Survival Instinct (Book 3): Fighting Instinct Read online

  Dragging her feet, Hanna made her way to the Lily Lounge. Passing between two large statues of green tinted Foo Dogs, she entered the large square room that had been left alone as a place for recreational purposes. This was not where the meeting was, as the location always changed, but a man here would tell her where to go. Threading her way around the tables and stacked boxes of board games and puzzles, she headed for the small stage at the front of the room. There, an old man was putting together a large, complex puzzle of Van Gogh’s, The Starry Night.

  Without saying a word, Hanna stood next to him. She knew that the man would recognize her without the code words. She waited patiently while he found the location for the puzzle piece he held in his hand. Unbeknownst to either of them, Hanna was standing in the exact spot that was a mirror image of the other ship where Jon had had to cut off Rose’s hand.

  “You’re on the basketball court today,” the old man eventually rasped in a quiet whisper.

  Before Hanna turned away, she picked up a piece of the puzzle and placed it where it needed to go. She never knew whether doing that annoyed the man or not, but every time she was there, she couldn’t help herself. Maybe that was why she was a maid; she couldn’t help putting things where they belonged.

  Without another word, Hanna left the Lily Lounge. She travelled to the rear of the ship, and as she headed upstairs, she swore she saw some children near the library. When she looked again, they were gone. Had they even been there in the first place? Maybe it was some sort of school trip. Hanna rarely had any interaction with the kids on board the Diana. She cleaned up the rooms of a few when asked, but she didn’t have any reason to talk to them, and didn’t know what they did all day. On days she was being honest with herself, she preferred it that way. Thinking about children growing up in the middle of this horrible mess only depressed her.

  It hadn’t taken her long to reach the basketball court, but she held back before stepping out into the sun and into view. She could just make out a corner of the meshed-in court, and saw some men she knew throwing a ball around. When she had first been drawn into the group—she still wasn’t sure how that had happened—she had thought about reporting the secret meetings. However, she couldn’t see anything illegal about them, and she agreed with the group’s tenets. They probably didn’t need to meet in secret, but ever since the issue with the preacher and his followers a few years back, they thought it prudent.

  Pulling herself together, Hanna stepped out into the sun. She didn’t enter the actual basketball court, but stood next to the side where she could watch the men with the ball. Most of the people gathering at this meeting would stay outside the court, while only a few would appear to be playing. The idea was that if anyone else showed up, it would just look like a friendly game of basketball. Hanna didn’t think the cover would hold if it were needed, especially when looking at all the grim faces that were gathered.

  As more people arrived, no one spoke to Hanna, but a few shook her hand in greeting. She knew most of these people by name, as she had been attending these meetings for quite some time now. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there were new faces today, considering what had happened last night. What Hanna had made happen.

  Once everyone had arrived, about two dozen men and women in total, the meeting began.

  “I’m sure you all understand why we’re having a meeting today,” their leader, Lenny, began. He was one of the men throwing a ball around, but spoke just loudly enough, and clearly enough that everyone gathered could hear him. “I’d like us all to take a moment of silence to respect those who passed last night.”

  The entire group, ball players included, hung their heads and stood silently for exactly one minute. Hanna did everything she could to think about something else. The fact that Benny, smelling of booze, had managed to find his way next to her actually helped. She just focused on the unpleasant smell that clung to his clothes.

  “Now,” Lenny continued, “we don’t know who was responsible for the bombing, but we’re all feeling the effects.”

  What Lenny said was true, about them not knowing, but for some reason, Hanna felt eyes on her.

  “We always knew something like this could happen. We will not let anyone place the blame on us. We must stand strong at this time, and try to use it to assist our efforts. Don’t let anyone bully you. I know some of you are wondering, and yes, you’ll probably be questioned about it by the authorities. I already have been, in fact, and they seemed to believe me when I said I knew nothing about it. Because I was telling the truth. Please follow my example if you are also questioned. Tell the truth. Don’t be afraid, even if you were doing something embarrassing at the time.” Lenny took the time to look each person in the eye. A few people were unconsciously nodding in agreement. “I know what happened is tragic. There were casualties on board the Diana. I saw several of you doing what you could to help put out the fire last night—thank you. It’s good to see the community pulling together. The seas are dangerous, we’ve been telling people that all along, and the only reason we’ve been able to keep going like we have, is because of the community. There’s something else however, something we only learned about recently. Benny, do you care to tell everyone?”

  Benny stood up straight and glanced at the people around him. Due to his likeability, he was their greatest resource for learning about what was actually happening around the ship.

  “There are two things that happened this morning, actually. Firstly, I’m sure you’re all aware of the foreign ship in our midst.”

  Nearly everyone glanced over to where the other cruise ship could be seen floating at anchor.

  “I spoke to one of the off-shippers who had gone on board with the advance team, and it isn’t good. Apparently, the thing is a floating morgue, packed full of zombies. In fact, a bad injury has been sustained by one of the team members who stayed there overnight, while another has tested positive for infection. Already, there are rumours going around that the ship is cursed.”

