7. Voyage of the Damned

The skies had opened. Torrential rain poured onto the ground, causing floods in lower areas of land. Water washed through Riverside, seemingly attempting to cleanse the area of the infected. The river that ran past the town had started to break its banks. Water had begun seeping over into the surrounding forests. A boat was in the middle of the river, sailing downstream through the treacherous weather. The rain was so intense; the wake of the boat could hardly be seen in the water.

Inside the boat, the survivors were being led down some stairs by a tall man with messy blonde hair. Kyle Adler was attempting to make light conversation but it fell on deaf ears. The four survivors were walking with Robert Sylvester; the man who had attempted to kill each one of them. Kyle opened a water tight door and the survivors followed him into a large, brightly lit room. There were four people inside who each turned to look at the newcomers.

'Guys,' Kyle smiled. 'This is Bill, Zoey, Louis, Francis and Robert.' A thin woman with frazzled grey hair stepped forward and extended her hand.

'What a pleasure it is to meet you!' she said enthusiastically in a strong French accent. She shook all of their hands except for Robert, who refused to take hers. 'My name is Paulette Delaroque.' Paulette gestured to a man with glasses that was sat at a table with a large map sprawled over it. 'This is Zachary Harris. Over here is Annika Abingdon.' Annika stood up from behind a set of computer monitors and waved at them.

'Nice to meet you,' she said softly.

'And over here,' Paulette continued, gesturing to a man who had his head hung. 'This is Simon.' Simon looked up and smiled bleakly. He then hung his head once again. 'Simon's not been doing well lately. He lost his family… you understand.' Robert nodded understandingly. Zoey noticed and scoffed at him. 'Kyle,' Paulette said as the blonde man started to retreat. 'How is Henry doing?' Kyle shrugged.

'I dunno; I'll go ask Jaeger now.' Kyle left, pulling the door half shut behind him.

'Jaeger is our… how do you say? Pilot and captain,' Paulette explained. 'Well… have a seat!' The survivors looked around. There were not any seats around the room. It was quite apparent that the area they were in used to be the cargo area. Zoey went to a corner and sat on the floor, resting her head against the wall. Louis joined her. She was massaging her temples gently. Robert stepped away from the other four and stared at the walls.

'Oh I beg your pardon!' Paulette said apologetically. 'Zachary, why don't you get some more chairs?'

'Can't we look around the rest of the boat?' Francis asked. Paulette shook her head.

'I'm afraid there's not a whole lot to see,' she explained. 'Also, Henry is not doing well at the moment so its best not to make a lot of noise to disturb him.' The sound of the rain hitting the boat from the outside grew to a gentle roar.

'What's the matter with him?' Bill asked. 'Henry?'

'Oh well he's just a bit under the weather,' Paulette smiled reassuringly. Zachary scoffed as he stepped outside the cargo room. Bill looked toward him suspiciously.

'What's going on here?' Francis asked, looking at the map Zachary was working on. Various writings were on it including arrows, circled areas and highlighted sections.

'Zachary, Annika and I are researchers,' Paulette explained, looking up from her own work. 'We've been attempting to track the infection and categorise the various types and severity of the infected.'

'How are you doing that?' Zoey asked, sounding tired.

'We've attempted to find the origin of the infection as well as studying samples of the infected. That way we can see about creating a vaccine or cure.'

'Those poor souls are far beyond salvation,' Robert said with genuine sorrow. Annika looked up and smiled sympathetically at him. Zoey looked at him venomously.

'We think by examining the DNA of the infected and those who are immune, like you all seem to be, we can find a cure to this problem. That's what we were doing before we were forced to go on the run…'

'Where were you before?' Louis asked.

'Toronto,' Annika said.

'Canada!' Francis repeated, bemused. 'This thing has spread that far?'

'Before worldwide communication was lost,' Annika said, 'it seemed that other countries were experiencing similar problems. People suddenly becoming violent, attacking without mercy… developing physical abnormalities…'

'So nowhere is safe?' Zoey asked. Simon curled up slightly as Zoey spoke.

'On the contrary,' Paulette stepped in, 'places like Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have closed off their borders and airports, anticipating a virus or disease was causing this. So there's still civilization out there. We just have to fight to get to it.'

Zachary stepped through the door, bringing in two chairs. He set them down, left and brought in another two. He brought in one more chair and returned to his map table. He eyed Francis who was looking at his comments.

'It there a problem?' Zachary asked.

