by Brad Knight
This is sounding a lot like the Golden Pony. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
The tour of Haven stopped next at a spacious kitchen. Some crew members cut vegetables and fruit. Others watched and mixed big pots full of soups and/or boiling food. At the far end, next to the stoves, various meats and bread doughs were prepared.
“Not bad huh?” asked Jeanine with a toothy smile.
“It's... impressive,” answered Stephanie.
“Wait until you see where we get all that food. Before I show you that, I want to take you guys to the engine room. So if you'll follow me...” Jeanine guided them out of the kitchen and back into the apparently endless hallways.
The engine room was hell on earth, or the sea as it were. It was much hotter and cramped than the living quarters. Amber and Stephanie almost threw up from the overpowering smell of heavy fuel oil. Mack could detect hints of sulfur in it.
“I know, it's not pretty, but it's necessary work. We don't have anyone who's worked on boat engines before. It's a little touch and go. Despite some... difficulties, we make it work. I guess it would be too much to expect for one of you to have experience with such things?” Jeanine asked a question she already knew the answer to.
“You guessed right,” answered Mack.
“That's too bad. For me that is. It's actually a good thing for you because that's the worse job on the ship. I hate it in here. Let's move on.”
Instead of going down, Jeanine led the trio up towards the deck. None of them knew where the middle aged leader of Haven was heading. They had no doubt that it would be another surprise. Everything about the floating community was.
When Jeanine opened the door that led up to the deck, a blindingly bright light showered her and her new arrivals. A very welcome cool breeze barreled through the cozy confines of the stairwell. Amber was especially happy to get out of the stuffy innards of Haven.
Out on the deck, on the opposite side from where they boarded, was a virtual farm. There were rows of dirt with growing crops planted in them. Carrots, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and several different kinds of herbs all grew on the deck of a freighter that once held shipping containers full of electronic goods and cheap clothes.
More impressive than the crops was the livestock. The Haven crew somehow managed to raise and keep pigs, cows and chickens. From what Mack could tell, the animals looked to be in great shape. They munched away on grass and feed.
“As you can see, we're a self sustained community. All we need from dry land is fresh water and fuel. Otherwise we can sail out here for months. We're safe from the undead, from Galatea, and safe from raiders. In short, we are a sanctuary. Congratulations friends, you've made it.” Jeanine was very pleased with herself and the community she created.
That must've been why they were at New Hope Island and Bull Harbor. They needed to restock. Those maps were a bonus. No reason why they can't recruit too. Judging by their security, they probably don't need to worry so much about any bad elements.
What do you know. We found ourselves a utopia. They got their own food, plenty of water and they are far from land. So what's the catch? There's always a catch. There's no such thing as paradise. Not before the outbreak, and certainly not after.
“I'll leave you three to it. Marshall will find you and show you to your quarters. That's customary. New arrivals get their own private bunks until they get adjusted to life here. Tomorrow morning there's a service up here on the deck. Attendance is mandatory.” Jeanine smiled at them warmly and left them to their own devices.
I knew there was a catch. Mack watched Jeanine till she disappeared below deck. He turned to Stephanie and Amber.
“You see what I saw?” asked Amber.
Mack shrugged. “Not sure. What did you see?”
“I see a boat full of strangers,” said Stephanie. “We should probably get to changing that.” She looked out over the edge of the deck at New Hope Island. The cold, miserable clump of rocks and conifers quickly faded away from view. “It looks like we're going to be here for awhile.”
“We'll get right on that. We will. But first, Amber, you were saying?”
“They all wore crosses. They had them on necklaces, their clothes, some even had tattoos.” Amber's observation was right on the button. All of them wore that all too familiar religious iconography. Only they were different than the garden variety crucifixes. A triangle connected the top three points on all of them.
“Indeed they do. Good eyes, girlie girl.” He was pleased with his ward's skills of observation.
“You think they're some religious freaks?” Amber asked.
“Yeah. No. Maybe. Thing is no matter what they are, we need to make this work. This is all we ever wanted. And if it turns out it isn't? We'll get off the next time it stops.”
Amber and Stephanie didn't verbally agree, but from their body language it was clear that they were on the same page.
A short but strongly built balding bearded man found them standing on the deck. His name was Marshall Stokes. He served as the head of Haven security, a general and the chief of police. The man's demeanor and attitude screamed that he was not to be messed with.
Marshall took them back through the bowels of the ship to a hallway that led to what was once the freighter's proper crew quarters. There were only a couple of other residents in the relatively luxurious living space. They were families that featured new mothers and others who were sick and needed to be separated from the crowds of the communal living area.
To the sounds of crying babies and coughing, the trio of survivors settled into their small cabin. When Mack stood in the middle of the only room, he could touch both walls just by extending his arms, left and right. That didn't matter. The only thing that did were the bunks.
After a long day of rowing across the Queen Margaret Sound, traversing the cold rocky forests of New Hope Island and fighting Galatea yet again, he was exhausted. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. He hoped that a new, safer reality awaited them on Haven.
