Zombie Apocalypse Ch. 02

Once the three had gathered all that they could, they carried their goods back to the cars. Finn was doubtful that it would all fit, but somehow it did. All packed. They got back on the road again. When traffic was too bad, they drove around it. Both the Jeep and the Hummer were good on rough terrain.

When we finally arrived at the port of Tampa, the sun was starting to set. There was a huge chain link fence surrounding the port we wanted to enter. Men with guns at their sides guarded the entrance. A call came over the radio. "Don't get out of the car unless I tell you to."

***

Rick looked at me then Jess and Jason. "That goes for you too. Stay here."

I watched closely as he left to speak with the guards. The conversation was short before he climbed back in. He put the Hummer back in drive and drove through. Slowly, Finn followed. When the cars finally stopped we were in front of what looked like a large cruise ship. There were more men loading boxes and bags into the cargo area. There were also what I would guess to be oil drums, a lot of them. I looked over to the ramp that led onto the passenger part of the ship and saw my father. Once he spotted the cars and headed towards them, I jumped out and ran to him.

"Daddy!" I yelled, throwing myself into his arms. Jessie's parents came out too, and she ran to them in a similar fashion. My dad spun me around and hugged me tight.

"Glad you made it kiddo." He looked up to Rick. "Thank you. I wouldn't have trusted anyone more to bring her here safe." Rick nodded. "So who are your friends Logan? Other than Jessie of course." He smiled at my friend.

As the other piled out of the cars I introduced them. "This is Jason, Tristan, Finn, and Carina."

"Nice to meet you," he responded as he let me go. He indicated a man to his right. "This is Marc, he'll take you to one of the dining areas. There are about 140 of us total so far, give or take twenty. Everyone should be in the dining room. Wait there until I come back in with Rick. You can take any personal belongings with you."

Those of us that had bags grabbed them and followed Marc, with the exception of Rick. My eyes went to his a moment for we walked up the ramp and onto the ship with Jessie's parents. Inside the lobby, we got into the elevator for a short trip, and after that it was just a short walk.

The room itself was gorgeous. The occasional chandelier hung from the ceiling, shining bright light. The walls were golden, and each table was covered with a spotless white tablecloth that hung nearly to the floor. Beautiful paintings adorned the walls and a mosaic covered the floor. I would be excited to be here if it were under just about any other circumstances.

In the dining room there was a low hum of conversation. Some people were crying, some people seemed angry, and some people just seemed numb. In that moment, I wondered why I wasn't having some sort of emotional reaction. Maybe it was because I was lucky enough to have every human being I had cared about for the past 10 years on the ship with me. My mom had passed away when I was a girl, so my dad was the only family I had left. And Jess was here, along with her family. Rick and Finn were also here, yet I didn't want myself to dwell on that thought at the moment.

We chose an empty table on the outskirts of the crowd and sat down together. Jessie looked happy to be with her parents and sat between them. Mr. and Mrs. Swain looked like they couldn't be happier than to have their only daughter back. Finn sat beside me, Carina on his other side next to Tristan. Finn had a worried look on his face. While that was exactly out of the blue considering our situation, I still felt compelled to ask.

"What's wrong Finn?"

He was silent for a minute before he finally answered. "Tris and I have been trying to get a hold of our mother, but she hasn't answered." What he left unsaid was that they feared the zombies had claimed her. Not knowing what to say, I grabbed his hand under the tablecloth. Carina, however, wasn't willing to be left out.

"Oh Finn, I'm so sorry baby," she said sympathetically, laying her head on his shoulder. He gave her a disdainful look before shrugging her off and glaring at his brother. I had a hard time ignoring the urge to smack her.

We heard the door creak open and a few more people filtered into the room. Jason saw his family come in and went over to them. It was about an hour later that my father and Rick finally came in with a few other men. They all went to the front of the room and asked for everyone's attention. My dad was the first to speak.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome aboard the Voyager. My name is Roan Hartley. This," he indicated Rick, "is Rick Mackey, Joe Schaefer, Will Covington, Brian Cowan and Marc Cuevas," he introduced the rest. "We will be in charge of this ship for the duration of our time aboard. Not because we seek power, but because we have experience in dire situations. And this," he paused, "is indeed such a situation. We will make decisions together, and listen to any opinions you have. We will try to be fair and make this and enjoyable as possible considering. However, we will do what needs to be done to keep everyone safe. If you feel uncomfortable after hearing that, leave now."

