HAYWIRE: A Pandemic Thriller (The F.A.S.T. Series Book 2)
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Authors: Shane M Brown
HAYWIRE
Shane M Brown
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Table of Contents
Justin was having the time of his life.
The ship was amazing.
Last night he’d seen a circus. A proper circus with lions and monkeys and clowns. He’d never expected to see a circus on a Pacific Islands cruise.
Even more incredible was the aquarium.
The aquarium wove right through the heart of the ship. The grand dining hall offered the best aquarium views, but the atrium was a close second.
Justin glanced around the atrium now.
Where is everyone?
Normally the atrium was bustling at 7am.
Suits me,
he thought.
I get the aquarium window all to myself.
Justin still hadn’t explored the entire aquarium, and he’d been at sea for three days.
It looked magnificent.
Passengers could even learn to scuba dive in the aquarium.
If my birthday fell in March, I could be scuba diving today.
Justin desperately wanted to earn his scuba ticket, but he wouldn’t turn fifteen until May 20
th
.
He’d already passed the medical test back in Portland, but the ship’s policy stated:
‘SCUBA TRAINING IS UNAVAILABLE TO GUESTS
UNDER FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE.’
What difference does two months make?
he thought bitterly.
Back in Oregon, Justin only needed his mother’s consent to learn.
‘When you’re fifteen,’ his mother promised. ‘I’ll do my refresher course. We’ll dive together.’
Justin stared into the giant aquarium, disappointed.
His phone beeped.
‘LOW MEMORY’ flashed on the screen.
How many photos did Mom take last night!
He thumbed through her photos of him wearing his mask, snorkel and fins in their cabin.
When she began taking photos, Justin pretended to swim around their cabin in his snorkeling gear. His mom laughed so much she fudged half the photos.
This morning Justin really wanted to photograph a shark.
He hadn’t spotted one yet.
Just colorful fish nibbling coral and occasionally looking back through the glass. They didn’t look concerned about sharks.
Justin scanned the water. A large shape loomed up before him.
It hovered in the water column, studying Justin back through the glass.
A turtle!
It looked huge and curious, with an expressive face and gentle-looking eyes.
Justin put his hand on the glass, wishing he could touch the incredible animal.
With a powerful thrust of its fins, the giant turtle glided away.
Incredible
, thought Justin.
Absolutely incredible. This is the best trip ever.
Erin barely glanced at the cabin numbers as she ran.
She didn’t need to.
This was the
First Lady of the Sea
, the most expensive cruise ship ever to sail the world’s oceans.
No ship was larger.
None boasted as many forms of entertainment.
None lavished as much opulent indulgence upon every guest, every minute of every day.
The four gold stripes on Erin’s shoulder epaulettes identified her as the Hotel Manager, in charge of everything passenger-related.
She kept everything running smoothly.
But right now, things weren’t running smoothly.
Everything was rapidly going off the rails.
This was becoming the worst night of her life.
How can everyone fall sick at the same time?
It was an absolute nightmare.
In the last four hours the
First Lady of the Sea
had turned into a floating hospital.
Worst of all, she couldn’t find the cause.
She’d checked everything.
It’s not food poisoning, water contamination, or a gas leak. What am I missing?
The norovirus bug had been Erin’s first guess, but the sick passengers didn’t have noro.
The feverish, confused patients experienced hallucinations, disorientation, rapid loss of coordination and then seizures.
Violent, barely-controllable seizures.
Just as many crew as guests had succumbed, and every minute that number grew.
Is it something new?
Erin thought desperately.
Something a guest carried onto the ship?
According to the medical staff, the bird and swine flu combined couldn’t have devastated the ship this quickly. Eleven older guests had died from seizures. The ship’s doctors predicted dozens more.
The medical staff sounded completely overwhelmed.
Erin slowed at cabin 630 and straightened her uniform. All senior officers wore white naval-style uniforms. Her tall build and fair hair suited the uniform. Lucky, because she wore it every day.
Cabin 630 was occupied by her cousin, Charlie, and his new wife, Monica.
This was their honeymoon suite.
Erin had purchased the couple this cruise as a wedding present, so when security reported a woman screaming in room 630, Erin had come running.
She listened at the door, trying to settle her own breathing.
What’s that sound?
She heard a muffled thumping sound.
Certainly no screaming.
She swiped the lock and heard the ‘c
lick’
of the door unlocking.
She cracked the door an inch.
‘Charlie? It’s Erin. Is everything all right?’
No one answered.
She opened the door cautiously.
The room resembled a hundred other elegantly furnished suites on board the
First Lady of the Sea.
Charlie was standing in stripy blue pajamas, holding up a chair like a lion tamer. He stared at the bathroom door.
Someone in the bathroom began bashing on the door, making an incredible racket.
Erin looked around for Monica, Charlie’s new wife.
Perhaps she’s gone for help. The security staff is as overwhelmed as the medical staff.
Erin let the door close behind her.
‘Charlie, are you okay? Charlie?’
‘It’s Monica!’ Charlie blurted. ‘She’s gone crazy. She just flipped out. She’s gone completely berserk.’
Erin glanced around the room, noticing the overturned nightstand and broken lamp.
‘Listen,’ warned Erin. ‘Other guests are complaining. You
need
to calm her down. And I don’t mean by hitting her with that chair. Why are you arguing?’
Charlie never took his eyes off the bathroom door.
‘We weren’t arguing. She was having a fit on the floor. She was all twisted up in the bed sheets.’
‘Is she epileptic?’ asked Erin.
‘No. I thought it was a nightmare. I tried to wake her up and she bit my ear. Look. She bit a piece right off!’
Charlie twisted so Erin could see the chunk of missing earlobe.
Blood stained Charlie’s left pajama sleeve.
Erin noticed red scratches under his eyes.
‘Christ, Charlie. Your face is a mess. Did Monica do all that?’
Charlie pointed his chair at the bathroom. ‘I went in the bathroom to wash my ear. She followed me. I turned around and she tried to claw my eyes out. She went ballistic. She didn’t even recognize me. I pushed her into the shower and then yanked shut the door.’
Thump!
‘See?’ pointed Charlie. ‘She just keeps hurling herself at the door.’
‘Has she spoken?’
‘Not a word.’
‘Wait,’ Erin pointed at the bathroom door handle. ‘It’s not even locked. Why doesn’t she just open the door?’
Charlie wiped his watering eyes. ‘It opens inward. She’s trying to bash her way out. I don’t think she can figure out how. She’s too confused.’
Erin imagined Monica’s precisely manicured fingernails clawing at Charlie’s eyes. She missed what Charlie said next.
‘What?’ Erin asked. ‘Did you say she had a fever?’
‘She’s boiling hot,’ confirmed Charlie. ‘Like she’s been in an oven. What’s taking the doctor so long? Can’t you do something?’
Erin stared at the bathroom again, wincing as Monica threw herself at the door. She doubted the door could sustain such punishment for long.
‘And this just started?’ Erin asked. ‘She wasn’t feeling sick yesterday or the day before?’
Charlie thought about it. ‘No, she was completely...wait, do you
know
why she’s sick?’
Erin avoided eye contact.
‘Erin!’ barked Charlie. ‘Look at me. What do you know?’
Erin met his eyes. ‘Lots of people are sick, Charlie. We don’t know why. It’s spreading through the entire ship.’
Objects suddenly rained against the bathroom door like hail. Monica was throwing things now. It sounded like makeup and toiletries.
