Giant slides twisted and turned from behind the bridge like the sewer system to some ancient city. The slides reminded Kerrie of the creatures that spread across the ship, the tubes bending and curving, reaching down for anyone who was left crawling across the deck, blood leaking from their bodies like a hole in a water tank. Kerrie couldn't imagine a creature that size.
The parasites had only taken a few days to slaughter countless people. They had evolved with one purpose, and one purpose only. Feeding on anything that moved. In a way, they were not too different from humans—consuming and destroying everything in their path to greatness. Humans were on the other side of the equation now and it didn't feel great.
A drop of water fell from the grey curtain that stretched across the sky, splatting on Kerrie's nose. She looked up to meet the clouds above her, rumbling like the stomach of a god hungry for more blood. A second drop. A third. It was spitting and Kerrie knew the rain would get heavier soon. She felt the tension in the air, the weight of another ocean floating above her, ready to come crashing down. They would have to move fast.
The sound of a jet engine ripped across the sky as if it was splitting open, the blue above the grey tearing a gateway to another dimension. One where more slithering creatures could fall from and feed on anything that breathed. But the jet was nowhere to be seen, masked behind the looming clouds. Waiting for the command to fire away.
"Stay close," Captain Higgins said, looking up at Kerrie and Sandy as they descended the stairs from the bridge.
"Aye aye, Captain," Sandy responded, held tight in Kerrie's arms as they moved toward their escape. She leaned in closer to Kerrie, hands wrapped around her neck. It was the safest position she had come to know since leaving her parents, their bodies a savory meal for the alien that slipped under Tom's skin. Marilyn and Tom were the main course. Sandy would have been the dessert.
"The capsules containing the inflatable liferafts are on the main deck," Captain Higgins said.
They were on the opposite side from where they encountered Neil's monstrous body, but they had to keep their eyes open for any other threats. They ran toward a stairwell that would lead down to the main deck and the inflatable liferafts.
"Wait," Captain Higgins said, pulling behind a wall, the spiraling slides now hanging above them.
Kerrie trailed behind Captain Higgins, peeking from their cover and down the deck. A creature walked near the stairwell, black and vile, legs moving as if it was playing the piano. This was the first time Kerrie had seen one in its entirety, detached from its host. It looked like a lab experiment—part arachnid, part octopus, part parasite. It looked exactly how movies and books described alien life to be—a terrifying existence meant only to destroy human life.
Kerrie watched Captain Higgins run her hand under her jaw, feeling the wound, the mark where the creature had supposedly entered her. A chill wriggled through Kerrie's body, causing the hair on her arms to stand. To think the creature was inside of Captain Higgins, consuming her, and that she would become what happened to Neil and all the rest. Kerrie felt terribly sorry. But also terribly scared. Let's hope that thing doesn't escape her body any time soon, at least until we are off this ship.
"We can't go that way," Captain Higgins said, looking to Kerrie. "We'll go through the food court and back out onto the main deck."
They backtracked and passed through glass doors into a marbled hallway. The white floors were swirled with whisps of grey, marked by splatters of blood. The walls were off-white and decorated with seashell lamps, their golden light spilling up and across the ceiling. It felt like they were walking down the hallway to a great ruler of the sea—or a terrible one.
They approached a glass elevator and Kerrie put Sandy down, giving her arm a break. Sandy walked up to the elevator and pressed the down button. Down was the only way to go. Let's hope we're not going down to hell, Kerrie thought.
The elevator rose and the glass door slid open, smooth like a blade on ice. They stepped in and Captain Higgins pressed for the first floor. She pulled her hand back realizing there was blood on the metal buttons and looked at the red smeared across her finger. She wiped it on her already bloodied shirt. Both Captain Higgins and Kerrie were covered in blood that had dried from their encounters. Blotches of brown and red were scattered across their clothes as if they were satan's dalmatians. Kerrie's skin looked as if she climbed out of a trench where she had spent months rolling in blood, sleeping in muck. The smell in the elevator became rotten and Kerrie really took in how filthy she was. She had been stepped on. She had been bled on. The smell of Neil's insides mixed with her sweat into a sour and stomach-wrenching stench.
