Jack went into the bathroom and stared at the mirror. The flesh beneath his eyes was dark and his pupils were wide. He looked tired. He felt it too.
I can’t believe I fell for Donovan’s bullshit.
After leaving the Cargo Deck for Tally’s cabin, Donovan must have followed Jack and jumped him from behind. It was a risky move because the man knew that Jack wouldn’t stay dead. Obviously, Donovan had decided it was time for him to fight back. In a way Jack didn’t blame him, but it now made things very clear to him – that Donovan was one of the bad guys.
He’s going to pay for this.
Jack felt the familiar anger rise up in his guts, but took a deep breath and fought against it. He turned on the tap of the faucet and splashed some cold water onto his face. Forgetting everything else, Donovan had been correct about one thing: Jack was being consumed by his rage. It had destroyed his life once before and now he was allowing it to control him again. Running around the ship like a madman and committing murder would never have been acceptable to the man Jack used to be – the man who was in love with Laura. Once upon a time Jack had believed in justice and doing things by the book.
Now I’ve become something else.
Something still needed to be done about Donovan, but there had already been too much violence. Jack would have to find another way. A way that meant not losing a part of himself.
He got dressed and sat down on the end of the bed, then stared at the blank television screen as he thought again about the sickness onboard. It was still unclear whether or not it was the reason for everything that was happening. Was there really a way to stop the virus? To save everyone from their grisly fate? Jack had tried before, but it had been no good. So, what was he missing? Why was he stuck here? Who was responsible? There were so many questions that Jack’s throbbing skull began to ache even worse. One thing was for sure, though, if Jack did manage to find a way to break the spell, Donovan was going to end up in handcuffs the moment he left the ship. BR Shipping would also have some difficult questions to answer about the large sums of money stored away in the hold – not to mention God knows what else.
As Jack thought about how to spend his day, he decided that all he wanted to do was find Tally. He’d been jumped right outside her room and it was a possibility that Donovan had hurt her again. Jack needed to make sure she was okay.
Jack tried her cabin again but there was no answer, just as had been the case before. He constantly checked over his shoulder as he went about the ship, wary of being jumped again from behind. The next place he searched was the Sports Deck, but that, too, was free of Tally’s presence. He would try there again later if need be, but decided, for now, to visit the pool area and Sun Deck. Perhaps Tally would be working there again, trying to find some comfort in her old role.
Jack got a drink from the bar in High Spirits and took it out with him to the Sun Deck where he found Claire. They exchanged small talk as usual but Jack paid no mind to her; he was more focused on keeping a look out for Tally. Each second she didn’t show up made him worry about her a little more.
“You’re in a nosey mood,” said Claire.
Jack looked at her, hearing her words but not really absorbing them. “Huh?”
“You keep looking around the ship and staring at people.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He suddenly had an idea. “I’m a…health inspector. I travel on cruise liners to look out for signs of infectious illnesses.”
Claire went pale. “What?”
Jack put a hand up. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re talking Avian Flu at worse, and that wouldn’t affect a healthy young girl like you. Have you seen anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms?”
Claire nodded her head enthusiastically. “My boyfriend.”
Jack kept his voice calm, not wanting to panic the poor girl, but saw that he had an opportunity to ask some important questions. “I’m sure there’s no reason to worry,” he said. “Do you know where he might have caught it from? Has he been mixing around with anyone under the weather?”
Claire shook her head. “I don’t think so, but then I flew out a day earlier than he did. Him and his mates got drunk and missed the original flight. They had to board in Majorca instead of Barcelona like I did.”
That was interesting, thought Jack, because Claire was healthy and Conner was not. They had boarded in separate locations. But Conner had boarded the same day as Jack had, and Jack himself was perfectly fine. He felt like he was close to something, but not quite there. “What about your boyfriend’s mates?” he asked.“Are they ill?”
“I think so,” said Claire, seeming even more worried. “They had the sniffles this morning at breakfast. I don’t know how bad they are now, though.”
“Like I said, no need to worry. I’m sure it’s just a cold virus spreading.”
“What if it is something worse? Would I be at risk?”
Jack looked at Claire and wondered why she was so concerned. There was no reason for her to worry about a cold. “No. There’s no reason you would be at risk. Flu viruses are only a danger to the elderly, the very young, or-”
“Pregnant women,” Claire answered for him.
It all made sense then. That was the reason that Claire put up with the way Conner spoke to her. He was the father of her baby. Just another teenage pregnancy to add to the list. Jack sighed and shook his head. He’d seen so many young lives wasted by unplanned pregnancies. A baby was a wonderful thing, but uneducated, jobless teenagers were just adding to the cycle of benefit-seeking, ambitionless families that were nothing but a drain on society. Not all were like that, of course, but many were. “How far along are you?” he asked her.
“A few weeks, I think. I haven’t told my boyfriend yet. I was planning on doing it this week, maybe tomorrow at the Captain’s reception. We’re getting dressed up.”
