Carlie Simmons (Book 2): In Too Deep (18 page)

Chapter 56

Boyd, who was nearest to the two enraged
mutants, began making a vicious figure-eight pattern with his machete, taking
swats at their limbs. The creatures spun backwards and got jammed on the
stairwell. Carlie rushed up with the fire extinguisher and began flooding their
faces with spray until the canister was empty.

“Get back in the other hallway and
prepare to seal the hatch,” she said. “We’ll be right behind you.”

One of the creatures lunged for Boyd and
it suffered a slash across the forearm while Carlie raised her knife and drove
it into the ribs. The creature groaned and recoiled into the one beside it,
causing it to slip back on the white spray on the stairs.

“Let’s get out of here,” she yelled at
Boyd as they both pulled away and darted for the hatch.

She climbed through the door with Boyd
on her heels. As she turned to grab the handle, she saw him holding on from the
other side, his face contorted in a grimace as his ankle was violently yanked backed
by one of the mutants who was crawling behind him.

Boyd shrieked in pain and struggled to
kick loose the creature’s grip but instead slipped to the ground on one knee.

“Close the hatch,” he said, holding onto
a grenade on his vest with his other hand.

“You’re not gonna make it if you do
this,” said Carlie.

“But you are,” said Boyd as he slammed
the door and twisted the lock in place.

“No—dammit…no,” she said, pounding her
fist against the wall.

“Come on,” Shane said, tugging on her
collar. “We gotta move now.”

She staggered backwards, feeling Shane’s
grip on her shirt as she struggled to let go of the hatch. Carlie could see the
others running ahead of her down the narrow passage as her pace quickened. Then
she felt a thunderous explosion roar behind her and the walls groan from the
strain.

Chapter 57

As the bulkheads around them creaked
from the blast, a second explosion ripped through the level below them, causing
the ship to tilt slightly. Carlie and the others leaned against the wall,
trying to stay upright as the force continued to rock the floor beneath them.

“Shit, that blast must have ruptured
something in the engineering section below,” said Shane. “If the hull is
fucked, then so are we if we don’t get off this ship.”

They continued moving along the canted
hallway as the lights flickered and release valves on the ceiling began spitting
out steam. Carlie could feel the bulkhead beneath her hands buckle and strain
as she tried to maintain her footing along the passage.

As they neared the outside hatch for the
rear deck, she moved up alongside the others. “Before we open that door, we
need to have a plan for getting off this ship. We can’t afford to engage any
more of those things in hand-to-hand combat,” she said as sweat ran off her
forehead.

“I recall the XO saying that the nearest
landforms from here are the Cayman Islands about two hundred nautical miles to
the southeast followed by Cancun,” said Matias. “That section of Mexico is
probably three hundred miles out with a few small islands dotting the ocean
between here and there.”

“How long before Barksdale or White
Sands know we’re in trouble?” said Amy, raising her voice above the crackling
of steam in the ceiling pipes.

“We weren’t due to check in with them
again until tomorrow evening and the XO probably didn’t get off a distress
signal given this sudden attack,” said Carlie.

“The helos on deck can make it to the Caymans
for sure with all of us—if the fuel is already topped off,” said Matias.

“How do we get ’em de-rigged and the
engines fired up without drawing attention to our location?” said Jared.

“Sounds like one plan but we don’t even
know for sure if there were only three of those things,” said Carlie, who was
looking at Pavel, who was standing frozen with fear.

“There should be some reserve Zodiacs
and certainly life rafts attached to the rear deck,” said Shane. “The Zodiacs
are only good for short runs though and don’t afford any protection from the
elements.”

Another explosion boomed under their
feet and they felt the entire ship begin to tilt down.

“Alright, I say we try to get to a helo
and then use a life raft as a last resort,” said Carlie as she craned the metal
lock and pried open the rear door to the deck outside.

Chapter 58

As they climbed out onto the dimly lit
rear deck, they ran for the helicopter anchored to a nearby platform. Each of
them struggled to walk upright as the Destroyer swayed sideways into the rush
of waves cresting the deck. Carlie found herself careening into crates on her
left followed by suddenly being thrust into the railing on her right. Waves
began increasing over the side as the ship began receding. Emergency lights
adorning the deck flooring and a faint glow emanating from the bridge ahead
provided an outline of the doomed vessel.

The helicopter seemed so close but
getting to it was an uphill battle as the ocean began claiming the ship before
them.

“We’re not going to get that helo off of
here in time,” shouted Matias, holding onto a deck-mounted canon.

“Life rafts—let’s get to the rafts,
then,” she yelled above the roar of the sea which was slamming against them,
indifferent to their plight. They held on to whatever they could grip as each
person fought to make it back to the rear. Shane made it first and began
yanking the rip-cords that attached an eight-man inflatable life raft to the
railing. The front of the Destroyer had canted upward as the rear hull was
nearly filled with water. This caused everyone to start sliding downwards.