The elevator continued to descend, a capsule moving through a glass tube, peering down at the food court below. Multiple levels cascaded down before them, each floor containing different restaurants. French. Mexican. Japanese. Italian. The court was massive, like an arena to a sporting event. Except it was a ghost town. There were no waiters walking between the tables. There were no chefs cooking in the kitchens. There were no flames blazing on the hibachi tables. Plates and cups were scattered here and there. Bodies lay on the floors. Some slumped in chairs. Some nestled between the tables. And as they passed from floor to floor, they saw more and more bodies.
The elevator slowed at the main floor of the food court and the door hissed as it slid open. All three of them stepped out, their heads tilting to all the restaurants above, a circular room towering high to a glass ceiling, dull light casting below.
"See those doors on the other side?" Captain Higgins pointed far across countless tables to a pair of double doors. They had no handles, the type of doors to swing open. "Those are staff doors but they lead right up to the main deck."
"Looks far," Kerrie said, eyes darting around. The sheer size of the food court was overwhelming. It was hard to notice every little detail. There was so much space and so many places to hide. It felt like they were being watched.
"We don't have much of a choice," Captain Higgins said. "We will move quietly and swiftly."
Kerrie nodded and picked Sandy up. The last thing they needed were her sandals dragging across the floor, drawing the attention of someone or something. They walked across the massive room, the glass ceiling creating shadows on their faces. They weaved between tables, hustled around chairs, stepped over bodies.
They neared the edge of the court, passing a buffet-style restaurant, the food kept warm from the heating lamps. Kerrie's stomach rumbled. She had been too stressed to realize how hungry she was. She needed to eat. Even if it was just a little.
"Do you mind?" Kerrie asked.
Captain Higgins turned around and Kerrie tilted her head toward the food. Captain Higgins looked back around the food court. It was silent like the dead of night. "Quick."
Kerrie placed Sandy down and leaned into the buffet table, reaching for what appeared to be a chicken slider. She passed it to Sandy.
"I don't want it," Sandy said.
"Just a bite," Kerrie responded.
Sandy held it with both hands and examined it before chomping a quarter of the little sandwich away. Sandy paused and took another bite from the slider. And another. Kerrie grabbed a slider of her own and swallowed it in two bites, barely chewing it, the slider moving like a rock down her throat and through her chest. It was dry and stale. She needed something to wash it down.
Kerrie stepped behind the counter, opened the fridge, and grabbed a bottle of water. She brought the bottle to her lips and felt the cool water flush down into her stomach.
"Want some?" Kerrie passed the bottle to Sandy who obliged and drank quite a bit for her size. Sandy passed the bottle back. There was enough water for one more sip. "Mind if I finish?"
Sandy shook her head.
Kerrie took a big gulp and looked to Captain Higgins. She was leaning over a table, one hand resting on it for support while the other hand was pressed against her head.
"Are you okay?" Kerrie took a step toward her.
"I'll be fine." Captain Higgins grimaced.
Kerrie could tell the pain was a lot worse than Captain Higgins let on.
"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Kerrie said unconvincingly. She knew Captain Higgins couldn't. She knew she was done. But maybe she needed to lie to herself. Maybe she needed to try and believe someone could come back from something like this. What if it was in her too and she didn't know? There had to be a way. Or maybe it's too late.
"I think we both know there's no coming back from this, Kerrie." Captain Higgins turned and waved her hand across the entire food court as if displaying all those who had already perished. "It's better that you and Sandy get off the ship while you can. It's safer that way. And plus, this is my ship after all. If it's going down, I'm going down with it." Captain Higgins mustered a smile. Kerrie could barely give her one in return.
"Well, I guess let's start moving again," Kerrie picked Sandy up.
"Spaceman!" Sandy shouted, nearly falling out of Kerrie's arms as she pointed at the opposite end of the food court.
Kerrie's hand moved to Sandy's mouth, pressing firmly over it. "Shhhh!"