***
That better be the right man. We need him. It's the only way we'll survive. Jeanine wondered whether she welcomed Haven's messiah onto the freighter as she left the new arrivals on the deck. While walking back to the door that led down into the hull, she tried to figure out how she would get what she wanted.
It's in his blood. We need his blood. It's our destiny. God wills it. Jeanine could hear her own footsteps echo as she descended the metal staircase. She took the walkie talkie off her worn leather belt.
“Marshall? This is Mother. Do you read me? Over.” Jeanine tried to raise her right hand man, Marshall Stokes.
Jeanine heard the signature beep from her walkie talkie. “This is Marshall. I hear you loud and clear, Mother. Over.”
“Meet our new guests up in the gardens. Show them to the cabins. Make sure you get them anything they need. I want them to be comfortable. Over.” Jeanine walked the hallways, scheming.
“Yes m'am.”
“Put some people on both entrances to the cabins. Don't want anyone leaving or entering that area until tomorrow. Over.”
“Understood. Over and out.” Marshall, having received his orders, endeavored to see them through.
Dr. Yen will know what to do. She'll know what's needed. Let's hope she's in the lab. Jeanine's destination, the makeshift lab, was located near the very bottom of the freighter. There, in secret, a team of scientists and doctors worked hard on the future of their utopia.
To get to the labs, Jeanine had to pass through seven different doors, three of which required a key she possessed to open. Other than the doors, she had to find her way through a maze like collection of dark and damp hallways. The floor of Haven in which the lab was located had no lights (with the exception of the laboratories).
A water tight bulkhead door served as a thick, sturdy and cold gatekeeper for the laboratories. It also served as a prison guard, because not one of the people beyond it were there volun
tarily. They were prisoners forced into service.
It was true that every time Haven made port that the crew went out and found supplies. But those supplies weren't limited to food, water, weapons and tools. They also salvaged people. Not all of them were volunteers.
Four months before their visit to Bull Harbor and New Hope Island, the freighter was in the Yellow Sea off the Eastern Coast of China. They didn't just happen to end up there, they went for a purpose. Their purpose put them at odds with a post outbreak organization that translated from Mandarin as “The Phoenix”.
Under the employ of The Phoenix were the best surviving scientists from all of Asia. They kept them in one of the few major cities left intact, Shanghai. At the cost of twenty eight crew members, the denizens of Haven were able to kidnap some of those scientists and basically enslave them.
“Ms. Castle. What is it today?” asked Dr. Mei Yen. The thirty five year old scientist had on a dirty lab coat and similarly shabby clothes underneath. Her glasses were taped together. A thick chain and a manacle bound her to some nearby pipes.
Jeanine walked through the open water tight bulkhead door. In the labs beyond it there were eight scientist prisoners. Understandably none of them were happy to see their captor. At least most of them weren't.
One of the prisoners, a chemist from Mumbai, was pleased to see Jeanine Castle. It wasn't because he liked her or in any way forgave her. The prisoner planned to kill her. All that needed to happen was the Mother of Haven getting within arms reach.
“Today? Today is a fine day, Dr. Yen. For the Lord finally got us what you needed to finish your work. Well, sort of.” Jeanine smiled and spoke with a tone that would suggest friendliness. Haven's prisoners knew better. There was nothing friendly about Jeanine Castle. The manacles and chains were proof of that.
“Ted Gorman?” asked Dr. Yen.
“Better, we got the guy who killed him.”
Dr. Yen was confused. “The guy who killed him? What good does that do us?”
“He's infected with the same strain of the virus.” Jeanine sauntered around the lab. She wasn't even respectful enough to look at Dr. Yen as she did so.
“How do you know?”
“That's really not important.”
“What do you have? Blood? Saliva? Hair?”
Jeanine got closer to the shiv wielding chemist. But not close enough to be in any real danger. The Mother of Haven picked up and looked at random pieces of lab equipment scavenged in towns across the world. After examining them, she put them back down where she found them.
“We don't have any of those.”
“Then why are you-”
“I wanted you to know that we were close. And I wanted you to prepare. You'll get a sample of his blood later today.” Jeanine opened a drawer. She took out a couple of syringes. “I expect some results before we reach Australia.”
“Ms. Castle, I'm not sure I can...”
Jeanine interrupted her prisoner. “Sure you can. You have to. Or I can guarantee that you'll never step foot on land again.” The Mother of Haven was eerily calm as she threatened to end Dr. Yen's life.
Sensing his opportunity, the shiv wielding chemist came at Jeanine with his makeshift weapon. In a flash she grabbed his arm and twisted it back behind his back. What he didn't know was that she was a prison guard for twelve years. And in all her time she was never a victim of one of her inmates. He had the misfortune of finding out why. The chemist was disarmed and at her mercy.
Able but not willing to lose one of her scientists, Jeanine decided not to kill the would be assassin. Instead she shoved him into one of the nearby tables. He fell on the way down, slamming his shoulder into the edge of one.
“Get ready. It's almost time for you to finally start doing the Lord's work,” said Jeanine, just before leaving the labs and shutting the water tight bulk head door behind her.
Chapter 4
: The Fall of Shanghai
Look at them. They are so desperate for safety and civilization. So few of them will get through. None of them have the courage to do what needs to be done. Instead they wait in line and hope to be saved. Pathetic.
