Sea Sick: A Horror Novel (22 page)

Jack took several creeping steps across the room, following the blood trail that led to the far side of the bed.  He knew he would find something horrible on the floor there.  The feeling was undeniable, and
once he had crossed the room, Jack realised that he was right. 

Joma lay dead in a thick pool of his own blood.  It seemed to still leak from a deep crater which had been bludgeoned into the side of his skull.  The murder had been recent.

Jack dropped to his knees beside Joma and shook the man’s body.  “Damnit, Joma!  You can’t be dead.  I don’t know what to do yet.  I…I need more time.”

Joma opened his eyes.  They were blood shot, not focusing properly, but they were alive.  “Jack…”

Jack couldn’t believe it.  “Yes, it’s me.  What the hell has happened?”

Joma’s eyes closed again briefly
but fluttered back open gradually.  “T…t…”

“Tally?  Are you trying to tell me that Tally did this?”

“T…Tomorrow.  You only have…tomorrow.” 

And then Joma really was dead.  He let out one final breath and then faded away like the melted candle on his table.

Day 249 -1400hrs

Jack woke up with one thing on his mind.  Today was the last day before tomorrow.  Today was his last chance to save the world.

Jesus Christ, I think I’ve gone insane. This can’t be happening..

Jack fought against the urge to stay under the covers and accept whatever fate chose to bring him.  It was tempting beyond belief, but he could not allow himself to sit idle while the fate of billions rested in his hands.

Damn you, Joma, for putting me in this situation.

If Jack was going to try to stop the virus one last time, then he had to get going.  The security guards would arrive soon and they would waste time he couldn’t afford to lose.  Jack headed over to his suitcase and hoisted it up onto the bed. He yanked out half its contents and laid them on the bed.  Of the things that lay in front of him, Jack’s eyes came to rest specifically on the unopened Glen Grant bottle.  The liquid inside sang to him, but he covered the bottle with an evening shirt.

Think it’s about time I went at things with a clear head.

The next thing he examined was his paperback book.  It was crazy – and almost ironic – that in all the time he’d been stuck aboard this ship, he hadn’t managed to read a single page.  The final thing Jack’s eyes fell upon was something he’d almost forgotten he’d brought along with him:
the small leather wallet lay open on the bed, a silver shield and crown above the slogan which read, SERVING-PROTECTING-MAKING A DIFFERENCE.  On the opposite side of the wallet was Jack’s identity card for the West Mercia Police.  Once upon a time the small wallet had meant everything to Jack, and then later it had meant absolutely nothing.  Now, for some reason… now, it seemed to matter again.  He’d taken an oath once, to serve and protect the innocent by bringing the guilty to justice.  That oath applied now more than it ever had.  Jack was a police officer, and it was his job to do what needed to be done.

Jack got dressed and left his cabin.  He knew it would be for the very last time.
He took the familiar elevator upwards and stepped out into the familiar corridor with the familiar laundry cart on his right.  He walked towards the
Promenade Deck
and skipped, mid-stride, as the ship tilted expectedly.
Stepping outside, he turned immediately to his right and put a hand up.

“Hey! Hey, lads.”

The two boys stopped in their tracks a mere second before they collided with him.  Jack smiled at them both.  “You kids be careful now, you hear? Don’t want you falling overboard and getting eaten by a killer whale.”

The two boys giggled and then walked away, keeping their speed within sensible levels.  It was the first time they’d ever listened to Jack.

Let’s hope it’s my first victory of many today.

Jack went in the same direction as the two boys, which led him out to the pool area.  He needed to be wary of security looking for him, but there was someone he wanted to speak to while he still had the chance.  Before he went upstairs to speak to Claire, though, Jack strolled over to the edge of the pool just in time to catch a young lad about to go sprawling to his knees.  The boy tripped over his own feet and fell into Jack’s arms.  The mother came rushing over to thank Jack, and he told her she was welcome.  With that task completed, he headed up to the
Sun Deck
.

Upstairs, Claire lay sunning herself beside the empty lounger with the green towel.  Jack picked up the towel and took it to the edge of the ship.  He balled it up and threw it into the sea, watching it fan out and sink below the waves.