Jack smiled, hoping that one day tomorrow would actually arrive and Claire would get to put on her dress. “Well, I hope that he takes the news well and that you’re very happy together. In the meantime, please don’t worry. There is a very good doctor onboard and I have no reason to believe there is anything to worry about.”
Yeah right! Just a nasty little bug that turns human beings rabid, even after they’re dead. Other than that, there’s no need to worry at all.
Right then, Conner’s cue to arrive came up and the young couple had their predictable conversation about hotdogs. Jack chose not get involved on this day; there was no reason to cause Claire any more worry than she already had. Still, he was disappointed not to have learned more about how Conner had caught his flu. The answer was lurking there somewhere beneath the surface, but there hadn’t been enough time to squeeze it free.
And still there was no Tally.
Jack decided that the only other person with possible answers would be Donovan. It was time to pay another visit to the cargo hold.
***
The Orlap Deck was deserted and Donovan was nowhere to be seen. The pallets and crates lay undisturbed. Jack called out, but there was no answer. He moved around the space cautiously, aware that Donovan was dangerous and also in possession of a gun.
“I’m done with this shit, Donovan. Whatever you’re deal is, I’m ready to put a pin in it for now. When everything goes back to normal then you and me will have a different conversation, but right now all I want are answers. I need to find Tally.”
There was still nothing but silence. Jack headed further into the cargo area, looking left and right between boxes of pharmaceuticals and the blue crates of money. Towards the back of the area were some thick metal cases that he’d not noticed before, each was the size of a footlocker. Behind them something lay on the floor, sticking out a few inches. Jack took slow steps towards the object, ready to throw a punch at the first sign of a threat.
As Jack got closer it became clear what he was looking at. On the floor, sticking out from behind the crates was…
A foot.
Jack stepped forwa
rd to find Donovan lying on the floor. He was covered in blood and it had congealed against the metal grating beneath him. The blood was old and his body was stiff. Donovan had been dead for a while. And he wasn’t coming back. Jack had seen enough bodies and their timelines of decay to know that Donovan must have been murdered shortly after speaking with him the day before.
Which means that Donovan wasn’t the one who jumped me from behind.
I really need to speak to Tally.
Day 236
Jack had spent the rest of the previous evening looking for Tally, but had been unable to find her. He was lost in a spiral of confusion and felt more alone than before he’d even met Tally and Donovan. Having an enemy onboard willing to kill remorselessly was a far more unsettling prospect than anything else that had happened up until that point. Jack still found it difficult to picture Tally as the one behind Donovan’s death, and he both hoped and dreaded that there was someone else onboard responsible, but it didn’t seem likely.
Jack got out of bed and made a mental checklist of the things that weighed heavily on him. He needed to find Tally, needed to find out if it was indeed her who had attacked Donovan, needed to find out who the pathwalker was, and most of all he needed to stop the virus.
Then maybe I can find that time to relax. Yeah, Jack, keep on dreaming.
Jack freshened up, spent an hour relaxing, and then got ready to leave. Before he reached for the door, however, someone knocked on the other side.
What the hell? No one ever knocks on my door.
Whoever was out in the corridor, knocking at his cabin door, could only be someone outside of the spell. It could even be Tally.
Jack opened the door.
Two large Filipino gentlemen stood there wearing the bright red waist jackets of Security. Jack didn’t understand how they could be here. What had changed?
“Yes,” he said. “Can I help you?”
“Could you come with us please, sir?” It wasn’t a question, it was an order.
Jack closed the door slightly, bracing his foot behind it to keep it still. “I’m sorry? What is this about?”
The man on the left, identical to his colleague in every way except for a wispy black beard, said, “We’ve received reports that you assaulted a member of staff during the early hours of this morning. We need you to come and answer some questions for us, please?”
“What? That’s impossible. Who told you this? Who am I supposed to have hurt?”
“Please, sir. If you could just cooperate.”
“Cooperate, my arse! I haven’t done anything.”
The two men tried to barge through into Jack’s cabin, but he held the door firm with his foot. The man on the right reached to grab Jack and received a punch in the face for his efforts and most likely a broken nose. Jack had been hoping to move past the violence of the past couple of weeks but it didn’t look like he was going to get that choice. He threw an overhand right at the remaining security guard and sent him to the floor to join his partner.
Then Jack ran – where the hell to, he did not know. He was in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and there was nowhere he could go that would be free of security’s reach. There was a chance he could take them all down, but that was only if the team of guards was small. For all Jack knew there could be a hundred members of security onboard.
He took the elevator up to the Broadway Deck and hurried through the jewellery store and onto the balcony of the theatre in the room beyond. There was a couple drinking at the bar there, but nobody else around. Jack considered sitting down in the corner and lying low, but it was too out in the open to remain undetected. He was at a total loss and close to panic. As a police officer he was far happier being the pursuer than the pursued.
Who the hell accused me of assaulting them? A member of staff?
It dawned on Jack quickly. It seemed that there was someone on the ship who was starting to get a habit for falsely accusing people of hurting her.