'What?' Francis wondered, bemused. 'Oh. No…'

'Good, then please don't invade my work area,' Zachary snapped. Francis recoiled in surprise.

'Excuse him, Francis,' Annika apologised on Zachary's behalf. 'Zach likes… his space.'

'It's Zachary,' Zachary corrected. Robert looked to him fondly.

'I'm gonna lie down,' Zoey told Louis.

'What's wrong?' Louis asked.

'I still don't feel too hot… no thanks to him.' Zoey used her bag as a pillow and started napping. Louis still sat next to her. Annika noticed Zoey's attitude.

'I can't help but feel that there's something…' Annika paused and thought for a moment. 'Something going on between you two.' She gestured to Robert and Zoey.

'Oh… it's nothing. Nothing at all. Not a peep,' Robert lied, unconvincingly.

'He kidnapped me,' Zoey informed her.

'And tried to kill the rest of us,' Louis continued.

'Not… I… I did not…' Robert stammered. Everyone in the room looked around, unsure of what to say. Kyle stepped into the room and sensed the tension.

'Paul,' he said to Paulette. She looked over and he motioned her to follow him. Paulette jumped out her seat and left the room as quick as she could.

A tense moment of silence passed before Zachary decided to break it.

'Is it true then?' he asked. Robert turned and looked at him dismissively. 'Four against one… hardly seems like they'd all be lying to us.'

'Oh hush, Zachary!' Annika scolded. 'Let's not make this journey any more unpleasant than it already is.' There was another uncomfortable silence.

'Why did you do it?' Zachary asked. 'I mean, what was your grand plan?'

'Zach,' Annika said warningly.

'Were you planning on saving her yourself, leaving the others to die and then just… lie down and fuck?'

'Zach!' Annika stood up, knocking her chair back. 'I hardly see how this is productive!'

'It's not, but it's fun!' Zachary grinned. Robert approached his desk and leant over, close to his face. He gave him an angry stare.

'My reasons,' he said, 'are my own.' Before Zachary could reply, Paulette could be heard outside, sobbing.

'What's going on?' Louis asked.

'Paulette's son, Henry,' Annika said with great hesitation. 'We think he's been infected.' There was a general hush around the survivors. 'He was infected and… we've been trying to find a cure for two days now but…' Annika shook her head. 'It's so sad… people loosing their families.'

'It's a God damn security risk,' Zachary said. 'I feel for her, I really do, but we need to do the humane thing and…'

'And what? Execute him?' Paulette re-entered the room with Kyle. Her eyes were still brim with tears. Zachary seemed to be at a loss for words.

'I was just saying,' he said carefully, 'that maybe it would be better if…'

'Let me get one damn thing straight,' Paulette snapped, getting close to his face. 'No one is touching Henry. Understand?' Zachary nodded, intimidated. Paulette stepped away from him and run her hands through her hair.

'I apologise,' she said. 'But I…'

'It's okay,' Louis said. 'We understand.' Paulette wiped some more tears from her eyes.

'Damn it…' Paulette cleared her throat. 'God damn it… I'm sorry but what's the point of everything we're doing if we can't use it to help the ones we love?'

'We're going to help countless people in the long run,' Annika said. 'Just try and think of that.'

'What is it exactly you've been trying to do?' Francis asked. 'When everything went to shit, I didn't think of studying those freaks. I just tried to survive.'

'That's what we've been doing,' Annika said. 'But on a larger scale. How can we expect the human race to survive this if we don't study it?' Francis nodded in understanding.

'You've been very brave,' Bill said, causing Paulette to smile slightly.

'Can we see what you've got so far?' Zoey asked, sitting up unable to sleep.

'I doubt you'd be able to wrap your head around it,' Zachary said patronisingly. Zoey gave him a sarcastic glare.

'We've seen a lot, you know,' she hissed.

'I bet,' Zachary murmured, completely uninterested.

'Have you seen a tank takedown a helicopter and destroy an entire hospital? Or a whole room filled with crying witches that we had to get through?'

'Witches? What are you, five?' Zachary said.

'That's the name we've given them,' said Bill. 'We've seen quite a few.'

'What are these "witches" like?' Annika asked.

'Miserable,' said Bill. 'They sit and cry.'

'They get pissy when you disturb them,' Francis said, remembering his encounter with the witch in the power station offices. Annika typed on a computer and turned the monitor around.

'Is this a witch?' she asked. The image was of a woman sat on the floor with long claws and seemingly glowing red eyes.

