Dead Calm (26 page)

The other man answered, “I wouldn't, but Ricky
might.” This was followed by more laughter that faded to
silence.

Steve drew a deep breath and let it out. That was too
close. Wondering why Brain hadn't fired at the Z, he looked at the
line of toilet stalls and saw the reason. There was only a
five-inch gap at the bottom of the cubicle, so it wasn't big enough
for anything to squeeze through. He also noticed that the sides and
front of the stalls went all the way up to the ceiling. The zombie
was trapped in a sheet metal cube.

Either the door is jammed or it can't figure out how
to open it. It can't get out and that's why it didn't attack. It
must know it's trapped since it isn't even trying to tear the door
down. These things can learn simple things so it knows it's
screwed.

Then an idea struck him, but it would have to wait a
little while.

Glancing at Brain, Steve saw he still had his pistol
pointed at the door to the second stall and that his hands were
shaking slightly, either from fear or from holding the .45 extended
for too long. He needed to get Brain to stand down before he
squeezed off a shot by accident.

Even though the two Ushers were gone, he kept his
voice low so he didn't startle the tech as he said, “Relax Brain.
It's only Delores.”

Tick-Tock laughed, “Delores, meet Brain. Brain, meet
Delores.”

After making their way down the port side passageway
to a door leading back to the Centrum, Steve told Brain to go lock
the door they'd used to access the crew area on the other side of
the ship while he went back to the bathroom to take care of
something.

Tick-Tock gave him a knowing smile and asked, “Need
any help?”

Steve only grinned and said, “Nope, I got this, but I
need to borrow your K-bar.”

Hurrying back to the bathroom, Steve used a trashcan
to prop the door open. Moving to the second stall from the end, he
studied the lock on it for a moment as the zombie inside whined at
his presence.

Extracting the K-bar from its sheath, he said, “Take
a big bite out of one of those assholes when they come back,
Delores.”

Using the knife, he popped the lock and ran from the
bathroom, leaving the door open behind him and not stopping until
he rejoined his friends. Tick-Tock had filled Brain in on what was
going on, and as soon as Steve cleared the door it was locked
behind him. Steve hoped that neither of the Head Ushers had a key.
Let Delores fuck with them for awhile.

Moving down the hall that held the elevators, the
three men had to stifle their laughter. While open warfare didn't
exist between them and Ricky's people, they all knew it would only
be a matter of time.

Tick-Tock asked, “Do you want to stay and watch?”

“Not this time,” Steve replied. “We've still got
things to do.” Eyeing the elevator, he added, “Like the Captain of
the Titanic said, ‘To the lifeboats’.”

***

Brain poked his head out from under the canvas cover
and told Steve, “This is the fourth one I’ve checked. Short of
firing one of the engines up, I’d say that there's nothing wrong
with any of these boats. The safety seals are still on the engine
covers, so no one's been in there, and no one's screwed around with
the steering that I can tell. The zincs are missing on a
couple-.”

“Tick-Took cut him off by asking, “Sinks? Do these
things have a bathroom in them? 'Cause I gotta throw a piss like a
racehorse.”

Brain went into serious mode and said, “No,
Tick-Tock. A zinc is a-.”

This time it was Steve who cut him off by saying,
“Lighten up Brain, he's screwing with you. Button that thing back
up, so we can get the hell out of here.” Turning to Tick-Tock, he
said, “Alright, Brain did his thing and I did mine, now what do you
want to do?”

Tick-Tock only smiled.

***

Holding onto the safety rope, Brain said nervously,
“I don't think this is such a good idea.”

“What?” Both Steve and Tick-Tock shouted back at
him.

Straining to be heard over the thumping bass of the
techno-dance beat booming out from a pair of five-foot high amps
set on the deck thirty feet away, Brain repeated his statement.

“Don't worry,” Tick-Tock assured him as he buckled on
a safety harness. “This'll be a blast. You'll love it.”

“I’m next,” Steve yelled out.

“Then it's your turn,” Tick-Tock told Brain.

Looking up at the rock-climbing wall towering above
him, Brain shuddered at the thought of having to scale it. That's
if the rope held.

