After getting into the narrow shoot, I thanked Leon for his not so helpful advice and told him my name. I then started climbing with my hands and feet pressed against the cold metal walls, bringing my weight up. Soon after I had reached about seven feet, Leon popped his head in.
"How much slower can you be?" He impatiently said.
"Hey, climbing through a small shoot isn't that easy." I said, looking down at him.
"By the way, Elza's a nice name."
"Well I don't really like that name but it's better than Walker. Anyways, if you still keep your head there, I might as well make a safe landing on it if I fall."
"Oh, you really are being in your prime." He said sarcastically.
"In a way, yes I am." I nonchalantly said.
"Never mind…" He didn't want to bother talking to me anymore and I kept climbing.
I opened the grate of the small opening and crawled through, entering the maids' closet. I looked for something that could be of use but there was nothing of interest. As I opened the door, I bumped it against someone, causing that person to fall. I went around the door to see a man on his front, face down.
"Sir, are you alright?" I asked in concern, placing my hand on his shoulder.
All I heard from him was a moan which gave me a spine-chilling moment. He then began to look me over his shoulder. When I saw the face, I became petrified, falling on my rear end in frightful awe of what I saw. He had a face which was torn of flesh, pale eyes, and a repulsive bloody mouth to go with it. I pointed my gun at it, squirming away from the thing. Disliking the thought, I had no choice. At head point, I shot the man. He fell to the floor and twitched for a while before becoming a soul's mere shell. I gave out a big sigh after encountering the unexpected and left the small hall.
I now was on the lounge room's second balcony. I looked below the railings and saw the lounge below me but it was trashed and no sign of anyone. I looked at my brochure and went through the map, finding out where that laundry room was. I had to go down to the basement in order to get there.
I also looked at the other areas. The double doors in the middle right lead to the deck while the other two double doors in the opposite direction leads to the cabins including mine. The one on the next floor leads to the dining and bar room, then the control room.
I went down the stairs and tried opening the door to the deck. No use cause it was locked -- lock picking isn't going to do much help since that it was old fashioned. I then opened the door to the basement. It was dark and I had no flashlight with me so I carefully stepped down with the door behind me left open to allow in some light. As soon as I reached the bottom, I stretched my hands forward to make sure I don't bump into something. I slid my hands against the wall, looking for the light switch. As soon as I found it, I flipped the switch and turned on a dim and flickering light bulb. It made the moment more eerie.
I walked over to the door which had a metal plate engraved with "Laundry Room". I tried opening it but the door was locked. I soon then noticed that there was a card reader on the side.
"Hey, Leon, are you still alive in there?" I teased.
"Can you open the door?" I guess he ignored my joke.
"No, I need some sort of keycard for this."
"Try seeing if there might be a clue to where it is."
I looked around the small hall for something but it was too hard to see in the dark. As I was walking around, I felt like I stepped on something. I bent down and picked up a clipboard.
"Leon, I'm gonna need that flashlight of yours." He slid it through the gap under the door. "Thank you." I said perkily.
I picked it up and turned it on, letting the light glow on the memo which was attached to the clipboard. It says that someone has been stealing the laundry that they had to install a card reader -- now I didn't want to know that. If anyone wanted to get inside, he'd have to ask the captain's permission.
"Hey, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to the control room now."
"Be careful." He advised.
"Thanks, you too…" I said as I stood up.
Before going up, I decided to pay a visit to the clinic which was next to the laundry room. At the same time as I was opening the door, another of those zombie-like things in a nurse's outfit came charging at me. Immediately, I dodged before she could grab me and kicked her by the hinge of the leg, breaking it, causing her to fall. I then brought out my knife and gashed it into her forehead. It soon became what it was suppose to be; dead.
I entered the clinic and pointed my gun out. There was no occupant so it was safe for now. I grabbed two first aid kits and a couple of bandages just in case if Leon gets little booboos from his arrogance. I went out of the clinic and made my way to the third floor.
I opened the door in front of me and saw another trashed room. I was in the dinner and bar room. I saw people, dead on the floor with blood streaming out of them. These bodies were different from the ones I saw earlier. They were intensely clawed rather than bitten.