'Yeah…' said Francis. 'How'd you get that?'

'While we were categorising the different type of infected,' Paulette explained, 'one of our colleagues took a picture of this one. Like you said, she wasn't pleased.' There was another silence. 'These, witches, are very dangerous, yes. But their male counterpart is far more lethal.'

'I don't think we've seen one of them?' Bill said, intrigued.

'Show us a picture,' Francis asked.

'We don't have one,' Zachary said bluntly. 'We've not got an accurate description of it.'

'Why?' Louis asked.

'Because,' Zachary said matter-of-factly, 'the thing is so God damn quick and aggressive we can't get near it without being torn apart.'

'It's that bad?' Zoey asked.

'Oh yes,' Annika said. 'Yes, while a "witch" stays alone, the "infector" as we call it, is fast, mobile and can tear you apart in a matter of moments.'

'Or just infect you,' said Zachary.

'How can they do that?' Francis asked. 'We've been in contact with the other infected and we've not caught anything.

'The long claws in a witch or infector,' said Paulette, 'act like a kind of syringe filled with a mutated version of the virus that causes the infection. When they sink their claws into you, an altered form of the disease will enter your bloodstream. Even if you're immune to the common virus, you're probably not going to survive this.'

'Makes me glad that witch never sunk her claws into me…' Francis muttered.

A sickening bang came from outside, silencing all conversation.

'What the hell was that?' Simon, the loner, asked after suddenly jumping away from the wall.

'I don't know…' Paulette said quietly.

'It's probably just a branch or something falling,' Zachary said dismissively.

'No,' Louis said, stepping into the centre of the room. 'No, something definitely hit that wall…' There was another loud bang from the outside.

'Something's defiantly out there…' Simon said nervously. The door burst open, causing Simon to jump with fright. Kyle entered along with another man, Richard Jaeger.

'What's that sound?' Jaeger asked.

'Please tell me that was you,' Kyle asked Paulette. He was answered by a loud bang on the hull outside.

'Weapons!' Bill instructed. The four survivors took their weapons and readied them. Robert took his own rifle and cocked it. 'Not you,' Bill said.

'I can help!' Robert insisted.

'No you can't.' Francis pushed him away and went for the door. Jaeger blocked his way.

'If you think you're setting foot outside your nuts,' he said. 'I'm not going to risk you letting something inside here.' The bang resonated through the boat once again. It moved up from the wall slightly, heading toward the ceiling. Once again, something outside knocked on the ship, this time twice. Bang, bang. It was on the ceiling now.

Bang, bang.

'Where's it going?' Annika asked. The trail of the banging went across the roof.

'It's heading across to the access door…' Kyle whispered. The banging stopped.

From above there was a loud crash. Something had burst into the inside of the boat. In a flash, the cargo room door blasted open and a creature jumped inside. Francis fired his shotgun blindly and was knocked over, shooting the lights above. The room was suddenly smothered in darkness. There was a panic, some people screamed and some people fired their weapons. In the general pandemonium, the creature was beaten back through the door. Bill followed it, but it jumped back up the stairs to the outside. He took one blind shot and blasted it into the river with his shotgun.

Stepping back into the cargo room, Bill took a deep sigh and placed his shotgun down.

'It's dead,' he informed them. Paulette's eyes suddenly widened.

'Oh God,' she gasped, running out of the room. 'Henry!' Kyle followed her as Paulette ran through the tiny boat and opened a cabin where her son was resting. As the door opened, she screamed loudly.

'Where is he?' Kyle asked. Paulette pushed past him and ran back into the cargo room. She punched Bill in the face and knocked him to the ground.

'You son of a bitch!' she yelled. 'You fucking son of a bitch!' Louis and Francis pulled her off him and Bill managed to stand up. 'You killed my son!' Paulette tried to reach him again, but Francis and Louis kept her restrained. Annika stood next to Simon and put a comforting arm around him while Zachary stood by Robert, neither of them said anything. Zoey was leaning against a wall, holding her head.

'It was Henry…' Kyle said to Jaeger. Jaeger looked to Kyle and Zachary.

'Put all the weapons outside,' he ordered. 'Now.' The two took the weapons that lay on the floor and placed them outside. Zachary took the rifle from Robert's hands with great force, while Kyle met some resistance from Bill.

'You're not taking my gun, son,' he growled. Kyle pushed Bill away and took the weapon. Pretty soon, all the survivors were disarmed. All weapons and bags were placed out in the corridor.