He gave the opportunity for anyone to leave if they wanted to. No one did. "If any of you change your mind, you may disembark when we next dock, whenever that may be, there will be no repercussions. This is indeed a cruise ship, as I'm sure you've noticed. Mr. Schaefer," a man who looked to be in his 40s or early 50s stepped forward, "will be the captain of this ship. He used to be a captain in the Navy before he began working on the cruise ships. Mr. Cowan," a man in his 30s with blonde hair stepped forward, "will be his second in command. He has captained cruise ships before and has enough experience. I will be a general coordinator for this ship. My job will be to make sure things go smoothly. If you have complaints, come to me. I will also be in charge of discipline if the need should arise. Rick used to be SWAT. He will be in charge of security. Will Covington will be in charge of supplies. Mr. Cuevas had some engineering experience and used to do ship maintenance for government ships. He will do his best to keep the integrity of the boat intact to ensure safe sailing. If one of these men tells you to do something, do it. We also convinced some of the crew working for the company to stay on and help us run the ship. They agreed that it would be one of the safer places to stay.

We have loaded a lot of extra barrels of fuel onto the ship. They should last a while, but eventually we will need to dock for food and more fuel. When that time comes we will need a security force to go out into port and look for it. There will probably be creatures to fight there, so training should start immediately. Anyone interested, please contact Rick.

Now, we have room keys to the uppermost deck containing passenger rooms. You can select a room from the list and get the card now from Mr. Cowan, or you can roam around the ship and find a room that you might like and come get the key from us. If you're hungry, we should have food ready in an hour or so. If not, I still expect to see everyone back here at 10:00am sharp tomorrow morning. We leave port in one hour."

Some people started forming a line near the table the captain sat at, and some began wandering through the ship. I went back up where my dad and Rick stood, while my friends seemed content to stay at the table a little longer.

"Hey Honey," my dad greeted me. "I already have a good room picked out for you. It's a suite, and down the hall from my room. Not far from Rick's either. You can either share the room with Jess or she can have her own. I'll be in room 1314." He handed me two plastic key cards and a map of the ship. Deck 10, Room 1298.

"Thank you Dad," I hugged him again.

"You're welcome Sweetie. Do me a favor and come back for the dinner later, okay?"

"Okay, I will. I'm just going to put my stuff in my room really quick."

"Atta girl," he smiled. With that he was off to talk to the other men in charge. Rick, however, stayed near.

"I'll be in room 1308. If you want, I can show you and Jess to the room."

"Sure, I'll be right back, let me go get her."

I went back over to Jessie and our friends. My bag was still sitting by my empty chair. "Hey Jess, did you want to share a room?" I asked.

"Of course," she said with a big smile. I looked to her parents.

"We'll be in room 1298 if you want to find a room close to ours." As I said it my eyes also darted over to Finn. Would he want a room close to ours?

"Sounds good girls. We'll go request our room right now, and then we'll go get settled in too. Will you be back for food later?" Mrs. Swain, Kathy, questioned.

"Yeah, we'll be back."

"Okay, see you soon."

I watched Jess hug her parents goodbye and my stare fell back on Finn. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't sure what to say to him. So I waved and picked up my bag. Jess did the same and we walked back to Rick. He offered to carry our bags, and hesitantly I let him. What a nice guy.

"Follow me ladies."

He led us back to the lobby and the elevators, taking us from Deck 15 to Deck 10. We took a left around the corner and our suite was less than a minute away. I gave Jess a key card and used mine to open the door. We went inside to look around.

As far as size went, it was somewhat small by normal standards, but slightly larger than the dorm room we had shared. The bonus was that it had a kitchenette, a shower, and a desk/study area. Two large beds shared the largest portion of the room. The room was mostly blue, white and yellow, with wood accents. A patio door led the way onto a balcony, not far from the life boats. Overall, it was a very nice suite.