Suresh Devi looked out over the high walls of Shanghai. Below, he saw a sea of refugees clamoring to be let in. Armed guards at the command of General Xin lined the top of the walls and pointed their guns down.
Devi knew that no one was getting inside unless they had something to contribute. That was the way of the modern great walled city. There was no heart of sympathy involved. Survival and rebuilding managed much more than sympathy. Bringing your baby and trying to hand it to the guards at the gate didn't work. The pleas would be met by nothing but stone still faces.
When will they give up and focus on trying to survive? None of them seem to realize what is coming, right on schedule. Devi knew what was imminent. At nightfall, every day, infected from all around the city tried to attack the walls. They always failed, but each time they displayed more organizational skills and ferocity. Each time they slaughtered the refugees that stood between them and the doors. He knew that this sunset would be no different.
Devi heard the infected screeches. The sounds launched the refugees into a panicked frenzy. Most of them realized that they were in a bad spot. Either they retreated and tried to hide into the remains of the neighboring city of Minghang, or they could continue their futile attempts to enter Shanghai. Chances of living through the oncoming onslaught were extremely slim, no matter which option they chose.
At first all that Devi could see were shapes. That's how it always started. Dark silhouettes appeared in the light between buildings, staying off the open streets. Again, only at first.
The undead evolved differently depending on where they were when infected. Those in the Shanghai area were faster, swifter and fiercer than their American cousins. They moved in coordinated packs and were controlled with a hive mind. It made them considerably more dangerous, but also more predictable.
When they heard the re-animated dead, the guards on the wall knew exactly what to do. Each man and woman loaded and checked their guns. Those who manned the flamethrowers set up along the wall every forty to fifty feet poured fuel into the dangerous incendiary weapons.
All that was left was to wait for them to get within range. That meant watching and witnessing the killing of the refugees who didn't and couldn't escape in time. None of them were authorized to assist, not unless their commanding officers ordered them to “open fire”.
Divorcing emotion from their duty was the only way for the Shanghai way of life to work. Especially if you worked on top of the city walls. The horrors of the outside world had to roll off their shoulders. If not, their job would have been impossible.
Devi heard screams of terror and agony in the ruins laid out before him. He caught brief glimpses of the carnage. It was gruesome. And it was bloody, very bloody. The refugees were torn apart.
Poor bastards. Bad luck. Devi didn't feel a damn thing as he watched innocent people get massacred. The only thing he felt was a mix of anticipation and adrenaline. For the undead kept coming after finishing the refugees.
“Steady!” yelled a man named Alexei who was in command of the guards.
Devi was ultimately in charge of every man and woman on the wall. That included Alexei. But he saw no reason to give any orders. They needed no direction. His men knew exactly what to do. The same thing went down every day, and most of them were just going through the motions.
The undead got within range, and over a hundred pairs of glowing orange eyes reached the first rows of barbed and razor wire that started seventy yards from the wall. More rows were put in place every ten yards after that. A small narrow walkway to the front gate made for the only obstacle free approach.
“Open fire!” yelled Alexei.
All the guns along the top of the Shanghai wall erupted into gunfire. The infected didn't stand a chance. Most of them got caught up in the wire alongside the long dead and decayed corpses of the creatures w
ho previously tried an assault on the city. The majority of those ended up being macabre ornaments next to the rotted remains of the ones who failed before them.
Some of the infected quickly advanced past the wire and headed straight for the gates. Of course the guards were ready for that. Positioned just above the main gates was a flamethrower, and it was used to great effect.
Fire didn't immediately stop them. The creatures bashed on the gate door, and they tried to climb the smooth walls which purposefully had no hand holds of any kind. Predictability, none of them made much progress.
The first wave of creatures were destroyed, but none of the guards on the wall relaxed. A meager force of basic worker bee type undead weren't the main threat.
Much louder and more guttural noises accompanied more screeches in the distance. Four massive monsters stepped out of the shadows, making their presence known. They were intimidating, even to those veterans on the wall who'd sen them before.
What the massive monsters were before being infected was a mystery. What was known was that they were almost as big as elephants and walked on all fours. Metal spikes jutted out of their bear-like heads that kind of resembled a triceratops.
The scariest aspect of the massive monsters were that they were mounts for the most dangerous undead ever observed. Those on top of the massive beasts didn't have any scraps of rotting skin or clothes left. Their bodies were wrapped in metal muscles. Their eyes glowed yellow. And they communicated with each other through shrill screeches.
“Reload!” yelled Alexei as he kept his eyes on the undead riders.
There was a stare down between the guards on the wall and the undead riders. The latter's intense glowing eyes surveyed the wall looking for any weaknesses. After a good five minutes, one of them raised its arms. It's mouth stretched open so far that its bottom jaw reached mid chest level. Out of it came a screech that would've shattered glass if there was any left intact anywhere near it.
A living tsunami of infected came rumbling from behind the riders. The sheer amount of them made the ground shake. Never had any of the guards seen so many of the monsters attack at once. There was a seemingly unending amount.