“I…er, think that belonged to someone,” Claire said from behind him.

Jack went and took a seat on the lounger next to her.  “It’s been there a long time.  Whoever left it there obviously wasn’t bothered about it.”

“Guess you’re right.  Did you have to throw it overboard, though?”

Jack shrugged.  “I didn’t like the colour.”

“Fair enough.”

“Claire?”

“How do you know my name?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jack said.  “Just listen to me, okay?”

Claire looked worried, but she remained quiet.

“Something is going to happen tonight and I want to know that you and the baby are safe when it happens.”

Claire’s worried look changed to fear.  “What?  How…”

“I know I’m frightening you, but it’s important you just do as I tell you.  If tomorrow comes then you’ll understand why.  I really hope it does, but to be honest I don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

“If tomorrow…what?”

“Be in your cabin by eight-o-clock tonight, okay, and make sure you are nowhere near Conner.  Conner is sick, and so are lots of other people.  Stay away from them all.”

“You’re frightening me.  I’m going to call someone.”

“You’re doing the right thing, Claire.  You want to have this baby because you know you’ll make a good mother.  I think so too.  But you don’t need to be with someone who treats you the way Conner does.  You deserve better.  You can do it alone, so don’t stay with him just because you’re scared.”

Claire was speechless.  She still seemed terrified, but something in her eyes suggested that she was unable not to trust Jack just a little bit.  She was probably wondering how he knew all of these things about her life.

“In about ten seconds, Conner is going to turn up and question you and me about why we’re talking.  Then he’s going to ask you to come look after him and get hotdogs.  I know this, and a lot more about what is going to happen today, which is why you need to stay in your cabin tonight.  If you ever want to see Leeds again
,you have to lock yourself away.”

Conner appeared on cue and stared at Jack.  “How you doing?”

“I’m good,” said Jack.  “How are you?”

“Not bad.” The lad extended a hand out to Jack.  “My name is Conner.  Who are you?”

“Name’s Jack and I was just moving on.”

“Sounds like a good idea, buddy,” said Conner, letting out a sneeze immediately afterwards.  He turned to Claire.  “Come on, babe.  I need you to look after me, I feel like shit.  We’re all getting hotdogs downstairs.”

Claire glanced at Jack for a split second and he saw the shock in her eyes that his predictions had come true.  He just hoped he’d done enough to keep her safe tonight. 
Because tomorrow is finally on its way
.  Jack walked away from the young couple and passed by the old man and woman kissing at the balcony.  Despite getting sick of the sight of everything onboard that had been repeating over and over for what seemed like an eternity, Jack couldn’t deny that there were certain things he was going to miss.  It was ironic that he had prayed for the day to end but, now that it was going to, he felt afraid to let it go.  He’d begun to find comfort in the things he could predict with certainty.  The unknown was now frightening.

1500hrs

As Jack moved around the ship, it became clear that Tally had set security on him again.  If he even managed to succeed in stopping the virus, then he would have a bunch of jumped-up sexual assault charges to answer to once he reached the mainland.  Wherever Tally was hiding, she’d have hell to pay if he ever found her.  He’d trusted her.

Jack wondered again if Tally was the one behind the virus.  It made sense that it was released by a member of the ship’s staff.  Someone who could move about unhindered and knew the ship’s layout.  A young Romany girl didn’t fit the typical cast for a terrorist, but then who knew what was going on in her head?  Terrorists could change colour and religion over time, but they were all the same breed of whackjobs in the end.  Hatred for humanity was not exclusive to any one kind of people.

After leaving Claire on the
Sun Deck
, Jack had snuck inside the Mariner Deck. He evaded a pair of security guards by stepping through into the
Lido Restaurant
.
Being the largest eatery onboard, and open twenty-four hours, Jack wondered if the virus had been transmitted via the food.  Was there a way he could find out if anything had been contaminated?  He looked around the self-service buffet carts, at the trays full of chips, spaghetti, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, beef curry, and a whole host of other edibles, and realised that there would be no way of knowing.  It wasn’t like he was going to find a glowing green pork chop on a bed of pus-filled maggots.  He had a matter of hours to do something to help the passengers onboard, and prodding through several troughfulls of cheap food would not be a sensible use of his time.  Anyway, if the food was the source of the infections, Jack was certain there would be more ill passengers than there were.  Most of the ship ate at the
Lido Restaurant
.