Kerrie looked to where Sandy had pointed to find a creature dangling from a railing above. It stopped moving and looked directly toward them. Several more creatures emerged from behind the railings on the second and third floors, looking across the empty space toward their next meal. One of them screeched a battle cry and they descended from railings, draping down from floor to floor until they were level with Captain Higgins, Kerrie, and Sandy.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Run!" Captain Higgins said, bolting toward the door that now seemed farther than it did before.
Kerrie followed right behind, moving as fast as her legs would let her with Sandy in her arms. They emerged from the tables and were headed straight for the double doors. Kerrie's heart pounded. Her breath ripped through her throat. Her back hurt. But all of that was masked by the primal fear laying siege on her entire body, every cell from every organ wanting to fall to the floor like a bag of marbles and scatter from the stampede of monsters behind them.
Kerrie looked back toward the creatures, a dark cloud propelled by hundreds of legs dancing toward them like centipedes. They moved at an incredible speed and Kerrie felt it was only a matter of time until one of those tentacles reached out and grabbed her, fastening around her ankle like a rope and dragging her away. And this time for good. You only get so many chances and Kerrie was on her last life.
The doors that had once seemed distant were only a few strides away, the two slabs of metal approaching them like the grill of an eighteen-wheeler. Captain Higgins charged through like a battering ram, both doors slamming open and into the walls, nearly tearing off the hinges. The doors stayed open long enough for Kerrie and Sandy to pass through, shutting behind them as Kerrie turned to the stairs. Her arms burned, Sandy becoming too much to carry. Her legs felt like gelatin, wobbling up each step, knees almost buckling. But her legs decided to keep moving, climbing the steps two at a time until they exited onto the main deck, Captain Higgins' elbow driving into the metal bar that opened the door.
Kerrie stumbled out with Sandy slumping in her arms and met the rain that was falling steadily now. Across from her was another door but to her right was a railing and the endless ocean. She turned back to Captain Higgins who whirled around and closed the door shut, pressing her back against it. The creatures slammed into the door behind her, one after another like a sledgehammer. Captain Higgins was knocked forward, but she bent her legs and pushed back with all her strength, arms stretched wide, holding the creatures behind the door.
"Over there!" Captain Higgins pointed with her eyes, her face pulling tight. "The giant white container."
Kerrie hustled to the edge of the ship where she found a white metal cylinder that hung over the water.
"This is the liferaft?" Kerrie asked, looking at it suspiciously.
"Yes," Captain Higgins grunted. "Below...there's a handle...pull it."
Kerrie put Sandy down and crouched, reaching toward the handle and pulling the mechanism. The container released, rolling to the water and cracking open, the liferaft spilling out. Kerrie leaned over the ocean and watched it inflate.
Kerrie turned back to the sound of the creatures hammering at the door. A tentacle had reached out from the other side and when Captain Higgins pushed back against it, the door sliced the tentacle in half, falling to the floor and squirming like a giant worm.
"There's a gangway one deck below. It hangs off the side of the ship and over the ocean. You can move down a deck from the stairwell around the corner. You'll need this key."
Captain Higgins tossed Kerrie the key and pressed back into the door, every muscle in her body threatening to rip from her skin. But she wasn't going to last much longer. The door was slowly opening, tentacles slithering out from around the frame.
"Kerrie, now!" Captain Higgins cried.
"Thank you," was all Kerrie could say as she turned from Captain Higgins, Sandy back in her arms, and rounded a corner to the deck below.
She heard the door slam open and the little monsters moving across the deck above, their cries like nails on a chalkboard. Kerrie wondered what they would do with Captain Higgins, someone who was already infected. Would they consume her knowing one of their own was inside or would they watch her suffer until it hatched from her brain?
Kerrie told herself to stop thinking about it.