I readied my gun just in case if they were going to rise and attack me. I cautiously walked forward to the bloody door in front of me and avoided going near the bodies. As soon as I opened it, I saw an old man in uniform, bleeding a great amount of blood. I rushed over to him and came to his aid.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He grunted from the pain.
I then took a closer look at the bleeding. "The bleeding's got to stop." I then got iodine out of the kit and dabbed a lot on the wounds using a few balls of cotton. I bandaged him soon after. "That'll have to do."
"Thanks but I'm not going to last long. I'm getting weaker by the minute. Anyways, I've always cherished this ship ever since I've first sailed it. I'm going down with it."
"Are you the captain?"
"Yes by all means."
"I read your memo earlier about the laundry room. My…well…friend is locked inside and I need the keycard to get him out."
"Wait a minute, is he the thief who keeps on stealing the laundry?"
I cocked up a brow, having no idea why he had to bring that up. "Uh…no…I don't think he is."
"Never mind then." He chuckled, seeing my reaction. He then pulls something out of his bloody pocket. "Here, it's the keycard."
I took it out of his trembling hands and went over to the control panel on the right. Every switch and button was short circuited. I didn't want to touch it or I would end up in a nasty shock.
"Tell me captain." I turned to him. "Is there a way we can escape?"
"The doors to the deck are locked. My first mate has the key. Go to room 143. You'll find him and his fiancée there. Afterwards, go use the life boats which are just hanging around the deck."
"I'll come back for you later."
"There's no need. I've always vowed to myself that I'll never leave this ship sailing in the middle of the ocean alone till I depart this life."
"Is that really what you want?" I asked, being heartfelt for the old man.
"Certainly…" he then gave out a small cough.
"Alright but I'm still coming back to give you some company till you're gone."
"Thank you."
"It's my job."
I then left the room and made my way downstairs, back to the basement. I then went to the door and inserted the keycard into the reader. Soon, a green light glows and I could hear the door unlock. I opened the door and there stood Leon a few inches in front of me.
"So what took you so long?"
"No time for complaints, Kennedy. There's a survivor up there in the control room. I'll have to look out for him. You go find the first mate in room 143 and get the keys for the deck. Think you're up for it?"
"You bet. I'll meet you up there as soon as I can."
"By the way, you're gonna need this." I gave him back his flashlight.
"I'll go now." He said, running up the stairs, leaving me down there. I soon went back up later on.
--
Okay, back with me. I entered one of the hallways and there were a lot of zombies in there. I kept shooting and reloading till there was a clear path for me to go through. I soon ran into room 143 and saw a man on the floor, held close a woman's corpse, sobbing his tears out.
"Sir, are you okay?" I walked towards him.
"Hold it!" He pointed a gun at me.
"Wait! I'm human!" I motioned.
He lowered his gun. "Then who are you?"
"I'm Leon. I'm with the government and here to rescue you."
"You're too late for that now. My girl's dead and there's no point of continuing with this any longer." he sobbed. He then brought the gun up to his head and loaded the gun by pulling down the mechanism at the back.
"Whoa, take it easy." I gestured. "It's not going to help you out with anything."
"Well I'm not staying here any longer. I'm joining my beloved and I'll stay with her forever."
"No don't--" There was a loud gunshot and blood spattered on my face and the shirt I was wearing which was once clean and white.
I couldn't look at the tragedy before me. It looked so depressing seeing two people lying on the floor, lifeless. I hated what I was about to do but I didn't hesitate. I bent down and went through the dead man's pockets. I found the keys to the deck. As I was about to open the door and back into the zombie infested hall, I turned around and looked at the two. I wondered; will I be just like that guy, just giving up just like that? I know how it feels to lose the most important person in your life but I kept encouraging others and especially myself to hold on but I still keep living with this depression. I'd always see her face in my sleep, never leaving me alone in slumber. I would also think about what I would do if I had a new person in my life and allow the same thing to happen. I definitely wouldn't live with myself probably. I decided not to think anymore and opened the door, speeding out through that zombie infested hall and made my way upstairs after unlocking the doors to the deck. I entered the control room upon seeing that Elza was looking after the captain.
"Leon, you got it?" Elza turned to me when she heard the door shut.
