hands around her mouth.

  “They aren’t talking English,” Dakota whispered back.

  “I know.”

  “Then there’s no point in listening. Come on, I thought we were looking for Peter?”

  Hope nodded, and the group left the library. As they started climbing down the stairs again, Hope kept thinking about the secret-tellers. She thought she should tell her dad about them, but didn’t know how to do that without admitting that she had left school.

  7

  Hanna’s Wandering The Ship

  Hanna had gone to look at the pictures as Misha had suggested, but she didn’t know why. They just made her start crying again as she knew they would. All the pictures did, not just the photos of Alec. A lot of people had been killed by the bomb.

  “Hanna?”

  Hanna was startled by the voice directly behind her. She spun on her heels, wiping her hands across her eyes in the same instant in an attempt to clear them. Behind her stood Benny, an Englishman who had travelled across the ocean on the German submarine with Hanna. He was a nice man, and had taught her a lot of English on the way over. Many of the people on the sub had learned English from him, as it was a wonderful distraction from the cramped quarters inside, and the cold outside. Just about everyone who made the voyage would be perfectly happy never to see a submarine again.

  “Hello, Benny.” Hanna looked down at their feet, hiding her red eyes.

  “You probably shouldn’t be looking at these photos,” Benny told her.

  “I know. It is just… I knew a lot of these people. I cleaned rooms for them.”

  “I know.” Benny gently took her arm and led her away from the photo area. “Which is why I know it’ll just upset you to be here. Why don’t you come to the pub with me and we’ll get a drink?”

  “I am not sure I want a drink.”

  “Whether you want one or not, you certainly seem like you could use one. Come on.” Still holding her arm, Benny brought Hanna up the curving flight of stairs to the fifth deck.

  Together they walked along the promenade until they reached the pub. It was much more crowded than usual. After what had happened, several non-essential workers were skipping their duties, and those who were not on shift, either couldn’t sleep, or really needed the drink that Benny was recommending.

  Benny was popular among the drinking crowd, and easily threaded his way through it to get to the bar, pulling Hanna along behind him. Not a single stool was empty, so Benny stood, with Hanna right behind him, still looking down to hide her red eyes. Much as it was unlikely that she was the only one crying in this crowd, she’d rather it not be known. She had been embarrassed enough when she broke down earlier and Misha had come across her.

  The portly bartender spotted Benny quickly and waddled over. The bartender was one of the few overweight people onboard the Diana. There used to be a lot more, but with everyone kept on a carefully balanced diet, which catered to his or her body type and the amount of exercise they got, just about everyone was kept at a healthy weight. It was the opinion of most people that the bartender kept his weight on by frequently sampling his own product.

  “What’ll it be today, Benny?” the bartender asked, ignoring the next man over, who had been waiting longer.

  “Two shots of whatever’s your best today, if you please.”

  “You got it.” He disappeared into the back where the stills were kept. Nearly everyone had to trade something for booze, whether it was a physical item or a service. Junk food was often a form of payment, which might also explain the bartender’s weight. Benny didn’t pay though, because he was too well liked by men like the bartender. He had an air about him that made people listen to him. Hanna often thought he used to be a schoolteacher, but she actually had no idea what his profession was before the zombies came.

  The bartender returned with two shot glasses, each filled with a clear liquid and handed them both to Benny, who thanked the man then turned around and gave one of the glasses to Hanna.

  “Cheers,” he said, holding out his glass.

  “Prost.” Hanna clinked her glass against his.

  “To life.” Benny threw back his head and swiftly swallowed the alcohol.

  Hanna hesitated a moment before quickly downing her drink. She swallowed it fast, trying to keep the burn in her stomach instead of her mouth and throat, but was only partially successful. For the bartender’s best, it was awful.

  “Bet you feel better now!” Benny laughed. “Puts a real fire in you!”

  Hanna nodded, even though she didn’t really feel any better. Still, she could now blame her moist eyes on the strong stuff.

  “Let’s go mingle.” Benny hooked his arm through Hanna’s and led her over to a group of people.

