Dead Calm (14 page)

After a moment, satisfied that the walking corpses
couldn't break out of their confinement and no more were coming
from the deck above, he turned his attention to the woman. She had
stopped dozens of feet away, gasping in fear as she tried to say
something. Switching the aim of his rifle to her head, while out of
the corner of his eye he saw Heather do the same, he asked in a
harsh voice, “Are you bit?”

Seeing the rifles pointed at her, the woman raised
her hands and screamed, “Don't shoot!”

“Are you bit?” Steve repeated louder.

“What?” She asked.

“Are - you - bit?” Steve enunciated each word.

Finally understanding, her fear turned to anger, and
she retorted angrily, “Fuck no! But I thought you were gonna shoot
my ass when I came down those stairs.” Looking back at the bodies
of the zombies, she added in a more subdued tone, “I guess I should
say thanks.”

“If you have any weapons, you need to drop them,”
Heather ordered.

“I had a knife, but I left it in the chest of one of
the assholes who tried to kill me,” she replied.

Heather gave her a hard look, so the woman added; “I
don't have a goddamn thing on me, so quit pointing those guns at
me.”

Not sure who she was, they lowered their rifles but
kept them pointed in her general direction.

Turning his head, Steve called out to the still
concealed Tick-Tock, “Where'd the guy who was watching us go?”

From his spot hidden behind a row of planters, he
replied, “When the first Z showed up, he took off like a
candy-assed baboon. Haven't seen anyone move that fast since I saw
Mary heading for the shoe store.”

“Oh cool,” Sheila said sarcastically, “a talking
bush.”

Already not liking the new arrival, Steve brought his
attention back to her and asked, “So, who are you?”

Flipping her red hair back over one shoulder, she
replied, “My name's Sheila Keiser, and I need your help.”

Tick-Tock said, “That's all we’ve been hearing since
we came on this shit bucket.”

After making sure that none of the dead were still
lurking about and that they hadn’t been sprayed by any infected
fluids, Steve and Heather started toward the kitchen with Sheila in
front of them. As they reached the entrance to the dining room,
Brain and Susan met them. They hadn't heard the gunfire but were
worried because it was taking so long for them to come back. Steve
mentally filed away how the metal bulkheads dampened noises. He had
to make sure everyone stayed in contact by radio from now on.

Steve explained to them who Sheila was and how they'd
come across her, and then said to Heather, “Take her in and give
her something to eat. I’ll go find Mary.”

“She came back a few minutes after you left,” Brain
informed him. “She's in there right now whining about being hungry
and asking when we're going to eat.”

“Well, let’s not keep her waiting then,” Steve
said.

Once seated in the dining room, Sheila declined to
join them for dinner but had no problem saying yes when some
bottles of wine were passed around. Ignoring everyone's questions
with a wave of her hand and an outstretched empty wine glass, she
refilled it six times before asking, “How many people you got
here?”

“Nine,” Steve answered. “How many are there on the
upper decks?”

Without hesitation, she answered, “About a hundred,
give or take. We lose some to the ... what did you call them?”

“Z’s” Heather explained, “It’s short for zombie.”

Steve had asked his question to see if he could catch
Sheila in a lie. He wasn't altogether trusting of her and wanted to
see if her answer jibed with what Tim had told them. It did, but he
still wanted to keep a close eye on her.

Sheila smiled at Heather and said, “We just call them
the freaks or stinkers. We lose some people to the freaks every
once in a while. And we also have some people who just can't handle
it and open a vein or jump from the top deck.”

“When God doesn't lift them into Heaven?” Steve
asked.

This took Sheila aback for a second, but she
recovered quickly. “You seem to know a lot about what's going on
for someone who just got here.”

“God speaks to me,” Steve said dryly.

“You and Reverend Ricky,” she shot back. “But he's
full of shit. What's your excuse?”

Seeing anger flash in Steve's eyes, Heather cut in
and said, “Why don't you tell us everything from the beginning? You
talk while we eat.”

Seeing no sense in getting into a back and forth
pissing contest with Sheila, Steve held his next comment to
himself, about her dragging her sorry ass back upstairs if she had
a problem.