'Why did you do that?' Zoey asked sheepishly.

'I'm the captain of this boat,' Jaeger said, 'and I can't risk any of you turning and going crazy.'

'Excuse me?' Bill asked, flabbergasted. 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

'I'm not risking one of you turning, taking a weapon and going postal.'

'But we're immune,' Zoey said. 'We've… we're immune.' Robert looked to her, concerned.

'We have no idea what that thing was,' Kyle said authoritatively.

'It was my son!' Paulette spat.

'He could have infected you… we can't take any chances,' Jaeger said.

'Hang on,' Louis interrupted. 'You were in this room too when it went crazy! You could be infected.'

'It didn't touch us,' Kyle said.

'It didn't scratch us, either,' Francis added, letting go of Paulette and stepping forward. Paulette broke free of Louis' grip and moved away.

'Come on,' Zachary said dismissively. 'All of you have scratches and marks. That's all it takes.'

'We've had these for ages,' Bill told him.

'I'm sorry, we can't risk it,' Jaeger said. 'As captain, I have to quarantine you all. This vessel is far too valuable because of the research we've gathered.'

'Oh captain,' Bill scoffed patronisingly. 'This tub is no larger than Francis' IQ.'

'Thanks, Bill.'

'Don't try and pull your fake rank on me,' Bill continued, 'because I've seen more than you could ever imagine.' He stepped close to Jaeger's face. 'We all have.'

'This conversation is pointless,' Paulette said, typing at Annika's computers. She removed a pen drive and put it in her pocket. 'Now we have a backup of all our research.'

'Give it to me,' Kyle told her. Paulette looked at him defensively.

'What's going on?' she asked.

'Just give it to me, Paul,' he said seriously. Paulette shook her head.

'Oh no…' she said. 'No, you're not locking us up with them!'

'All of you might be infected,' Kyle said.

'Bullshit!' Paulette screamed. 'You might be infected! We all might be fucking infected!'

'No,' said Zachary, 'I think only one of us is infected.

'How do you know that?' Annika asked, sounding very nervous. Zachary pointed to the floor. There were spots of blood.

'Someone was scratched by it…' Zachary said to a room full of deathly silence. The rain outside had stopped. There was absolutely no noise whatsoever.

'Whoever,' Jaeger said quietly, 'was scratched by it, please come forward.' Everyone remained still and silent. 'Come forward and we can quarantine you. All this research must be protected.'

'Who is it?' Paulette asked, looking around and pointing to Bill and the others. 'I bet it's one of you!'

'Lady, please,' Francis said. 'Just relax.'

'Relax?' Simon yelled. 'How do you think we can relax when someone in here is ready to turn and rip us to shreds?' Robert looked around nervously.

'I think it's him!' Louis pointed to him. Robert looked back, defensive. 'He hadn't come into any contact with the infected before we met him so he's probably not even immune!'

'Louis…' Zoey said bleakly.

'Yeah, and look at what he did to Zoey!' Louis continued.

'I was trying to help…' Robert gasped. 'Trying… to help…'

'You don't help someone by kidnapping them!' Louis yelled. Simon and Annika looked nervous.

'Louis shut up,' Bill instructed.

'No,' Louis shouted. 'If anyone's going to be thrown off, it should be him!'

'We're not throwing anyone off!' Bill yelled.

'Perhaps we should think twice about that…' Zachary said. Bill looked to him angrily. 'As the captain said; all this stuff could save the human race. I don't think letting one person destroy all that is something we should risk.'

'I-I'm not,' Robert said, stammering greatly. 'I'm not infected.'

'Prove it!' Simon yelled, stupidly.

'He does seem to be showing the symptoms…' Kyle noted.

'Oh yeah,' Bill said dismissively. 'What are those?'

'Lack of concentration, loss of ability to speak,' he said. 'Pretty soon it'll turn into dizziness, haemorrhaging and vomiting. Then he'll…'

'I'm not!' Robert protested. 'I… I…'

'I'm not the biggest fan of this guy,' Bill said, 'but we can't just throw him out to his death.'

'The water's mad out there,' Jaeger butted in. 'It'll be quick…'

'No…' Robert was shaking. Annika stepped forward to comfort him.

'Don't touch it!' Zachary yelled. 'It might pass on to you.'

'He's not an "it" you arrogant bastard!' Zoey stepped forward. 'Robert,' she said to him. He ignored her. 'Bob!' Robert looked at her. 'Did it touch you?' Robert shook his head. 'It's not him,' Zoey concluded, standing up. The others looked to her, nervously. 'He wouldn't lie to me.' They continued looking. 'What?'