  “Do you know if the off-shippers are going back to it?” someone in the group, whom Hanna couldn’t see, asked.

  “No one knows yet. Everyone is a little too busy dealing with the explosion right now to think about it,” Benny told him.

  “What’s the gas situation like?” Lenny asked him.

  “Last I heard, we still have enough to get to the dry docks in Texas, and we have more than enough to get to one of the larger islands.”

  The dry docks in Texas had been the group’s goal for well over a year now. Everyone in the gathering was sick of living on the sea; they hadn’t been on dry land since they boarded the Diana. Sure, they could just have a tender boat drop them off on some island somewhere, but that wasn’t a solution. The group knew they were a lot less likely to survive without the bulk of people aboard the cruise ship. They needed the farmers, and the soldiers, and the hunters. They also felt that even those people who weren’t part of their assemblage needed to step onto dry land. The group believed that even though no one would admit it, a life on the sea wasn’t right. There were children on board who had never stepped foot on land and others who couldn’t remember it. People like Hanna would never truly go home, but land was a lot more like home than the ocean could ever be. Not to mention they could grow better food, the animals wouldn’t get sick so often, and the thought of someone getting the flu wouldn’t be as terrifying as a zombie getting on board.

  Only recently had the group been really pushing to go back to land. The fact was that the Diana couldn’t float forever. A cruise ship like this was normally dry-docked once every five years for inspection and repairs, and it had been at least seven since her last time. Sure, they had people in the water every day, looking over her hull and performing any needed maintenance, but it wasn’t the same. That couldn’t last indefinitely. Texas had dry docks of a large enough size for the Diana, and the group thought that once people were on land again, they wouldn’t want to leave. Most of the zombies should be rotted down so
much that they wouldn’t be too much of a threat, and they could find a spot where the radiation levels were manageable or non-existent. It was time to rebuild the world.

  “So, we don’t need the off-shippers to gather fuel from the other boat.”

  “Not if we convince the captains to dry-dock in Texas, no.”

  Lenny threw the basketball when it was passed to him, getting a perfect swish. “I’ll bring up our concerns with them again. Maybe they’ll listen this time, especially now that there’s a hole in our side that can’t be fixed with simple spot welding and duct tape. What’s the second thing that happened this morning?”

  “Strangers showed up in a small boat. There were two men with a bound woman between them. From what I heard, they claimed she was a pirate, but no one believed them. We’ve kept the woman on board, but the men were sent away. From what I could gather, the men swore some sort of vengeance upon us.”

  “Do we know how serious the threat is?” Lenny sounded mildly concerned. No one liked the idea of fighting off pirates again.

  “I don’t know,” Benny shrugged. “Most of what I heard is grapevine rumours, and they’re still checking out the woman.”

  “Keep your ears to the ground. That goes for everyone here. If you learn anything about these strangers, please find me at once. We may be able to use their presence to assist us in our goal. Is that all, Benny?”

  “That’s all.”

  “Right. Does anyone else have any news?”

  No one spoke up.

  “All right then. I’d like to meet tomorrow if we can; same time, and find out the location in the usual way.”

  Everyone agreed to meet again, then broke off into smaller groups and pairs to leave the area. Hanna hung around a little longer, hoping to get a chance to speak to Lenny alone. Lenny noticed, and walked with her to the area where the mini-putt used to be, which now held only plants. They went into a little gazebo that was still standing and sat on the benches inside. Once they were sitting, Hanna didn’t know what she wanted to talk about. Maybe she just wanted his presence.

  “How are you feeling?” Lenny asked her.

  “I am not really sure. Scared. Angry. Sick.”

  “Because of the bombing?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s understandable. I think the whole group is scared, and you knew the victims better than any of us did. What are you angry at?”

  “Myself. The group. You. The Russians. The children. The captains. The ocean. Everything it seems.”

  Lenny nodded, thinking that she was angry about not knowing who the bomber was and not being able to do anything about it.

  The pair sat quietly for a moment, listening to the breeze rustling the plants.

  “Are you thinking about hurting yourself?” Lenny eventually asked.

  “No. Maybe. I am not sure. I am worried about being questioned.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Were they angry?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When they questioned you, were they angry? Did they shout?”

  “No. They were very calm about it, very controlled.”

  “I see. Is there something I can do for the group? Something that will keep me busy? My usual workload has been drastically reduced, and it is not helping.”

  “I understand. There’s nothing I can think of outside of the usual. Soon, they’re going to need people to clean up the fire damage. You could volunteer for that, if you think you could handle it.”

  “I doubt it. I got sick just being near there.”

  Another moment of silence passed between the two.

  “I wish I could just forget what happened,” Hanna suddenly blurted out, her voice cracking as fresh tears sprang from her eyes.

  Lenny shifted from his bench to hers and placed his arm around her shoulders. “There, there. I understand.”

  “Do you? Can you?” The anger Hanna had told Lenny about welled up in her chest. “Alec is dead!”

  “I know you had feelings for him.”

  Hanna got to her feet and paced around the gazebo.