  While Benny joined in on the conversation quickly, Hanna stood quietly to one side. There were so many discussions going on at once, and she was having trouble following just one of them. Besides, she didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing.

  Once Benny stopped trying to include Hanna, she managed to slip away. The booze actually did help her feel better, or at least detached enough not to care for the moment.

  Making her way out of the crowd, she wandered aimlessly about the ship. She didn’t have a particular direction in mind, and just placed one foot in front of the other. She could be working if she wanted to be, it was her usual shift, but she didn’t have the heart for it. The forward rooms on the seventh deck were her duty to clean for anyone who wanted her service. A large number of those rooms were gone now, and a few of their occupants she’d never see again.

  Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she walked outside for some fresh air. The German submarine was floating not too far off the side. Hanna hated the submarine. It had saved her life, but she hated it. Back in Germany, she had been starved and terrified during the outbreak. Her hiding place had changed several times, but at one particular instance, she was holed up in the Deutsches Auswanderer Haus—the German Emigration Center—of all places, in Bremerhaven, along the Weser. While investigating the nearby zoo, she had spotted the U-boat cruising up the river toward the sea. Several people were sitting outside on the deck silently, holding up large signs inviting survivors to come join them. Hanna was so distraught and alone at the time that getting to the submarine became her only thought. Attacked while searching for a small boat, she had wound up having to swim for her life, while sailors gunned down the zombies behind her. She had thought that life aboard the submarine would be better, but it wasn’t. The U-boat was overloaded and undersupplied. The food wasn’t very good and strictly rationed. There wasn’t enough space anywhere, and a schedule was issued for those who had to sit outside on the deck and when. The air inside the sub was foul smelling and stale, while the air outside the sub was cold and damp.

  Everyone cheered when the Diana’s radio transmission was picked up. It was a unanimous decision to cross the Atlantic to reach her. The Russian sub picked up the same transmission and found them the next day. The Russians were strange. They didn’t speak much to the German sub survivors, and refused to let anyone aboard. At least they were willing to share their food supplies, but not much else.

  In spite of having a new goal in mind, they found that the ocean voyage was no picnic. They couldn’t go top speed without risking the people on deck falling overboard, so it was a much longer journey
than expected. Twice, they were forced to dive because of rough weather. If you weren’t one of the submarine officers, you literally had no space to move once everyone was jammed in below. During those two dives, every space that could hold a human without hindering the U-boat’s operation was filled. Hanna had spent the first dive sitting on Benny’s lap, hunched over on a bunk, and wedged between two other people, while another man stood directly in front of her. The second time she had to stand in the captain’s eating nook, helping the children that were standing on the table and benches keep their balance.

  Hanna had learned to hate the sea during that trip. She still did.

  While lost in her memories, Hanna’s feet continued to carry her about the ship. When she finally paid attention to her surroundings again, she discovered she was just outside the safety barrier that had been erected to keep people from entering the blast site. Looking over the short barrier, Hanna could see the blackened walls, floor, and ceiling, as well as the light streaming in through the hole in the side of the Diana. She could also smell an ashy scent.

  Hanna’s immediate reaction was a feeling of nausea. The alcohol in her stomach turned foul on her, and it was all she could do to keep it down. Dashing to the nearest public washroom, she vomited into the first toilet she came to. The entirety of her stomach’s contents was emptied into the porcelain bowl. Even after her belly was empty, she dry heaved a few more times, creating a dribble of spit.

  Flushing her body’s discharge away, she then got up and rinsed out her mouth at the sink. Looking up, she stared at herself in the mirror. Hanna didn’t have a high opinion of herself, but today it was especially low. Nothing she saw in the mirror, from her hair to her waist, was good in any way. She thought of herself as an ugly creature, although almost everyone else would disagree. But they didn’t see inside her, like she could. They didn’t know what she had done.

  They didn’t know that she had planted the bomb.

  ***

  After hiding in the bathroom for over an hour, Hanna knew she had to leave it. There was a meeting she had to attend, and if she didn’t, the others would become concerned and ask questions.