As Carlie fought to maintain her
footing, she saw a bloody figure emerge from the rear hatch entrance from which
they had just emerged. She saw the creature’s chest and face covered in
shrapnel from Boyd’s grenade and reddish-orange blood was streaming down its
legs. It began moving towards Shane, who had just deployed the raft in the
water below.

She yelled to him but her voice was
drowned out by another blast of seaspray. Carlie frantically tried to speed up her
pace but kept slipping on the inclined surface. The creature was only ten feet
away from Shane now. She thought of drawing her Glock but knew she couldn’t
guarantee a clean shot or ensure Shane’s safety.

Standing up, she pushed off a set of
metal storage lockers and sprinted downhill. Carlie increased her speed and
tackled the creature from the side just as it was reaching for Shane’s back. She
felt her hands make contact with the wax-like surface of the creature’s arms
and chest as both of them tumbled over the railing into the waves below.

Chapter 59

Swallowed by the black grip of the
waves, Carlie felt herself sinking into the embrace of the cold water. Her eyes
searched for light and she felt her heart racing in terror for the location of the
surface but her eyesight was gone. Struggling to hold her breath, she swung her
head around as she felt the jolt of a wave thrust her deeper into what felt
like a bottomless tunnel. Then she thought of the creature.
Had it drowned? Could
it even drown? Where was it at?

As the pressure between her ears
increased and her lungs began burning, she saw a flicker of light to her right.
She turned and swam furiously, her soaked combat fatigues and boots slowing her
movement. She glimpsed it again, amidst the ripples of black waves that kept
blotting it out. Her face burst through the choppy surface and she saw the
emergency strobe light on the life raft emitting its brilliant flash atop the inflated
round roof. She sucked down air and then was slapped in the face by another ferocious
wave which fought to retain its hold upon her exhausted body.

While she swam, Carlie saw other forms
moving inside the life raft, their figures faintly illuminated by the
occasional flicker of the strobe. She could still make out the canted Destroyer
to her right, like a giant steel finger angled skyward, its size decreasing
with each stroke she made.

Then she felt a tug on her hair. She
paused in mid-stroke, sensing bony fingers pulling on her followed by a
guttural howl. She swiftly pivoted her torso and elbowed the thing in the side
of the head, causing it to let go.

As Carlie swam furiously for the raft,
the creature pawed at her legs. With only a few feet to go, she saw Shane and Jared
leaning out of the yurt-shaped raft, trying to reach her. Carlie quickened her pace
with each arm and leg fluttering with crazed intensity. Reaching the edge of
the raft, she thrust her left hand up as both men quickly pulled her inside.

Jared looked back at the faint sight of
the bobbing yellow face. “Somebody kill that zombie motherfucker already.”

Carlie stood up and slid out her pistol,
attempting to hold the sights of her Glock steady on the approaching creature
as the waves smashed against the raft.

Fixing her mounted flashlight on the
crazed beast moving towards them, she struggled to hold the front sight on its
head long enough for a clean shot. “Steady me,” she shouted back to the others.
Jared and Shane rushed to her, grabbing her belt loops while trying to support
themselves against the heaving sides.

As the creature’s eyes fixated on the
flashlight, it reared its bald head from the waves, its shrapnel wounds making
its face look like a jigsaw puzzle. With its head seemingly in her sights,
Carlie snapped off a round just as a ferocious wave knocked the raft, sending
her backwards into the floor.

She coughed up a mouthful of seawater
and tried to stabilize herself. In the chaotic illumination cast by her
flashlight, she saw Shane and Jared still holding on. They were peering out
into the coal-black ocean before them as another wave slapped the sides and
sent them both reeling to the floor.

“I’m pretty sure that was a kill shot,”
she said, staring out through the entrance.

Chapter 60

As the raft was tossed about in the
choppy waves, the group of six survivors huddled together, frantically holding
on to each other and the internal ropes woven into the life raft fabric.

“Gimme a hand closing off the entrance,”
shouted Shane as Jared came up next to him and helped to unravel the heavy vinyl
door. Once it was zippered down, the water stopped bursting in and both men
settled back down to the floor.

The tiny circular raft resembled a
floating yurt and was now impregnable. Using the flashlight on her Glock,
Carlie searched for the emergency supply bag attached to the lower wall and
pulled out two glo-sticks. After cracking them open, she hung them from
tie-offs in the roof while Amy, Pavel, and Matias steadied her as the
undulating floor of the raft constantly shifted beneath them.

“I feel like I’m in one of those
funhouses at the carnival,” said Matias.

“Yeah, only that one you can get off any
time you want,” said Amy. “This is worse than riding in an ambulance on an icy
highway.”

“Where’s the vodka when you need it, eh?”
said Pavel, who was white-faced.

With the glo-sticks secured, they all
plunked down on the floor, inadvertently slamming against the soft sides.

Shane looked up at Jared who was next to
him. “So, ‘Zombie Motherfucker,’ eh? Does that mean ‘ZMF’ is your new term?” Shane
said as he struggled to hold on to the sides.