"Yeah but…"
I felt her gently place her hand on my shoulder and gave me a non-expressive face. "You tried." She said with one pat on the shoulder, knowing what had happened.
I felt a sudden shake of the ship. Just like how it would feel if you were sailing in a middle of a hurricane. I was stumbling from the movement, trying to keep myself balanced. Rapidly, a sharp edged tentacle crashed through the glass, dug through the captain's gut, and pulled him out into the ocean.
"No way!" I exclaimed. I began to walk forward to the scene but I stopped and looked back, seeing Elza holding my wrist in a firm grip.
"No, we have to get out of here!" She said in somber.
She opened the door and pulled me out. More of those tentacle things came crashing in through the windows and the metallic walls, spreading around the place. We had to crouch in order to avoid being punctured by any of them. Once we were at the stairs, the ship felt like it was sinking. We stumbled down the steps as we made it all the way to the bottom. We could even hear the banging of the halls' doors from the zombies and Cerberuses that were trapped in there, wanting to get out and get a taste of us. We ran out to the deck and we stopped in deep shock.
"W-what the hell is that?!" Elza asked in fright.
The monster that was responsible for the tentacles could now be seen completely. It was something similar to a squid or octopus except the difference is that it was larger like five stories high. It had a gruesome mouth with rows of bloody razor sharp teeth inside -- mostly giving the idea of where the captain ended up in. It reminded me of my studies in mythology, the kraken because of its distinguished appearance. It was wrapping its tentacles around the ship and then suddenly, it was pulling it down to the ocean with it.
I began to look around and saw some lifeboats dangling on the side. "Get to the lifeboat!" I yelled to Elza, running towards one of them. I was almost there until one of the tentacles hit me against the torso, throwing me hard with my back against one of the borders. It gave me one heck of a headache. I could see Elza running towards me but she should get into the boat; it isn't safe here.
"Elza, stay back!" I gestured but she didn't hesitate to turn. She came to my side and helped me get up. I pushed her back down to get down on the floor, preventing us from getting hit. I even slashed out every tentacle that was going to grip us with my knife. We quickly crawled our way to one of the lifeboats which were hanging from a pulley and got on. We had to get down immediately before the ship sinks, otherwise we'll capsize with it. So I took out my gun out of its holster and thought of an idea.
"Hold on tight." I said as I aimed at the pulley. I shot it and it broke off, causing the lifeboat to fall into the sea from a great height. I threw one of the oars to Elza and we started to paddle away from the destruction. The tentacles kept coming towards us but I kept shooting them to buy us more time. They were very far from us after we were a few feet away; they couldn't reach us anymore.
"I guess we'd better move."
"Wait a minute, Leon. We can't just leave that thing in the middle of the ocean."
"My thoughts, exactly." I said as I was looking through my bag of ammunition.
"What are you doing?"
"Blowing it up is what I have in mind." I was holding up a grenade in front of her. Since that we're far enough from the monster, I thought I could turn the ocean into my own battle field. After grabbing a couple more, I pulled the pins and threw the grenades into the ship. They were good shots. Within seconds, the whole thing blew up with burning metal and blood falling out of the sky like a heavy rainfall.
"I guess that could do us good for an S.O.S. sign." I said as I plopped down in the boat, looking at the ship wreck.
"Is it silly for me to say but I think that was kinda fun." She grinned.
I cocked up a brow and gave out a small chortle. "Shut up." I smirked in disbelief.
"Really, I mean it." She still plastered that smile on her face.
"You've gotta be kidding." She smirked with her eyes positioned in a suspicious expression. "Seriously?" She nodded. "You're the strangest person I've ever met." She then smacked me at the back of my head. "Ow! What the hell did you do that for?!" Okay, now that really pissed me off. If she were a guy, I'd…oh, never mind.
"For calling me unusual, jerk!"
"Welcome, bitch." I sarcastically grinned.
"You're impossible!" She kicked me on the leg.
"I think I'm adorable." The irony really aggravated her that she turned away from me with a load of groans. I was just looking up at the sky and enjoyed both the stars and moon before I could lose another moment of my precious time. Then again, it could be my last. Sheesh! These negative thoughts are getting the better of me.