Knowing that the story would more than likely be
obscene, since every other word out of Sheila's mouth seemed to be
fuck, Connie had Tim and Cindy move to the other side of the dining
room. While everyone was curious as to what Sheila had to say,
Steve noticed that Mary seemed to be hanging on her every word.

Good, he thought. Maybe they'll hook up. Then she and
Tick-Tock will quit being so pissy with each other.

Sheila explained how she came with Ricky on the
cruise and how he had taken control of the ship. She then related
what happened on the bridge between she and Ricky. When she
mentioned the fact that the ship would sink within the next few
weeks, everyone around the table exchanged uneasy glances. Steve
questioned her about the ship's position, and Sheila answered,
“Fucked, completely fucked. That's our position.” She then told
them about leaving Ricky on the bridge and going to the Masthead
Bar to wait for him.

“So, I'm sitting there minding my own business,
waiting for like an hour for Ricky to drag his fat ass down there,
when two of his Head Ushers show up. I figure they came to tell me
that Ricky changed his mind or got distracted or something and
couldn't make it.”

“How many Head Ushers are there?” Heather asked.

Sheila drained off the last of her wine and held out
her glass for more. Brain looked at Steve who shrugged, so he
refilled her glass.

“Thanks, toots,” Sheila said before answering
Heather, “Five. The two who showed up were Brother Seth and Brother
Raymond. But anyway, back to my story. I knew I was in trouble the
second they sat down on either side of me and started crowding in.
I knew right away that I’d pushed Ricky too far, and the little
shit was going to make me disappear just like the others.”

“What others?” Steve asked.

Sheila toyed with her wineglass before answering, “A
lot of others. Anyone who threatens Ricky or stands up to him
disappears. The crew on the bridge were the first, and I don't know
how many others there's been since.”

Entranced by Sheila's story, Mary asked breathlessly,
“What happened to the crew?'“

“The Captain found out that Ricky's people had locked
a whole bunch of passengers in with the freaks when they were
shutting off the cabin areas to quarantine them. By this time, some
of the ship's officers were carrying guns, so the Captain sent two
of them to escort Ricky to the bridge. Then he sent another group
to free the people trapped in the cabin areas and disband Ricky's
band of merry assholes. Ricky found out what was going on from one
of the crew he'd converted to God, so he had a couple of his guys
ambush the two officers and take their pistols. Then Ricky used
their pass card to get on the bridge and shot everyone down like
they were rabid dogs or something. He just walked in and opened
fire, laughing like a loon the whole time.”

Mary gave a gasp.

“That's not all. This was right in the beginning,
when all the bad shit was coming down, and not everyone was in
Ricky's corner. He wanted total control, so he called a few of his
trusted Ushers up to the bridge. He picked the sneaky bastards who
were just like him and laid it all out to them; how the religious
shit was all a scam, but they could have the run of the ship if
they followed him. All seven agreed and they became his Head
Ushers.”

“You said before that there were five Head Ushers,”
Susan pointed out.

Sheila shrugged and said, “Shit happened. A stinker
bit one and another got too out of hand. He was drinking too much
and raped a couple of the women, so Ricky had the others take him
out.” Sheila drained her glass of wine and held it out to Brain.
Once he had filled it, she drank down half and continued, “So Ricky
and his guys wait until it gets dark and there's no one around.
They carry the bodies of the crew from the bridge and dump them in
a couple of the lifeboats and let the tide take them away. He told
me they disabled the rest of the lifeboats while they were up there
so that no one could leave. The next morning, Ricky gets on the PA
system and tells everyone that, in the middle of the night, the
crew abandoned ship and left them to fend for themselves, but he
says that now he's in control and everything will be all right. God
sent him to save them.”

“And people believed him?” Susan asked
incredulously.

Sheila thought about this for a moment before
answering, “A lot of people believed him, but most just followed
along because he got the generators up and running, and his Head
Ushers kept anyone from getting out of hand. He's a smooth
sonof-a-bitch, and he talked the fence sitters over to his side,
too. After that, he had the majority of the people behind him, so
anyone who stood up to him got disappeared. I think everyone knows
what's going on, but it’s just better to go with the flow.”