Jared shook his head as water pelted his
face. “You know, after all this, I think we should just stick with the
time-tested term, ‘zombie.’ I’m good with that.”

“That works for me, but we should
probably all vote on it just to be sure,” Shane said, spitting out saltwater.
“I don’t want anyone coming back to argue with us later on our terminology.”

“Whoa there, Sheriff, you oughta be
careful. It sounds like you might be developing a sense of humor. Not sure how
I’m gonna handle that.”

“Yeah, well it must be the eccentric
bunch I’m hangin’ out with.” Both men began to laugh while gripping the rope
and bouncing against the walls.

Carlie did a quick survey of the
interior and saw the various survival packs and emergency supplies that were
attached to the rubbery foundation.

Her core was slightly chilled from the
soaked clothes adhering to her skin. She pulled out several space blankets and
passed them around, then wrapped the reflective fabric around her.

The interior smell of the raft was a mix
of sweat and vinyl combined with sea salt. Carlie held on to the thick blue rope
railing that lined the entire circumference of the lower interior, her chilled
fingers struggling to maintain a grip. She arched her head up towards the
canopy which was aglow in green light, wondering how far land was and what the
long, bitter night ahead would bring.

Chapter 61

As the morning tide lapped up on the
white sand beach before Carlie, she looked skyward from her sleeping position
under a tangle of low palm trees. The cobalt sky was visible past the green
palm fronds and she could feel the warming rays of the late morning sun
streaking across her face. Several purple birds were perched nearby singing a
tranquil melody that almost made her think she was at a tropical resort.

Their life raft had arrived on the tiny
island at sunrise after hours of tortuous thrashing on the rough ocean. After
making a quick sweep of the immediate beachfront for creatures, they had all
collapsed just inside the treeline and fallen asleep.

Shane was walking up from the right and
he squatted down beside her. “Morning, sunshine,” he said, resting his tan arms
upon his knees. “While you and the others were asleep I did a little recon of
the area. Looks like we’ve just acquired our own private island.”

She raised her eyebrows and wiped the
sand off her cheek. “What did you find?”

“Not much—a fisherman’s shack two miles
down, a battered outrigger canoe, and some supplies. This island appears to be
a few miles long so probably not much of a settlement here to begin with. There
seems to be a few other scattered islands miles off to the northeast. Also saw
a few monkeys in the trees and the tracks of small deer so there’s wild game here
at least.”

“Not to mention some tasty pick-me-ups
for our pina coladas,” Carlie said, picking up a bushy coconut next to her.

“With the supplies in the life raft, we
have enough rations for three days, a desalinating water filter, medical
supplies, a short-wave radio, shelter items, and flares.”

“Lotta good flares will do us here. No
one has a clue where we are.”

“White Sands should have a fix on our
last location, though. Once we’re out of contact for more than twelve hours,
they will hopefully attempt some kind of satellite sweep of the area to search
for survivors.”

“A few weeks ago, when life was normal, a
search effort for a missing ship would have been a demanding inter-agency
undertaking,” she said, pulling her hair off her shoulder. Maybe that emergency
location beacon on the raft will raise someone.”

Carlie looked at the endless expanse of
ocean before her. She knew as well as Shane did that their chances of having a
search-and-rescue mission mounted were slim given the lack of resources and
available personnel. Carlie glanced over at Pavel, who was curled up asleep in
between Jared and Amy. She knew that the virologist’s survival was imperative.
She swirled her fingers through the white sand, making a figure-eight pattern
and then blotting it out only to start over again. Carlie heard Matias yawning
and saw him stand up to her left, arching his back in a stretch.

“Glad you’re finally up, amigo. Shane
was just saying he needed someone to help procure a monkey for breakfast.”

“Eeeh—monkey meat is horrible. Did you
forget I grew up on the coast of Panama? I only eat fish,” Matias said while
walking over to them.

“Then this must feel like being back
home again.”

“Except the beaches back home had more bars
than this,” he said, smiling.

The rest of the group slowly extricated
themselves from their coiled sleeping positions and dragged their tired bodies
over. Carlie could see the weary look and uncertainty in each person’s eyes.
She knew the best thing for their mental state would be to get busy with their
hands.

“Looks like this is going to be our own little
Shangri-La for a while. Shane said there’s a fisherman’s hut down the beach so
let’s take the supplies from the raft and relocate there. Jared and Matias—see
if you can locate some nearby high ground and figure out how big an island this
actually is.

“Shane and Amy, I want you to do an
inventory of our existing supplies, ammo, and anything you find in the shack.
Then use the desalinator to purify some water for the day.”

Carlie looked at the fatigued Russian
scientist. “Pavel and I will gather firewood and then set up perimeter defense
alarms of some kind. At dinner this evening, we will reconvene and go over a plan
for the coming days.”

Jared stood up and brushed the sand off
his pants. “As long as there’s no black smoke creature here like on that show
LOST
,
we’ll be alright.”

Amy slugged him in his arm as she walked
by while holding back a grin. “That’s for opening your mouth again and making
me regret waking up today.”