Chapter 4: A Death Worse Than Fate
"If you can't die for a cause, at least live humbly for one."
ca-thunk ca-thunk ca-thunk
It was really inconvenient having to hop everywhere. On top of that, this place is a maze. Would it kill someone to put up a map?
ca-thunk ca-thunk ca-thunk
There is a stair case down the hall that leads to the open air. Maybe there will be a better view of the land from there.
ca-thunk ca-thunk ca-thunk.
As the Class Reunion of 1974 watched an ornate sarcophagus hop down the hall it occurred to the graduates that they should stop drinking.
Zack was leaning back against the railing of the deck while Maya gently patted his face with a wet cloth.
"You're lucky Cody came when he did." Maya scolded, "Why did you vacuum seal yourself into the bathroom? Your humiliation would live forever on the Internet."
In spite of her remonstration, Zack found her ministrations calming. For her part, Maya was looking into his eyes with more interest than was typical for casual friends. The sunset had a beautifying effect on his face that wasn't even fair.
"I was scared." Zack admitted eventually.
Maya stopped in mid-wipe. "Of what?" she asked.
"I thought I could keep Death out." The way he said it made her capitalize the D in death.
"Zack, Death is not an intelligent force." She said, affecting the tone one uses with someone who claims to have been abducted by aliens(the ridiculously preposterous aliens not the plausible aliens). "Death is not coming after you. As long as you don't do anything stupid (like hermetically sealing yourself in a water closet) nothing bad will..."
"Look out!" someone screamed. Zack and Maya looked up and registered an overburdened luggage lorry barreling toward them. Before they could do anything Cody dived toward them and pushed them out of harms way. As Zack crashed to the floor he saw the lorry connect with his twin and smash him into the railing. The railing snapped sending lorry and Cody over the edge.
Zack felt a full body numbness, like being burned by cold flames as he jumped up and ran to the railing. To his relief, when he looked over the side he saw that the luggage lorry had fallen into the ocean but Cody had caught onto an awning on his way down. Some of the crew hurriedly pulled him up and he was whisked away to the Med-Bay.
This all caused Maya to temporarily loose her cool, yelling: "Oh, my God. Death is after you!"
Cody lay in a shallow slumber on the Med-Bay cot. The medic hadn't found anything seriously wrong, but figured a light rest was well deserved. Since evening was fast approaching, he figured he could just sleep the night here. He wasn't eager to return to his cabin, where at Woody was stashing 20 assorted stolen potted plants.
He heard the door open, but didn't bother to see who it was. What did wake him up was when the person ran a finger through his hair.
He opened his eyes to see Bailey standing above him. Seeing Bailey was, all in all, better than seeing the cloaked specter he was expecting.
"You were very brave," She admitted, "but you had more courage than sense. It was so unlike you."
Cody chuckled a little. "I'm changing." he said. "Soon I'll start growing hair in strange places and sounding like Berry White."
"That is the most disturbing thing I have ever imagined." She was laughing now, her concern giving way to relief. "A little extra muscle wouldn't kill you though."
"It might. My immune system wouldn't know what it was and attack it."
This silliness continued for some time. Each others' presence alleviating the fear that death could bring.
"I'm glad you're safe." Bailey finally said. Her eyes narrowed, as if she had finally decided on something, and she leaned toward him.
Naturally, the door burst open. "Hi Cody!" London yelled, barging in with a fruit basket.
"Hello London." Cody said, looking like Christmas had been canceled. He cursed his luck on the one day out of the year London chose to be considerate.
In Zack's cabin, he was frantically throwing whatever he could get his hands on into various duffel bags. He wasn't sure what he'd need, so he decided on the take-everything approach. He packed extra underwear, muscle tees, water, pop-tarts, English homework, the pick-ax was always useful, marshmallows, thimbles, blank DVDs, sleeping bag, sarcophagus...sarcophagus?
He was momentarily distracted by a sarcophagus hoping down his hallway. This distraction sent a bolt of reason through his panicked mind, and he decided he could live without bringing the English homework.
All he knew for sure was what happened today wasn't going to happen again. If Death wanted him that was all well and good but it wasn't getting his twin. If we was gone then Cody wouldn't be in any more danger.
ca-thunk ca-thunk ca-thunk
Well, this was a kick in the casket. Getting lost on a ship was bad to start with, but having to be chased by an air-head while you hop around powerlessly was gruesome.
"Shiny!" London shouted again.
The sarcophagus hopped faster, hoping some of it's gold leaf would fall off and distract her.
That evening, Cody wandered aimlessly down the starboard deck. He had a lot to get his head around tonight. His concern for his twin's streak of bad luck was vying for his attention over his confusion about Bailey.
Did she want to stay broken up? Get back together? Torture him with mixed signals tailored to keep him up at night? Maya?
Maya ran towards him from the promenade. Once she reached him she grabbed him by the shoulders to steady herself. When she began talking she was not her level-headed self.
"Zack's (gasp) gone! I was (gasp) just in his room and it all his stuff was thrown everywhere (gasp) not like it usually is, but in a bad way (gasp) and I can't find him (gasp) and he said death was after him and I said he was crazy, but it's starting to look like he's right (throws up a little) and I'm worried something bad (gasp) worse is going to happen..."
"Inhale!" Cody yelled. While Maya focused on breathing Cody tried to make sense of things. "Look, today was a bad day but Zack's going to be fine. There have just been a few freak accidents. Zack's going to be careful from now on and he's not...going...to...be..."
He trailed off as he noticed a conspicuously Zack-shaped person lowering one of the life-boats down to the water.
"STUPID!"
ca-thunk ca-thunk ca-thunk
"Shiny!"
"London stop chasing that...sarcophagus! Sarcophagus...stop...running away!"Bailey yelled as she chased them down the corridor. As she heard herself say this she hoped deep in her heart that she was dreaming.
"Shouldn't we get help?" Maya asked tentatively from he perch in the swiftly dropping life-boat.
"If we tell anyone else Zack will be in trouble." Cody replied as he started undoing the ropes that tethered them to the ship. "And I want to catch up to him first so I can kick the stupid out of him."
"Good a reason as any." Maya conceded as she started paddling to where they saw Zack's life boat headed.
Ca-thunk ca-thunk ca- splash!
"ShineeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE-"splash!
When Bailey reached the deck she saw that the railing was still missing and in the failing light of evening this had gone unnoticed by the sarcophagus (which don't normally see) and London (who doesn't normally notice). The current was taking the partially buoyant relic out to sea along with London who was staying afloat by virtue of the mostly air-filled skull.
Bailey ran to the nearest life-boat. It was slightly farther away than she expected since two of the life-boats appeared to be missing. She would lower it down, paddle out, get London and the priceless treasure, paddle back to the ship, get back on, and there would be no problem.
About an hour later she had learned that a cruise ship with engines is very much faster than a dinghy with two paddles.