Tally? She must have been lying about Donovan, just like he told me. Now she’s telling lies about me. But why? What’s the point? Whatever she accuses me of will be forgotten at midnight tonight.
So what’s her angle? What the hell is she playing at?
Jack heard concerned voices from outside of the lounge’s main door and decided it was time to get moving again. He headed out of the rear door and entered the Lido Deck, knowing it would lead out past the 24-hour restaurant and out to the pool area. Once he got there he would run out of ship and there’d be no place left to run.
As it turned out, Jack wasn’t even able to get that far. Spread out throughout the pool deck were half a dozen security guards. They spotted Jack the moment he stepped out into the sunlight, and then came towards him in unison, stalking him like lions after a wildebeest. Jack held his hands up and decided there was no point in fighting them. At least by allowing himself to face charges, he would get the full lowdown on what exactly he’d been accused of. Hopefully he would also learn who had accused him.
Although he already had a pretty good idea.
***
Security took Jack down to the brig. He’d been there before; only this time they placed him in a small interview room instead of a cell. Walking in to meet him was Captain Marangakis. The man did not look happy.
“Captain,” Jack acknowledged him with a small nod.
Marangakis did not take a seat at the table, but stood behind one of the chairs opposite Jack.
“Mr Wardsley?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’ve been informed that you’re guilty of some pretty despicable behaviour aboard my ship.”
Jack leant forward across the desk and kept eye contact with the Captain. “Now, you see, that’s where your facts begin to go severely wrong. I haven’t hurt anyone. Whoever has told you otherwise is a liar.”
Marangakis finally took a seat. He yanked back the chair and dropped himself down with such force that it must have hurt his rump. “The accusation has been made by a member of my crew. I see no reason why she would lie.”
“So it’s a she, then?”
“I’m sure you know very well. You’ll be placed in the brig and handed over to the French authorities as soon as we make port.”
Jack laughed. “And when the fuck will that be? I’d love to know.”
The captain seemed confused by Jack’s reaction, which was hardly surprising. “We’ll be there in a little over twelve hours. I’d be in no hurry if I were you.”
“We’ll see,” said Jack. “Do you want to show me to my room then?”
The captain nodded to a guard standing by the door. The burly man stepped towards Jack and went to take him by the arm. Jack stood up and shrugged away from his grasp. “There’s no need to get grabby. I’ll come.”
Jack went with the guard to the cell next door and allowed himself to be locked inside. It was probably the safest place to be anyway. Once the infected became violent they would wreak havoc on every area of the ship, but they wouldn’t be able to get inside the brig. After what had happened to Donovan, Jack was starting to worry that the spell was wearing off and that if the infected were to rip him apart, he might not get put back together again. Despite how much Jack’s life sucked, he didn’t want to die. He was getting too close to working things out.
The guard closed the cell door and locked it, leaving Jack to sit and contemplate. His previous life, of walking the streets as a policeman by day and drinking himself into a stupor by night, now seemed like a distant memory; a fuzzy recollection of a vivid dream. It would once have seemed impossible to think it, but Jack was actually starting to miss the life he had all but lost. Given the chance, he would make more of it then he had.
Jack lay down on the room’s uncomfortable cot and closed his eyes.
He awoke a few hours later to the sound of screams and chaos. From the bowels of the ship, the noise of passengers being torn apart was clear. The eyebleeders were doing their thing on the upper deck. Jack
closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Day 236
Security took Jack away again. He ended his night in the cell as he had the night before.
Day 245
For over a week now, the ship’s guards had come to arrest Jack, and every day he had gone with them peacefully. His intention was to see how long Tally – if she was in fact responsible –would keep it up. It appeared, however, that she was content to have him detained indefinitely. For some reason she wanted his movements aboard the ship restricted.
But why?
Day 246
Jack got out of bed quickly and hurried to get dressed. He selected some jeans and a white t-shirt from deep within his luggage, along with a baseball cap. He hoped that the change of clothing would allow him to move undetected by whoever it was making accusations about him.
He slipped on his trainers and rushed out of his cabin. It had been only a matter of minutes since he’d awoken and Jack was quick enough to get out of there before the Security goons came for him. How long he could evade them, he did not know, but hopefully it would give him some time to find Tally and ask her some pretty serious questions.
Jack took the elevator down to the Orlap Deck, intending to make absolutely sure that Donovan was dead, but also planning to give the area a more thorough search to see if he could find anything helpful.
When he stepped out of the elevator, the cloying smell crept over him immediately, fingering at his nostrils. Jack knew the odour was death, he’d come across it many times before, mostly at the homes of lonely pensioners left to perish in their ice-cold flats with no one to check on them. It was the smell of a corpse settling into the fabrics of its surroundings.
Donovan still lay dead at the back of the cargo area and had now started to decompose. His flesh was waxy and mottled and his lips had started to fall away from his gums leaving behind a sneer. The stink coming off of him was putrescence mixed with faeces and it made Jack’s eyes water. He stepped over the body and examined the floor beyond.
Sea Sick: A Horror Novel Page 14