On most nights, depending on what area of the ship he was in, Jack estimated an infection rate of about a third of the total passengers.  No members of staff seemed to be unwell, which made it a safe assumption that any of the staff-only areas would be exempt as possible locations for the source of infection.  Jack had also seen staff consuming their own evening meals inside the
Lido Restaurant
, which made his theory about the food being contaminated
an even more likely dead
end.

Jack realised that Ivor and his family were over in the corner.  He’d see them in here before at this time, so should have expected to run into them.  Their little girl had the infection worse than anybody else.  Perhaps she was the key to solving the whole puzzle.  If Jack could find out how she caught the virus he might have the answer to how everyone else caught it.  Then he might have half a chance to get things under control before it was too late.

Jack took a seat at Ivor’s table.  Poor little Heather was as sickly as ever, snoozing restlessly in her mother’s arms. Vicky looked ill herself – and mortified – while Ivor wore his usual stern expression that Jack now knew was just a front for a frightened father.  It was unfair that they were all going through this.

“How are you folks doing?” Jack asked them.

 “We’ve been better,” Ivor replied in a gruff voice.  “Who are you?”

“Officer Wardsley.”  Jack offered his hand.  “I understand you’re all planning on fleeing to Germany?”

Ivor’s jaw dropped and Vicky began to sob.

“Don’t worry,” said Jack.  “No one else knows that you’re here.  I just wanted to say that I agree with what you did, Vicky.  Nigel Moot was an evil man and deserved to die.  As a mother of a young daughter, what you did was understandable.”

Vicky looked at Jack as though she was hallucinating him being there.  “T-thank you.”

“May I offer you some advice, though?”

“Yes…please.”

“Forget about it.  Put what you did behind you.  If you don’t, it will eat away at you until you’re a broken mess, trust me.  What you did was a moment of madness, but anyone else would have done the same.  Don’t let it change you.  Your daughter needs you.”

“Why are you saying all this?” asked Ivor.  “Is this some sort of trick to get my wife to confess?”

Jack leant forward and placed a hand on Ivor’s shoulder.  His skin was clammy and hot beneath his shirt.  “No tricks.  I just wanted to let you know that I hope everything works out okay for you all.”

Ivor said nothing.  He just studied Jack.

“Your daughter looks pretty sick,” said Jack, changing the subject.

“Just a cold.”

“Do you know where she caught it?”

“I don’t know.  Kids often get sick when they travel.”

“How long has she been under the weather?”

Ivor shrugged and seemed irritated.  “Since last night.  We’ve all been feeling a little unwell.  Like I said, though,
it’s just a cold.”

Last night.  So she got sick the evening we all boarded.  She caught the virus yesterday, not today.  Damnit!  Why didn’t Joma cast the spell a day earlier if that’s when it started?  How am I supposed to stop something that has already happened?

Jack stood up, feeling defeated.  “One last question, Ivor.  There’re a lot of people who have come down with the same flu as your daughter.  You got any ideas how it could have spread to so many people?”

Ivor shrugged.  “I’m not a bloody doctor, man.  But I guess if you thought about it logically, the likeliest place to catch a cold is in high traffic areas.  Places where people are bunched together.”

“Okay, thanks,” Jack said, mulling things over.  “Hey, you know there’s a doctor on the lower deck.  You should take your daughter down to see if he has anything to make her feel a little better.”

“We were just discussing that, actually.”

Jack nodded.  “The doctor’s name is Fortuné.  Give him my regards.  Goodbye Ivor, Vicky.  I hope your daughter gets well soon.”

He left the family alone for the last time.

1600hrs

Jack looked at his watch and grimaced when he realised it was approaching four-o-clock.  Just over four hours until the infection reached its final stage.  With every second that passed, it seemed more and more hopeless that Jack would find a solution.  He had some facts to go on now, but they offered very little.  Jack listed off the things he knew, one by one.