'Zoey…' Louis whispered. 'Your nose is bleeding.' A gentle stream of blood was trailing from her nose. Zoey covered it with her arm of her hoodie.

'What was one of the symptoms?' Simon asked. 'Haemorrhaging?'

'Yeah…' Annika said softly. Zoey stepped back.

'Woah,' she said. 'It's not me!'

'She does have a lot of scratches on her,' Zachary noted.

'We all do,' Bill yelled. 'We've been out there fighting rather than cooped up cosily in this bucket!'

'Dizziness was another one,' Kyle noted, taking a step toward her.

'I fell and hit my head less than an hour ago!' Zoey proclaimed. 'My head still feels funny.'

'Doesn't explain the bleeding, though!' Paulette spat.

'Actually it does,' Francis said.

'Show me your degree,' Paulette said arrogantly.

'I agree,' Jaeger said. 'I think it's you.'

'It's not me!' Zoey screamed.

'No,' Robert said to himself. 'Not, not her.'

'Well what do we do now?' Paulette asked.

'We're not doing anything!' Bill yelled.

'We can't just leave her on the ship with the rest of us,' she continued.

'This is a small boat!' Bill proclaimed. 'All you've got here are notes, which you've backed up.'

'Yes,' Paulette said, not really caring about what he said. 'But what happens when she turns and kills me, destroys the copy and the entire boat? Are we going to let the entire human race die just so she can live?'

'She might not even be infected!' Louis said.

'That's a might…' Jaeger said. 'I'm not willing to take the chance.'

'You might be wrong!' Zoey yelled. 'You were wrong about Robert!'

'I might be wrong,' said Jaeger slowly. 'Then again, I might not. And all we've got is your guarantee that he's telling the truth.'

'I think we should throw her out,' Paulette said.

'Enough!' Bill shouted. Everyone went quiet. The rain outside had started to fall once again but not as heavy as before. The gentle patter of water on the side of the boat did not calm anyone down. Bill took a deep breath, hoping everyone else would do the same. They did not. Everyone stood nervously, each looking at Zoey and to Kyle or Jaeger, hoping they would do something.

'This has got out of hand,' Bill said. 'I know that all of your zombie research is important to you so how about we leave? You can stop by the shore and we can just leave?'

'I'm not taking the risk of being overrun,' said Jaeger. 'I'm sorry, but this is how it's going to have to be.'

'I agree,' said Kyle.

'So do I,' Paulette and Zachary said in unison.

'Let's do it!' Simon exclaimed, to the shock of Annika.

'No!' Bill cried. 'This has gone far enough. We're all scared, we all want to live and see the world rebuild itself. But it's never gonna happen if we turn on each other! We need to work together to survive. Killing the infected is one thing but could kill Zoey? Could you actually throw a fellow human being overboard to their death?' The whole cabin was silent. The only noise came from the rain. The silence was broken by Paulette.

'I could,' she said, the words sinking sickeningly into the four survivors' chests.

'Me too,' said Zachary.

'So could I!' claimed Kyle.

'I don't wanna end up like my family…' Simon said in agreement with the others.

'Toss her overboard!' Paulette yelled.

'As captain,' Jaeger said, 'I feel that it is in the best interests of everyone if we… escort you away, Zoey.'

'You mean execute!' she yelled. 'You disgusting son of a bitch!'

'Paulette!' Louis pleaded with her. 'This is exactly what you didn't want to happen to your son!'

'You may call me a hypocrite,' Paulette said, 'but this time… we can't just let it happen.'

'You heartless bitch…' Louis spat. 'Just because he's dead doesn't mean you should kill Zoey!'

'Get out of my face!' Paulette screamed.

'Stop taking out your anger over your lack of being able to do anything for him on us!' Paulette screamed and slapped Louis across the face. She then collapsed to the floor and began crying.

'Get her out!' she screeched.

Jaeger stepped forward.

'Don't make this harder than it already is,' he told her. Zoey refused to go with him. Bill and Francis stood next to her.

'We're not going to let this happen,' Francis told him.

There came a crack from behind. Louis, who was heading over to Zoey, was hit in the back of the head by Zachary. Kyle lunged forward and dived on top if Bill. Jaeger punched Francis and tried to restrain him. Robert moved to the door, to escape. Grabbing his wrists, Jaeger punched his knee into Francis' stomach. He then pushed his head against the wall. Zoey stepped back. Zachary and Jaeger both took a hold of her. She struggled to get free but Simon arrived and hit her in the back of the head with one of Annika's notebooks. Annika was crouched, sobbing.

