Survival Instinct (Book 3): Fighting Instinct Read online

  The pair made for the staircase to which they had been heading, but a zombie rounded the corner. There was no telling how many could be behind it. Back the way they had come, the zombie on the upper deck was already stumbling its way down the stairs. Jon and Rose ran into the café.

  The place was a mess. It was clear that someone had made some sort of last stand here. Tables and chairs were piled up at the back of the room. It looked as though even a few heavy appliances had been shifted around to become part of the barricade. Rose and Jon ran to it.

  Rose reached the barricade first, quickly scrambling up the pile and leaping over the top. A single zombie shuffled around behind it. Rose threw her whole body at the zombie, planting both her feet into its chest and knocking it flying backward into another section of the barricade, and landing flat on her back in the process. Jon was following right behind her, landing on his feet and taking the few steps needed to drive his katana into the skull of the dead thing.

  As a result of their climbing and leaping, as well as the zombie knocking into it, the barricade shuddered. A few chairs and tables shifted and settled lower, while some cracked under the weight of heavier objects. Rose gasped, but the barricade continued to stand. It was high enough that they could hide inside it, unseen, until they knew what the horde was doing.

  Jon turned to help Rose up, the grin on his face not covered by his bandanna. He really needed to tie that thing tighter. His grin disappeared when he looked at Rose. Her face had gone completely pale. Behind her goggles, her eyes were wide as could be. Jon followed her gaze along her own outstretched arm. The arm disappeared unexpectedly under what Jon thought might be a fridge.

  Rose started to tug her arm. It didn’t move. She yanked harder, and harder, practically thrashing now as she realized she was trapped. Jon dropped on top of her, stilling her movements, as he heard a dead thing enter the café. Rose looked at him with terrified eyes. Jon attempted to reassure her. He slid over to where she was stuck and investigated the situation.

  It was bad.

  Rose’s hand and wrist were completely pinned beneath the large object. The space between it and the floor wasn’t much. Rose’s hand must be a pancake. Jon tried to wedge his fingers under the object, which upon closer inspection, was indeed a fridge, but he could only get the tips of them under before the gap was too narrow. Still, he tried to lift the fridge. It didn’t budge. Rose was breathing fast and heavy. Jon gave her a look, and she clamped her hand over her mouth, trying to keep silent. She was terrified.

  Jon let her know he was going to peek over the barricade to see what was going on in the rest of the café. Rose nodded. Going to an area that looked more stable, and was nowhere near the spot Rose was pinned, Jon climbed up just high enough to see over the barricade. There weren’t many zombies in the café; the horde probably couldn’t find the stairs or didn’t know what deck they were on. Five zombies shuffled around, but a sixth did not. Jon watched the way the sixth one moved. It was more sure of its movements, more deliberate. With a creeping dread, Jon realized that the sixth zombie was a smarter one. He climbed back down and sat on the floor.

  Rose looked at Jon, her eyes still wide and wanting to know what was going on. Jon didn’t tell her. He had to think. Looking around inside the barricade, he saw that there was a door at the back. He pointed it out to Rose and motioned that he was going to check it out. Rose shook her head. She didn’t want Jon to leave her. Jon didn’t give her a choice.

  The back door led into a kitchen that had been stripped of just about everything. It must have been from here that the fridge and other large appliances had been dragged. In the back corner there was a small elevator, maybe twice the size of a dumbwaiter. It probably led down into some storeroom below, and was used to stock the kitchen. Testing the light switch, Jon found that the kitchen was getting power. If the elevator was too, then they had a way out. If only Rose wasn’t trapped.

  Jon returned to the barricade. Rose was trying to pull her arm free again. She had twisted herself around and managed to plant one of her feet against the fridge and was pushing against it. As Jon watched its complete lack of movement, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get it off her on his own. Maybe if he had time and the right tools, he could free her, but he had neither. It was only a matter of time before the smarter zombie checked out the barricade, and it looked like it could climb. Jon didn’t want to have to deal with the smart one. There was a much higher chance of it infecting him, and it would most certainly alert the horde to their exact location. If the horde came, the barricade wouldn’t be able to hold them off.

