25

Ianto was moving silently though the engine room with Jack close behind him, their hand motions in sync as they agreed what route to take. They had searched the upper levels and were satisfied that they were clear, letting Owen and Rhys search them now with open malice so they might feel important yet be safe.

Down here, in the basement where the monsters lurk, felt not so safe.

Ianto felt his heart pounding as he slid around the large fuel pump and he swing his gun with determined accuracy, ready to fire on whoever was down here. In his right hand was his gun, safety off. In his left hand a machete he had found in the kitchen for cutting up fuck knows what but seemed a good idea at the time. Ianto liked the weight of it. It did not matter to him if they were Uglies, sick or immune. The PA system had been ship-wide, calling for all survivors to be topside, anyone left would be considered dangerous.

Ianto would fire and ask questions later.

Jack grunted somewhere in the machinery and Ianto held his breath as he listened for signs of a scuffle, then Jack limped into view with his hand rubbing is shin as he grimaced at Ianto with a look of chagrin. He had simply tripped over a low pipe.

Ianto was about to whisper 'tosser' when he heard a noise and he swing the gun in that direction, motioning to Jack who nodded and moved forward to take the lead. Ianto followed closely, one hand on Jack's back so Jack knew he was there and safely tucked behind him. Like a Weevil Hunt only less calm.

"contact" Jack yelled, firing at the same time and the Ugly that exploded from the dark corner had a hammer raised above his head, Ianto calling out a warning as he stepped around Jack to swing the large machete blade down on the wrist of the other hand with the screwdriver heading for Jack's gut.

Then Ianto swung and fired on the other one coming from behind them, Jack turning to see a third one… a fourth… fuck. They fought hard, then stood there panting as one single one was left writhing on the floor, snarling as it tried to seize Jack's ankle.

Ianto knelt and drove his blade into the thing's eye socket with open hatred.

"Right" Jack said after a few cleansing breaths "Let's continue Tiger."

"Agreed" Ianto rose and cleared his throat, then swore, trying to remove his blade with one foot on the head as he twisted it. It came up with a loud pop.

"Ewwwwww, Owen will be so disappointed to have missed that one" Jack said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I think that's it. Let's do one more sweep to be certain" Ianto demanded, already stalking off as Jack laughed to himself that this man was ever the professional.

"No kids" Jack said after a while.

"Honeymoon cruise. Full of couples, crew without families on board and some elderly taking their twilight honeymoon, whatever the fuck those are" Ianto agreed, "Makes it easier."

"Yeah, I hate killing kids."

"Yeah."

.

.

"Right, I am Captain Jack Harkness and I can sure you all that the dead are gone and the Uglies are dispatched and gone too. This vessel is now completely safe." Jack said.

"And what about us?" the woman the leisure suit asked "Oh, sorry. Prudence."

"Prudence. I like that name, never met a Prudence that was a misery-guts" Jack replied, then cleared his throat before adding "I know how to pilot this vessel. What I was thinking of… we were thinking of… is a series of these vessels dotted about offshore where the Uglies can't get to us, they hate water ya see. Also, it's the dust clouds that cause this so if we are far enough out the breeze can't carry the contagion to affect anyone not immune but just not exposed yet. Also, we sort out some islands and with the mix of boasts and land, we create a little chain of safety. Each boat and island has small runabouts so no one is trapped there, can travel freely to other islands or boats, we just stay off the mainland where the danger lies."

Silence.

Ianto sighed and settled to explain the worldwide event that had happened, trying to be gentle but also being blunt where needed. When he was finished the silence was of a different timbre.

"So, permission to captain your vessel?" Jack asked.

"We can get off this boat?" a man asked, his woman clinging to him with grief as she mourned the world they had left not so long ago for a cruise.

"Yes. There are several privately owned islands with resorts on them, luxury housing… room for sheep and other livestock to graze. A good place, a nice life and it might be simply but it's safe. Generator power, some even off grid completely with solar and wind … no need to think we are going to step back into the dark ages. We can still life well. Just differently" Ianto explained.

"Then let's do it" another said as he rose from his seat like he was going to do it all by himself "I want off this bitch."

"So... who wants to stay on her?" Ianto asked as he looked around at the survivors.

None of them raised a hand, Ianto glance at Jack, "Right. W got us a boat."

"And we want that land" came the reply from one of the stewards.

Deal.

Yeah.

Done deal.