There it was, the gangway. Kerrie unlocked the gate and looked down. It hung out from the side of the ship, a metal staircase that descended several decks and simply hung over the water. Kerrie assumed it would normally connect to a dock of some sort, but out in the middle of the ocean, the final step would send someone plunging into the deep. Below the gangway was the inflated liferaft, floating alongside the ship. They had to jump down. They had to jump now. But they would have to swim a bit and she wasn't sure she could make it with Sandy in her arms. Kerrie knew how to swim, but when it came to holding someone else while doing so, it was an entirely different ball game.
Kerrie turned to the wall and began opening several cabinet doors. We need a life jacket for Sandy at the very least. But the cabinets were all empty. Kerrie put Sandy down and ran across the deck, opening more cabinets. The last one contained a stack of orange life jackets.
"Yes," Kerrie said, finally some luck.
She grabbed two and ran back to Sandy.
"We need to put this on," Kerrie said, feeding Sandy's arms through the holes and fastening the buckles. Kerrie slid on her own. It was amazing how quickly you could move during circumstances like these.
Kerrie picked Sandy up and turned toward the gangway but something caught the corner of her eye. A woman stood further down the deck, facing the opposite direction. She was looking for someone. Her back was bare, two thin straps hanging from her shoulders to hold up her powder blue nightgown, the satin fabric blowing in the wind, the color darkening from the rain that was coming in sideways. Her back had a long lesion that ran down her spine and her skin was marked with streaks of blood. Her bare legs stood beneath. She turned around to face Kerrie and Sandy.
"Sandy?" the woman said.
Kerrie took a step back.
"It's me, Mommy." Marilyn took a step forward, arm reaching out. Her palm was red, hand tremoring. "Who are you and why do you have my daughter?"
"Mommy?" Sandy said, confused to see her mother standing before her.
Kerrie didn't know what to say. Sandy had said her mother was gone, that the spaceman had got her. But here she was. Walking and breathing, looking for her daughter. Kerrie should certainly give the woman her child, right? Kerrie should certainly allow her own mother to hold Sandy in her arms again. But something wasn't right.
"It's me, honey." Marilyn smiled, lips quivering, eye twitching. "Give me my daughter, please." She looked into Kerrie's eyes. "Give me my daughter."
Marilyn pulled her hand back and fell to one knee, screaming. One hand clutched the railing while the other held her head.
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts." Marilyn said to no one at all. "It hurts so bad."
It was in her. Marilyn scratched at her head as if trying to claw the creature out. She tore handfuls of hair from her scalp, the wind carrying it away like a spider web. "My daughter. I want my daughter." She looked at Kerrie and pulled herself back up.
Kerrie took another step back, the entrance to the gangway now at her side.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MY DAUGHTER," Marilyn screamed, more of a statement than a question. How could Kerrie take her daughter? What gave her the right? Marilyn's face shook, her emotions controlling her instead.
"You're not Mommy," Sandy said, tears running down her face. "You're the spaceman."
"What do you mean?" Marilyn looked like she would cry. "It's me. It really is. It's your Mommy. You have to believe me." Marilyn leaned forward only a few steps away.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you have her," Kerrie said. "Not like this."
"Who are you to say?" Marilyn said. "She's my daughter. I won't let you take her from me."
"I'm sorry—"
"She's mine," Marilyn said.
Kerrie expected her to say more but Marilyn's body suddenly grew still. Her eyes stopped moving. Her arms hung limp. And then a black tentacle slipped from her nose, thin and stretching into the air. It wiggled around before slipping back inside like slurped spaghetti. Marilyn regained control of her body again and took in her surroundings. She looked back at Sandy as if making sure it was really her.
"Please, my daughter," Marilyn said.
"No, you are not well." Kerrie stepped onto the gangway.
"GIVE ME HER." Marilyn roared and reached for Sandy with both arms, but nearly fell when Kerrie moved out the way and began running down the metal stairs, the gangway rattling over the rolling waters. "COME BACK."
Marilyn moved down the stairs behind them and was gaining on them. It was too hard to move with Sandy in her arms. Kerrie had only one choice. Instead of making it to the end of the gangway, she rolled over the metal railing with Sandy instead.
"Hold on," Kerrie said, pulling Sandy close.