Zoey fell limp and Zachary grabbed her legs while Jaeger took her arms. They carried her over to the door. As they left, Bill continued to struggle with Kyle. He managed to roll over, having Kyle's back on the floor. He head butted him twice but Kyle kicked him in the groin and pushed him away. He then drove his foot into Bill's face. Bill flew across the room, hardly conscious. He looked up at Kyle.

'You just made it worse,' Kyle said matter-of-factly.

'No, you did,' Robert shot Kyle in the face with Zoey's pistol as he turned around. Kyle's corpse fell to the ground and Robert aimed at Simon. 'You're a bad man,' he said before running out of the cargo room. Above, the rain had made the outer deck slippery, causing Jaeger and Zachary to slide around and the walked. They got close to the railing and lifted Zoey. They were about to push her over when a gunshot was heard behind them. Jaeger and Zachary turned to see Robert, who had fired a shot into the air. He had the gun aimed for Jaeger.

'What are you doing?' Jaeger asked.

'Don't… please don't make me kill again!' Robert pleaded, causing a shocked reaction from the other two. 'I… I don't want to kill you…'

'Let's just put her down…' Zachary said calmly. They placed Zoey gently on the deck and stepped away from her. Robert's foot slipped and he stumbled. Jaeger jumped forward to disarm him. Diving onto Robert, he reached for his weapon. He grabbed the handle and a few shots went into the air. Zachary ducked instinctively.

Inside, Annika had woken Louis and Francis. Simon was pacing wildly.

'We gotta help Zoey!' Francis said groggily. Annika went to get the weapons but was held back by Bill. Next to the door was Paulette. She was on the ground, weeping.

'She's not dangerous,' Annika said. 'Paulette!' Paulette did not respond. 'Paulette!' she yelled. The woman on the ground suddenly raised her head and turned around with red glowing eyes.

'Dear God…' Bill gasped.

Topside, the gun popped out of Robert's hand and started to slide over to Zachary. Robert broke free of Jaeger's grip and rolled over to him. Zachary bent to grab the weapon but was kicked in the face by Robert. Staggering, Zachary grabbed onto the rails. The gun was stopped by Zoey's leg. Jaeger placed his hands around Robert's neck and began choking him. Zachary looked up and down where the boat was headed. There was a fork in the river and they were headed for the centre.

'Captain!' Zachary cried. Jaeger saw the obstacle and gasped.

Below, the witch was growling at the survivors.

'It's gonna go…' Louis said.

'What is that?' Simon cried. The witch screamed at him, running straight at him. It pushed the others out of her way and went straight for Simon. He screamed and managed to get past her and out of the room. He ran forward through the ship and became trapped in the bridge. He slammed the door shut and took a breath of air. The door was decimated and the witch ran in and clawed at him. As the former Paulette punched her claws into Simon's flesh and tore out skin and muscle, dislodging bone and his life, the rain outside could not drown out the screams of absolute agony. The witch clawed at the boat's helm controls, causing it to veer sharply to the left.

Above, Zachary stumbled across the deck while Jaeger tightened his grip around Robert's neck. The other survivors below had grabbed all their weapons and ammunition and proceeded to go to the top when the boat veered the right. It zigzagged as it came closer and closer to the fork in the river. A large splash of water flooded over the deck. As Zachary regained his ground, Zoey's eyes opened. She coughed out some water and saw the gun beside her. She grabbed it and managed to stand. She pointed it at Jaeger.

'Let him go,' she ordered. The boat veered to the left once again, this time far more violently. Zoey was knocked over the railings, firing accidentally as she did so. Robert saw and dived in after her. Zachary slipped around the deck as the boat crashed into the fork on the left side. The cargo room walls tore open and water flooded the vessel. As it made its way down the left side, Robert and Zoey desperately fought the current and were dragged down the right side. Zachary and Jaeger also fell in, joining them.

Jaeger would not be able to go down with his ship as he was being dragged to his death by the current, along with Zoey, Zachary and Robert in the opposite direction than the others. Bill, Francis, Louis and Annika were still stuck on the vessel as it gradually began to sink. Stuck in the corridor, they were unprepared when the cargo room door burst open and water proceeded to smother them.

The survivors were seemingly headed for a watery grave…