Doubtfully, he yelled, “I don't know, I think I’m
having flashbacks to our escape from the bank building.”

“That was repelling down, this is climbing up,”
Tick-Tock pointed out. “There's a big difference.” After thinking
about it he added, “Besides, that was kind of fun.”

Turning to the wall, Tick-Tock found hand and
footholds on the small protrusions jutting from it and rapidly
started up, moving with ease.

Under his breath, Steve said, “Miss, miss.”

When Tick-Tock was halfway, his foot slipped and he
started to drop. Brain gasped in fear and tightened his grip on the
safety rope, arresting his friend's fall and lowering Tick-Tock
gently to the deck.

Smiling, Steve yelled, “You missed and you owe me
one-hundred pushups and a bottle of Jamaican rum. You said you
could climb all the way to the top on your first try and you blew
it.”

Holding up the broken handhold he’d brought down with
him, Tick-Tock shouted, “Not fair. This is a mechanical failure.
That's not my fault.”

“Like rocks don't break off on a real cliff?” Steve
shot back with a triumphant smile on his face. “You lost and now
you owe.”

The two men argued loudly, not in the least concerned
they would give themselves away to the Faithful since the music
playing over the PA system on the pool deck was so loud it could
cover the sound of a jet taking off.

After leaving the lifeboats, the three men made their
way to the stern of the ship where an exterior stairway ran from
deck seven all the way up to deck twelve. As soon as they went
outside to check the lifeboats, they heard the music coming from
above; they just didn't realize how loud it was until they reached
deck nine. By the time they reached the pool deck, the noise was
deafening. Taking a few minutes at each landing for a quick
reconnaissance, they found all the decks empty. Their destination
was deck twelve so they didn't spend too much time in the other
areas.

Remembering what Tim had told them about the nightly
party on the pool deck, Steve and Tick-Tock weren't too concerned
about being spotted by the Faithful. They would be occupied with
each other. Besides, with the noise of the music for cover and the
upper decks only lit by low wattage light bulbs strung on wires
like Christmas lights from the bow of the ship to its stern, they
would just be three indistinct figures in the distance.

Seeing how close they were to the Faithful, Brain
grew nervous when they broke cover on deck twelve to cross over to
get to the rock-climbing wall. He wouldn't calm down even after
they were once again hidden from view. Noticing the tech was
uneasy, Steve did little to reassure him when he said, “Don't
worry. If anyone sees us, we'll just kill them all.”

Although deck eleven actually held the pools, hot
tubs and most of the bars, deck twelve had a wide jogging track and
tanning area that circled this area and looked down on it. With
easy access to both decks via multiple stairways, it became one
large party zone.

Even though the Faithful gathered on deck twelve each
night as they waited for the rapture, it was deck eleven they went
to first when they failed to ascend into heaven. The bar would be
opened and the drinks were free so everyone indulged. Many did make
their way back to deck twelve later to use the deck chairs
scattered about since they found they could be folded into
different positions that could make for some interesting sexual
positions. Thus, when Steve, Tick-Tock and Brain arrived, they
found themselves within a few dozen yards of people engaged in a
variety of sexual practices. On the pool deck below was the balance
of the Faithful doing the same.

Before moving to the rock-climbing wall, Steve
stopped to look over deck twelve and the pool deck below. Satisfied
that no one had seen them and raised the alarm, he called out to
move on. Now he found he had to literally pull Brain away from the
area as he gazed in wonder at two women and a man having three-way
sex. Reaching the base of the Crows Nest Lounge, which towered
above them, the trio circled it and found themselves at the stern
of the ship. With the wall and the tower between them and the rest
of the ship, no one could see them. Tick-Tock discovered a storage
locker containing the climbing gear. After untangling the safety
ropes, he was the first one to attempt the wall.