  There was only one option. Jon got Rose to stop struggling again and went through her bag. She still had some rope in it. As he began to tie off her arm, she placed her free hand against his shoulder. Jon showed her his katana and she understood. They had to amputate. Rose’s eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. Once the tourniquet was tied off, Jon prepared to cut. Before he could start, Rose placed her hand against him again. When Jon turned to face her, she handed him her hammer. Jon was confused.

  Rose pulled down her bandanna and very deliberately mouthed, in case the bones need breaking.

  Jon nodded. His sword was incredibly sharp, but he’d be cutting at a weird angle in which he couldn’t get his full power behind it. It was possible the sword wouldn’t cut through the bone.

  It didn’t.

  Rose was biting her bandanna, her eyes rolling, her ribcage expanded, and her neck tight as she used everything she had to resist making a sound, while Jon hacked at her flesh. Eventually, Jon switched to the hammer and whacked the uncovered bones. His sword had made nicks and gouges in the radius and ulna, which allowed them to break cleanly. Once that was done, another quick flick of his sword freed her. Rose looked like she was about to pass out. Jon didn’t let her.

  Stripping off his shirt, Jon wrapped it around her new stump, tying it on with what was left of the rope. He half-carried, half-dragged Rose toward the kitchen. He could hear the smart zombie moving toward the barricade to investigate the noises they had made.

  Once in the kitchen, Jon hauled Rose up and stuffed her into the elevator, quickly cramming in after her. Rose held her butchered arm to her chest, and refused to look at it. She was very pale again. Jon pressed the button on the exterior that would send them down, and quickly pulled his hand inside. It was a very tight fit with the two of them, and the smell of blood filled the entire space.

  “Brunt!” Jon thought they were safe enough to use the radio as they descended. “Brunt, come in!”

  “Jon? What’s wrong?” Brunt’s voice replied immediately.

  “We got into some trouble. I had to cut Rose’s hand off.”

  There was a silent pause that lasted about five seconds. “Okay. Where are you now?”

  “In a kitchen service elevator, heading downward,” Jon told him.

  “What end of the ship are you?” a voice Jon didn’t recognize came on.

  “The bow. Why?”

  “Can you make it aft? The lowest level should be clear of the dead. Three of us have secured the medical centre and have holed up here. It’s aft on the first deck. One of us is a field medic and should be able to assist,” the voice told him.

  “Okay. We’re going to head to you.”

  “I’m going out to meet them,” another strange voice added. Jon assumed it was one of the three in the medical centre. “They might need some help.”

  The elevator reached the bottom and opened up. Jon climbed out and pulled Rose out after him. She was more responsive than she had been up above, but still needed to lean heavily on Jon. Jon sheathed his sword and pulled out his pistol, not caring if he had to make noise. Moving as fast as they could, Jon helped Rose through the massive kitchens in which they found themselves.

  “We’ve reached the bottom deck and are moving aft now,” Jon reported.

  Everything was dark. Jon’s and Rose’s flashlights bobbled unsteadily around their necks, making it difficult to s
ee where they were going. There were no lights on, and no windows down here. It must have taken only minutes, but the journey was timeless for Jon. Disoriented, scared, in the dark, with his friend dying, all added to the surreal quality of it.

  “Here!” a voice finally called ahead of them, a light quickly filling the darkness. The man who said he was going to meet them had found them, his white face mask an odd relief to see. “Let me take her.”

  “No!” Jon snapped. He didn’t know why, but he felt it was his duty to carry Rose to the medical centre. He was tired, and sweat poured off him, but he didn’t slow down. “Just lead the way.”

  The man nodded and led them quickly back to the medical centre.

  “Put her on the table.”