“Like the Jews did with Hitler in Germany,” Susan
pointed out.

“Don't know nothing about that, sweetheart,” Sheila
said with a smile.

“But you knew what was going on and went with the
flow,” Steve said with disgust.

Acting as if this was of no concern to her, Sheila
shrugged and replied, “I'm a survivor.” Changing gears quickly, she
brightened and said, “So, back to my story.” Turning to Mary, she
added, “You're gonna love this. So anyway, Seth and Raymond are
crowding me at the bar, and I know I'm in deep shit. I act like I
don't have a clue as to what they're there to do. I come onto them
and offer to fuck them in a three-way.”

Sheila laughed drunkenly, “They couldn't get their
clothes off fast enough.” Finishing the last of her wine, she
reached over and took the bottle out of Brain's hand. Upending it,
she drained off the last few swallows and said, “I carry a knife,
and I stuck it in Brother Raymond's chest while his pants were down
around his knees and pushed him into Seth. I took off like - what
did the talking bush call it?” She laughed as she remembered, “A
candy assed baboon.”

Sheila was swaying and her eyes were unfocused as she
mumbled, “Ran down here hoping you people would help me out, but
then that bunch of stinkers came out of nowhere.”

“Where do they come from?” Steve asked. Connie and
Tim had both told him that it was rare to see any of the dead
wandering the ship. Then all of the sudden, seven of them show up
in the span of a few minutes.

The large amount of alcohol that Sheila had taken in
that day took effect, so she could only mumble something in reply
before laying her head down on her arms. But what Steve thought he
heard her say shocked him. Knowing her answer was vital to their
survival, he picked up a pitcher of water, walked around to stand
next to Sheila and unceremoniously dumped it over her head.

So drunk she could barely raise up, Sheila
nonetheless was aware enough to know what had happened. She started
cursing, but was cut off when Steve slammed the flat of his hand
down on the table next to her, causing a loud boom to echo through
the dining room and making her sit upright with a jerk.

“Where the fuck did those Z’s come from?” He
demanded.

“Sometimes a few of them just show up.” Sheila
screamed at Steve. Dropping her voice, she said, “No one knows
where they come from. It's a big ship with lots of places to hide.
But most of the time they show up because Ricky needs to keep the
Faithful in line.”

“That’s what you said before. What the hell does that
mean,” Steve asked harshly.

“Scared people stay in line and need someone to
protect them. Every once in a while he lets a couple of the freaks
out from the quarantine area to stir up some fear. Ricky lets them
out. They're his.”

Steve and Heather locked eyes across the dining table
before turning their gaze again to Sheila who had dropped her head
back down on her arms. At first Steve thought she might be crying
until he realized she had passed out and was snoring softly. Mary
surprised everyone by jumping up and almost running to Sheila's
side. Stroking her hair gently, she said, “Poor baby.” Turning on
Steve she spit out, “All she's been through and you're
interrogating her like she's a criminal or something.”

Steve ignored this as he considered what he'd just
heard. The only one to pay attention was Susan, who felt a flash of
jealousy at the attention Mary was giving the redhead. She wanted
to point out that Sheila was nothing but a drunken whore but held
herself in check as a thought came to her. Maybe this is my out. If
Mary's fawning all over Sheila, she'll lose interest in me.

With a smile, Susan said to her semi-ex, “Why don't
we find somewhere to lay her down? You can keep an eye on her and
make sure she's okay.”

“Make sure she doesn't puke in her sleep and choke on
it,” Steve added in an annoyed voice.

“But I don't even have a place set up. Where can I
take her,” Mary asked in a voice just begging for someone to come
to her rescue.

Steve cringed inwardly. He was about to tell Mary
that it was her own fault when Brain spoke up, “I grabbed your
mattress when I brought mine in. I can go out to the boat and get
another for Sheila.”

Looking at Steve in triumph, Mary said, “At least
there's one gentleman on this boat.”