Sandy let out a scream as they rushed to the water, their bodies crashing into the ocean with a heavy splash. Kerrie let go of Sandy and felt the water envelop her. Her life jacket brought her back to the surface. She coughed out water. Wiped the hair out of her face. Rubbed the salt out of her eyes. She heard Marilyn screaming from the gangway above, but she paid no attention. The ocean from the cruise looked relatively flat, but when you were eye level with the water, it was hard to see anything. Kerrie bobbed up and down. Waves rose and fell. She turned around and saw a glimpse of Sandy's orange life jacket before another wave obstructed her vision. She saw another glimpse of Sandy, head tilted back, spitting out water. Kerrie made her way over.
"You okay?" Kerrie asked.
"Yes." Sandy coughed.
Kerrie grabbed Sandy by the back of her life jacket and began kicking her feet, swimming toward the liferaft. She looked up and saw Marilyn screaming and stomping on the gangway, but it was hard for Kerrie to hear with the water lapping her ears.
As Kerrie reached the liferaft, she saw Marilyn descend the stairway.
Kerrie guided Sandy to the ladder of the liferaft and helped push her up. Sandy rolled in, her legs swinging over like a cartwheel.
Marilyn jumped from the gangway and disappeared into the ocean.
Kerrie grabbed both sides of the thin ladder and pulled her body into the raft, tumbling over its edge like a giant wall. She coughed up more water and stared at the dark clouds above, the rain occasionally falling into her eyes and causing her to blink.
She looked over to Sandy. Her eyes were puffy. Her mouth was frowning. Sandy was seated, looking back up at the colossal cruise. It looked even bigger from the water. A floating city.
Kerrie looked at the liferaft and saw two paddles she could use to move toward the naval ships, but it would take forever. Better than up there. She looked out across the water to where Marilyn had jumped but she was nowhere in sight, consumed by the deep.
"I'm sorry about your mom, Sandy," Kerrie said, but Sandy didn't respond.
She reached for a paddle and neared the edge of the liferaft. As Kerrie brought the paddle over the water, a hand reached up from the ocean and grabbed the edge of the raft. Kerrie jumped back at the sight, almost falling out and into the water. The fingers were white, like the hands of a dead body, water running down from the tips and spilling into the liferaft. Another hand reached up, both clenching the edge and pulling Marilyn's head into view. Except it wasn't the face they saw above. Four tentacles spilled from Marilyn's mouth, reaching and curling around her face like an octopus. Another smaller tentacle was snaking from her nostril.
"Cover your eyes, Sandy!"
The tentacles turned toward Kerrie and tried to wrap around her arm. Kerrie shuffled back and flipped the paddle around, grabbing it with both hands. She looked down at Marilyn's hideous face and drove the butt of the paddle into the center of her forehead. But the creature wouldn't let go, trying to crawl inside the lifeboat with them. Kerrie pulled the paddle back again and hammered Marilyn in the head. And again. The tentacles reached out and wrapped around Kerrie's leg. She felt them tighten, constricting around her flesh. Kerrie nearly tipped over but she regained her balance and drilled the paddle into Marilyn's throat, crushing the tentacles within. The tentacles let go of her leg and turned toward the paddle, wrapping around it like a braid. Kerrie twisted the paddle further into Marilyn's throat, the creature screaming from within. Kerrie met its cries with more force until Marilyn's icy hands slipped from the raft.
Kerrie leaned over a saw Marilyn was hanging onto the ladder by a tentacle. She brought the paddle over her head one last time and slammed it into Marilyn's face like an ice pick. Kerrie heard Marilyn's nose crunch beneath the paddle. The creature let go and sunk into the ocean. Kerrie watched the pale face disappear into the darkness, green water swallowing Marilyn's features and the tentacles that slithered from her mouth.
Kerrie let go of the paddle and collapsed onto her back. Her chest rose and fell, letting her know she was still breathing. Her pulse jumped on her neck, letting her know she was still alive.
Kerrie screamed at the sky and the sky answered back. Kerrie sobbed and the sky emptied.