  Jon hadn’t realized they had reached the medical centre until he heard the command. The lights in there were on. Jon did as he was told, but he refused to sit down and take a rest. While the others gave Rose antibiotics, painkillers, and who knows what other drugs, he stood by her side and held her remaining hand.

  “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay,” Jon repeated over and over. He didn’t realize just how much he sounded like the man they had found on the bridge.

  3

  Mathias Is Having Dinner

  After Shoes’ funeral, Mathias walked with his friends and family to the large dining hall in the ship’s aft. Now that the funeral had ended, everyone’s spirits had picked back up.

  “You sure you don’t want me to at least accompany you?” Mathias asked before heading up the stairs to cross the ship on deck five.

  “No, you go ahead,” Alec waved him off, “I’ll meet you there.”

  “If you insist.”

  “Daddy! Come on!” Hope grabbed his hands and tugged on them, putting all of her small weight behind the effort.

  “All right, I’m coming. I’m coming.” Mathias allowed himself to be dragged off.

  They climbed the stairs, then walked onto the promenade and started to traverse the busy space. Hope bounced on up ahead, where she kept pace with her best friend, Peter.

  “Do you think she understands what happened to Shoes?” Riley, Mathias’s wife and Hope’s mother, drifted up beside him.

  “She’s fine.” Mathias hadn’t expected Riley to be such a worrywart of a mom.

  “No one this close to her has ever died before,” Riley continued. “She hasn’t asked any questions about it or anything.”

  “That’s because she hasn’t really had a chance to. The funeral was right after school, her friends have been around her the whole time,” Mathias did his best to make her feel better. “Watch, she’ll ask you a bunch of questions when we put her to bed tonight.”

  Riley sighed and threaded her fingers through his.

  “How are you feeling?” Mathias could tell that Hope wasn’t the only thing on her mind.

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I feel like I’m not sad enough. Does that make sense?”

  “Well, we have seen a lot of death. And we know Shoes was very old. He may not have been in constant pain before he went, but he clearly struggled to get around. He went peacefully, which is what we all hope for in the end, isn’t it?” Mathias didn’t really know what he was saying, he was just plucking a random string of thought in his head.

  Riley sighed again. Without looking directly at her, Mathias couldn’t tell if she was falling for his bullshit or not.

  They reached the dining hall and entered the upper floor of the large space. The dining room was three decks high, going from the fifth deck down to the third, with large kitchens on all three levels. A broad staircase took them down one flight to the level where most of the group usually ate. They gathered together a number of tables and chairs, while a waiter wrote down the names of who was there. The place used to be for fine dining, and was adorned with large chandeliers and beautiful artwork, but now everyone got the same rations depending on their size, and how physically demanding their job was. Mathias got a fair amount being as tall and broad as he was, and having a job as the head of a ship defence squad. He worked from midnight until 8 a.m., organizing all members of ship defence who patrolled decks one through five. It was usually a quiet assignment, as most jobs were either an 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift, or a 4 p.m. to midnight shift, meaning a lot of people were sleeping while Mathias was on duty, but a few times things had gotten hairy.

  Conversations were struck up all around the table as the adults took their seats. The kids had their own shorter table nearby, where they could be watched without them being too bothersome. Not that Mathias ever found his daughter bothersome.

  Their food was promptly brought to them. Without having to go through the hassle of ordering, it never took very long. Mathias started to wonder how long Alec would take, though.

  “DAAAaaaadd,” Hope cried. “Milly is trying to eat my food!”

  Mathias turned in his seat to see their small, white, three-legged husky sniffing toward Hope’s plate, which she held above her head.

  “Milly! Psst, no. Come here.” Mathias pointed to his side and Milly slunk over, understanding that she was in trouble. “You have your own food.” He pointed out the bowl on the floor next to him, which Rifle had been eyeing. Milly ate her food obediently.

  A great rumble shook the entire ship. Mathias was on his feet in an instant, taking the few steps needed to reach Hope. Some people screamed.