Brain looked on as the two men finally ended their
disagreement by making the contest the best two out of three.
Although nervous about being so close to Reverend Ricky's people,
some of his jumpiness had faded now that he saw the safety ropes
did their job. As his mind wandered, he started dwelling on the
sight of the three-way he'd witnessed earlier. While he didn't
particularly get off on watching a naked guy, he did enjoy watching
naked women. Seeing them live was much better than watching clips
on the Internet like he’d been doing for years. Thinking of what
Connie would look like naked, he was brought out of his reverie by
Tick-Tock snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Steve's ready, Pork Chop.” With an evil smile, he
added, “And if the rope slips through your hands and he crashes to
the deck, we'll just write it off as a training accident.”

Steve gave Tick-Tock the finger and started to
climb.

After each man scaled the wall two times, they were
too exhausted to try again so declared their bet off. When they
told Brain it was his turn, it took them ten minutes to persuade
him.

The first time, Brain made it a quarter of the way to
the top before he fell. On his second try, he passed that mark and
was nearly halfway when suddenly he stopped.

After calling up to the tech and receiving no answer,
Tick-Tock was worried he was frozen in fear. He was about to put
his gear back on and climb up to talk him down when he saw Brain
push off from the wall and let himself be lowered while he
frantically waved and pointed toward the rear of the ship.

When his feet were once again on the deck, Brain
yelled out excitedly, “Don't you feel it?”

Steve's mind spun. Feel what? He asked himself. Are
we sinking?

Seeing the quizzical looks he was getting, Brain
pointed to the multi-colored banners attached to the guide wires
that secured the climbing wall to the base of the Crows Nest Lounge
and screamed, “Look.”

It took them a moment to understand what he was
trying to show them. Suddenly, it hit them both at the same time
and they whooped with joy.

The banners were fluttering and snapping in the
breeze. The wind had come up.

Chapter Fourteen

The Dead Calm:

When Steve told the rest of the group that the wind
was up and they had all the more reason to depart the Dead Calm, he
was met by a less than enthusiastic response. He could understand
Mary not wanting to leave the shopping Mecca she had fallen into
but even Heather seemed depressed at the news.

When he asked her why, she replied, “I know there's a
million reasons to go, the most important being that we get Cindy
somewhere to see if she holds the cure for HWNW virus, but ...” Her
voice trailed off.

“But what?” He asked.

“I may sound selfish but screw it. I'm saying it
anyway. I’ve just gotten comfortable here and now we’ve got to
leave. That sucks. I knew this was only temporary when we decided
to come on board, and even more temporary when we found out the
ship was sinking, but I want to enjoy it while I can.”

Steve considered his reply before saying, “I’m not
saying we’ve got to leave this very minute but I’d like to try to
get going as soon as possible. We have to stay here for the next
day anyway while we load up the supplies and see if Ricky can come
up with a sextant so ...” Now Steve's voice trailed off as he
looked at Heather's crestfallen expression. He knew she would go if
he said go but would be disappointed at having to leave the Calm of
the Seas. After a second, he continued, “So I guess it's no big
deal if we take a couple extra days and relax.”

Heather gave him a smile and asked, “Really?”

Steve smiled back, “Really. We can get everything
loaded up and then take a break and relax. You told me about Ricky
letting us have deck five with all the restaurants, so we'll fill
up on some good food before we go. The extra time will also give
Tick-Tock the chance to figure out our position if he gets that
sextant from Ricky.”

Heather threw her arms around him and said, “Don’t
worry, babe, I’m not breaking weak on you. It's just that it's so
nice here and it's kind of hard to leave it knowing what we're
heading out into.”

“I never thought you were going soft,” Steve assured
her. “But remember, we also have to deal with Ricky and his people
before we go.”

After kissing him, she said, “I’ll take care of
Ricky. Don't worry about that. And as for his Faithful, they can
take their chances in the lifeboats.”

***

Reverend Ricky opened the lid of the case containing
the sextant. After picking up and removing its lens, he threw the
circle of glass against the wall. Examining it and seeing it
sufficiently cracked so as to make it useless, he put it back in
place and removed the spare from the box. This he put in the breast
pocket of his shirt.

Turning to the younger of the two Hungarian sisters,
he ordered her to get dressed. After his last encounter with
Heather, he had no desire to meet with the woman face to face
again. He would send the girl down to deck four with his latest
gift.