Thirst 4 Blood 2

Going Under

"The Lifeguard is NOT On Duty"

Episode One

The Beginning

Jonathon awoke with a start. He frowned. Something was wrong. Everything felt... different. He threw on his favorite white Freerunner jacket and got out of bed. He washed his face and, out of instinct, pocketed his switchblade. He walked outside of his room to find the hallways dark and bloodstained. He was frozen in place, eyes wide.

"What the hell...?" he flipped out his switchblade and continued slowly down the hallway. There were drag marks in the blood, leading around the corner to the stairwell. There he found somebody hunched in the corner, moving gently.

"You okay over there?" he asked. The figure turned. Blood dripped from his lips. His face was pale and his eyes were bright yellow. It snarled, getting up and dropping the remaining pieces of corpse from its hands. "Oh shit..." It started at Jonathon, running at a dead sprint. He dodged out of the way, the peculiar thing slamming into the wall behind him. Out of some sort of primal instinct, he stabbed the thing in the back of the head. The creature let out a pained sigh and slid down the wall. Sighing, Jonathon turned around. Starting up the stairwell, he came face to face with a man in a black suit, holding a gun.

"Duck," the man demanded, in a slightly Italian accent.

"What...?"

"DUCK!" He shoved Jonathon out of the way, firing a shot and putting a bullet through the creature's skull, who had obviously started for Jonathon when he wasn't looking. "These things ain't going to stop for nothing, not just some little scrape with that toothpick." Jonathon felt slightly insulted, his only weapon being a "toothpick" to this strange new man. "Here, take this." He flipped the pistol around, handing it to Jonathon.

"Really?" He was feeling less insulted now as he took the pistol and pocketed the switchblade. The man in the dark suit smiled, pulling out another gun from beneath his jacket.

"S'alright," he said, grinning. "The name's Victor. From the Bronx."

"I'm Jonathon. From New York." Victor nodded. "What the hell was that?"

"Well ain't it obvious? Zombies, kiddo. Honest to god zombies. I don't know what the hell caused it, though... No radiation or meteors or shit. Maybe it's a virus or something, I don't know. What I DO know is that we've got to get off this ship, A.S.A.P." Jonathon nodded. This man was right. But he had to ask...

"Say, where'd you get the guns?" Victor smiled.

"Best not to ask things you don't wanna know, 'ey, kiddo?" With this, Victor walked up the stairwell, Jonathon following close behind.

"How are we going to get off?"

"Don't quite know yet," Victor replied. They were on the 4th floor heading up, the ship spanning a massive 30 floors down. "We'll find a way. Maybe a lifeboat or something." Jonathon nodded. Sounded good. As they were walking, Jonathon stopped. Maybe it was his ears playing tricks on him... no, there it was again!

"Hey, do you hear that?" he asked. Victor stopped. It was a soft cry for help.

"Yeah, I think I do. Sounds like a woman?" Jonathon nodded. "Well we ought to go help her."

"That's what I was thinking," Jonathon replied, hefting his pistol to bear.

"Ready, kid?"

"Somewhat..."

"Alright, let's go." Victor started through the halls, checking each room by knocking first, then opening the door. If it didn't open, he shot the lock off with his pistol and entered quietly, sweeping with his pistol before either dispatching any zombies inside or moving on. Finally, a long ways away from the stairwell, and down several halls, he knocked on a door, expecting no reply.

"Hello?" came a voice suddenly, from within. "Who's there?"

"It's alright, ma'am, we're survivors," Victor said.

"Really?" A small slit opened so the woman could see through. "Oh thank god!" She opened the door, falling into Jonathon's arms.

"Uh, hi..." he said awkwardly.

"My name's Maria," she said. "I'm a trauma center nurse."

"I'm Victor, or Vick. This is Jonathon." Jon nodded in agreement.

"Nice to meet you both. What's going on?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Jon said grimly. "You're the medical expert, after all. We don't really know what the hell's happening."

"I don't know. I've never seen or heard of anything like it. Well... except, of course..."

"In the movies," Victor finished. She nodded. "Yeah. We already thought that too. Well, we're going to find a way off this godforsaken ship. You coming along?"

"Oh, yes, please!" she cried.

"You got yourself a weapon, pretty lady?" She shook her head. Victor sighed. "Here, take this one. I'll find something." She thanked him and took the pistol in her hands. It was a bit heavier to her than Jon, he realized as he saw her holding it slightly awkwardly.

"C'mon, we got to go," Victor said. They started back for the stairwell, killing off a few zombies as they went. Finally, they were above deck.

"Funny," Victor started, looking up and shielding his eyes with his forearm, "how the sun can be shining when such heinous shit is going down." Jonathon nodded.

"Amen to that."

"Uh, guys?" Maria asked. They looked to her then followed her gaze. The deck was FULL of zombies. All of which had now been alerted to their presence, and were sprinting at them.

"Victor, you shoot better," Maria said, handing him his pistol.

"Don't mind if I do," Victor said, grinning as he fired expertly, missing hardly any shots, and getting most in the head. They sighed when the zombies had finally been killed, and Victor handed Maria back the gun. He noticed a few of the people were dressed in uniform, and went over.

"Jackpot!" he cried, pulling out two pistols from the guard's holsters. "Alright, now we can rock." He smiled and continued onward, making sure there were no zombies.

The ship's deck itself was about the size of an aircraft carrier, if not slightly smaller. The ship was the highest class cruise ship of its time, and sported a pool, golf course, 20 floors of living quarters, 5 floors of dining, and 5 floors of showcasing.

"Look at this," Jon said, pilfering the pockets of another guard. "A VIP card. I never got to go to the Museum Deck. What's down there anyway?"

"Just some old stuff- Wait..." Victor's eyes flashed. "There's a submarine down there. And if it's not functional, I'm SURE there's scuba gear!"

"You positive?" Maria said, hope lining her voice.

"Dead positive," Victor said, smiling slightly at the pun. "We just need to get down there first.

"Why not just bring the ship to land?" Jon asked.

"If the infection hasn't spread to the mainland yet, we can't let that happen. We have to contain it somehow." Jon nodded. It made sense.

"Alright. Let's go, then." Victor nodded and they headed towards the staircase. A few floors down, they saw a red metal door marked "SAFE ROOM" with informative posters from the CDC plastered all over it.

"What's inside?" Victor asked as he opened the door. Inside were informative posters on the virus in question, as well as samples of virus tissue, food, water, a few weapons, and a pile of ammo. "We're in heaven!" He ran inside. "Close that door behind you, we don't want anything getting in after us. If they're above deck, let them STAY above deck." Jon nodded, closing the large metal door and setting the bar in place, securing it from opening.

Their journey had begun.