  “What was that, Daddy, what was that?” Hope leapt up from her chair and grabbed his leg. Riley was already bending over to pick her up, and Hope quickly switched her grip from him to Riley’s neck. “Was it a s’nammi, Daddy? Was it a big wave?” Abby had recently taught a few of the older kids about tsunamis and somehow Hope had found out about them. They scared her.

  “No, it wasn’t a tsunami. Stay here.” Mathias started for the exit.

  “I’m coming with you.” Riley took a few steps to follow him, putting Hope back down.

  “No, you’re not. You’re staying here.”

  “Someone could be hurt.” Riley got that look on her face that meant Mathias couldn’t change her mind.

  “You have to stay here with Hope,” Mathias insisted anyway.

  “Abby and Lauren can look after her.”

  “Mommy!” Hope tugged on the pockets of Riley’s pants, crying and frightened.

  While Mathias wasn’t able to change Riley’s mind, their daughter was more than capable. As Riley turned to pick her back up, Mathias ran for the door. He knew he should have said something before taking off, but he had already delayed enough. Dashing into the former casino under the promenade, he made for the stairs on the right, nearly knocking over a few plants along the way. Taking them two at a time, he popped up in the middle of the promenade. Nothing was amiss there, but everyone was looking forward, waiting for word on what had happened and what they should do. Mathias looked up and saw smoke billowing out of the seventh deck hallway. He lived in that area. So did Alec.

  Making for the stairs, Mathias had to push his way through a few people heading in the opposite direction. He noticed that some of them were coughing, and covered in soot. Upon reaching the hall, he had to crouch down in order to breathe, while rolling black smoke filled the upper half of the hallway.

  “Step back, sir!” a man with a muffled voice brushed Mathias aside. The man was decked out in firefighter gear, and was closely followed by similarly attired men.

  “What happened?” Mathias shouted as one of them ran past.

  The firefighter shook his head. They didn’t know either. All they knew was that there was a fire and it needed to be put out.

  Mathias backed away to the stairwell. He went up to the next deck where there was more smoke, although it wasn’t as bad because the staircase was drawing it all upward. Pulling his walkie-talkie off his belt, Mathias began relaying orders and information. Other ship defencemen were already gathering and handing out the rest of the firefighter gear. All Mathias could do was to help organize the effort, and help p
eople clear the hallways.

  Throughout the chaos, two thoughts kept ringing in Mathias’s head: did this have something to do with the other ship? and where was Alec?

  ***

  By the time the fire was completely doused and the smoke mostly dissipated, it was late into the night. Several people, Mathias’s family and friends included, had to rely on the generosity of others. Many people were sleeping on couches in the rooms of acquaintances, co-workers, and even strangers. Mathias had seen Riley and Hope only once since the explosion had occurred, and that was when they had come over to tell him where they were staying. A doctor who Riley worked with had offered the two of them and Cameron, Mathias’s sister-in-law, the use of his room while he helped with the injured. The doctor normally worked the day shift, but insisted that he wouldn’t be able to sleep and had to help. He wasn’t the only one either. Lots of people volunteered, Misha included, and they formed a massive bucket brigade to soak the areas around the fire to keep it from spreading. Only the firefighters, with their hoses and protective gear, had been able to get near the actual flames.

  As Mathias walked down the blackened hallway, he didn’t recognize it. The flooring was burned away to reveal the metal plating underneath. All the art had disappeared, leaving charred remains of metal frames, and broken glass lay in little piles under the places they had once hung. As he moved closer to the source, holes appeared in the walls. The rooms beyond were devastated. Finally, Mathias came across a section where the floor and ceiling were warped and buckled. A few panels were peeled and twisted back to reveal the other decks. Heavy struts continued to hold everything together, but the walls between them were mostly gone.

  “Was this Alec’s room?” James asked. After returning from the foreign ship, he had immediately joined the effort to get everything under control. Now he, Mathias, Commander Crichton, Lieutenant Boyle, and captains Sigvard, Karsten, and Bronislav, were to be the first to take a look at the source of the damage.