  “There was nothing you could do. I know this is going to sound harsh, but you’ll get over him. We all have to keep moving forward. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t capable of that.”

  Hanna stopped and looked down at him.

  “I understand it’s hard. Since the zombies came, nothing’s really been easy, but we have to face these challenges head on.”

  “He was not supposed to be there.”

  “The bomb wasn’t supposed to be there.”

  Hanna sat down on the bench opposite Lenny and stared intently at the floor between their feet. Why had she put it in Alec’s room? Why hadn’t she put it in some other room? Her own, even? Lenny had said she had feelings for Alec, but did she? Did she care about him the way she told herself she did, or was it just some mind trick to appear normal?

  “Look, I should probably go talk to the captains. Will you be okay alone?” Lenny asked as he got to his feet.

  “I will be fine.” Hanna’s voice sounded far off as her mind turned inward to think.

  “You’ll be fine when they question you, and I think you should consider talking to Brittany, the grief councillor.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do say so. As for the questioning, they might push a little harder on you, since you’re one of the few people who could access those rooms other than their owners, but I doubt they’ll push hard. Just stick to the truth and you’ll be fine.”

  Hanna didn’t bother answering.

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then. If anything comes up, please find me.”

  Lenny continued to stand at the entrance to the gazebo, waiting for a response that never came. When he finally turned and left, Hanna didn’t even notice. She had turned completely in on herself, shutting down all external sensory input. One way or another, she was going to make herself better.

  ***

  “Please state your name for our records,” the man in the military gear told Hanna after turning on a tape recorder.

  “Hanna Kaufmann.”

  Hanna was sitting in a bedroom near the bridge of the ship. The room had been set up as a private meeting space for all the captains; however, it was now being used as an interrogation room. She sat at a card table on a foldout chair, while a man who introduced himself as Private Winchester sat across from her. Commander Crichton and Captain Sigvard were sitting at the far end of the room behind him.

  “And what is your duty aboard the Diana?”

  “I clean rooms.”

  “Which rooms specifically?”

  “All forward rooms on the seventh deck.”

  “This includes the room belonging to Alec McGregor and Misha Jovovich.”

  “Yes.” It wasn’t a question but Hanna answered it anyway.

  “Can you state where you were when the explosion occurred?”

  “I was reading a book in my room, which is on the other side of the ship.”

  “Can anyone verify that?”

  “No, my room is my own. I was alone.”

  “What were you doing before the explosion went off? Still reading?”

  “No,” Hanna shook her head, “I was doing some cleaning. We cleaners do not have a set schedule. We clean the rooms when the occupants tell us it is okay.”

  “Did you clean Alec and Misha’s room?”

  “No. I saw them on the stairs when they were going to a… funeral, that is the word. I asked if they would like their room cleaned, but they said no.”

  “So you didn’t go into their room at all yesterday?”

  “I did not.”

  “How do you feel about Alec and Misha?”

  “I like them. Misha is quiet and I do not know him very well, but he is tidy. He does not leave big messes just because I can clean them up, and he is always polite. Alec is much more… what is the word I want… open? I like to think we were friends.”

&n
bsp; Private Winchester jotted down a few notes.

  Hanna wasn’t at all frightened by the interview. She wasn’t scared of being caught. In fact, she didn’t think there was anything she could be caught for. While sitting in the gazebo, Hanna had managed to perform a sort of self-hypnosis. As far as she was concerned, she hadn’t put the bomb in Alec’s closet. It was an extreme form of denial, something that had occurred to several others on the ship during the zombie outbreak. People like Hanna that wanted to forget something so badly, managed to convince themselves it never happened.

  “Do you have much contact with the Russians?”

  “I just told you I like Misha.”

  “I mean the Russian sailors.”

  “Not particularly. I clean a room where two of them sleep. Why?”

  “What about the men, Leonard Jackson, or Benjamin Willis?”

  “You mean Lenny and Benny. Benny came across the ocean with me on the German submarine. We are friends, he taught me English. We shared a drink earlier today. I do not know Lenny as well, but he seems nice. He cares about people.”

  “And do you know a man named Bill Castor?”

  “It sounds familiar, but I cannot place a face to the name.”

  “And Sher?”

  “I have never heard of someone with that name before.”

  “Have you ever lost your key card?”

  “No.”

  “Lent it to someone else?”

  “I did when I had a cold last year and needed someone to cover for me while I was in quarantine.”

  “But not recently?”

  “No, not recently.”

  Private Winchester wrote something else in his notebook and handed it back to Commander Crichton. He read the note, but had no external reaction to it.

  “That’s all the questions we have for now, Ms. Kaufmann. Could you wait outside for a moment while we discuss things?”

  “Of course.” Hanna rose from her seat and stepped out of the room. Another folding chair was set up in the hallway and she sat down on it. An armed guard stood close by.

  Hanna knew the interview had gone poorly. She had said the words that she thought needed to be said, but she couldn’t get the emotion behind them. She barely felt any emotions at all. In an attempt to right herself, she crushed all her feelings down into a place where she could ignore them. She bottled them up tightly. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.