Rick set our bags down and Jess rifled in her bag for something.

"I hope you don't mind," she looked between us, "but I really want to shower."

"Go ahead Jess, I'll be here when you get out," I told her. She swept into the bathroom, leaving Rick and I in the silence.

"Hey kiddo, how are you holding up?"

"I'm okay. I feel like I should be more upset, but I just keep thinking about how lucky I am. Everyone that's important to me is on this boat. Not everyone is so lucky." I answered. "What about you?"

"I'm doing pretty good too, despite everything. I've never really had a family. You're dad is my closest friend, and he's here. So are you," he added.

That thought made my heart beat faster, but I did my best to ignore the sensation. "It's hard to believe that there are really creatures like that, zombies, really living out there. Well, not living, but you know what I mean."

"I know, I haven't seen one yet, but all of our government contacts confirmed it. The president was taken to a secure shelter hours ago. I never thought I would say this, but zombies are real. You don't have to worry though Logan. We have a good plan, and we'll keep you safe."

I got one last hug before he went back to the door. "I'll see you later?"

"Yes," I said softly. And then he was gone. I wondered what Finn was doing right then.

***

Watching Logan go with Rick was hard. Finn thought he was a nice guy and all, but he really wanted to be the one keeping Logan safe. He felt the urge to protect her, keep her safe. Maybe there were some other urges, but he knew when to think with his brain. Right now his brain was thinking of a way to get rid of Carina. Jessie's parents had left the table, and now it was just the three of them. He looked over to his brother.

"Tris, I'll be right back. I want to see if they heard anything about Miami." Cari looked like she wanted to follow, but he told her to stay with his brother. Before he made his way up to talk to Mr. Hartley, he waited until Carina wasn't looking and snuck over to see Mr. Cowan.

"Do you have any rooms near room 1298?" he inquired. The man gave him a strange look, but took out his map for inspection.

"1278 is open. Will you be the only one in the room?" He looked up.

"No, my brother is with me."

Cowan asked for their names and added them to the list before handing him two room keys. Finn quickly hid them in his pocket. Next stop: Mr. Hartley. He was chatting idly with his companions.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

He turned to me. "You're one of Logan's friends aren't you?"

"Yes Sir, Finnegan Kendrick. Most people call me Finn." His hand reached out toward Finn and they shook.

"Nice to meet you Finn, you can call me Roan. What is it that you need?"

"I was wondering if you'd heard about Miami. My mother and my aunt live there," he ventured. Finn held his breath, hoping against the odds.

"I'm sorry son, but from what I heard, the zombies hit there already. They'll probably be here any minute, which is why we're leaving." The older man patted him on the back, unsure what to say. Finn walked back to his brother.

Tristan looked up and could tell from the grim set to his brother's face that it wasn't good news. "What did he say?"

"The zombies hit Miami already." Hesitantly, Finn took out his Smartphone and went to YouTube. He typed the words "zombies" and "Miami". Up came a myriad of movies. He didn't have to open them to know they weren't good. He didn't really want to open them. He put his head in his hands and took deep breaths. Carina tried to talk and touch him, but he pushed her back. She must have been somewhat intelligent because this time she actually backed off.

"Tristan, I need to talk to you for a moment."

The brothers stepped away for a moment, leaving Cari pouting by herself. Quickly Finn slipped his brother the room key.

"Here, this is the key to our room. I think it's a suite. I didn't want psychopathic blonde getting a room by me. It's already bad enough you let her tag along."

"Sorry Bro, but I couldn't let some girl get eaten by zombies just because she's really clingy and annoying. She didn't have anywhere to go. Her parents are on the other side of the country and by the time we got news all planes were grounded. Deep down, she probably feels almost the same as we do right now. "

Finn wanted to feel some sympathy, and he almost did. But he had too much on his mind right now and he didn't want to deal with her.

"Fine, I'm going back to the room, see you later."

***

Jess was finally out of the shower and primping for dinner, though I wasn't sure why. There was much more on all of our minds, but maybe it made her feel better. I was looking out the window as the ship finally started leaving port. The tall buildings were drifting farther and farther away. Some buildings in the distance were on fire. It looked like we were leaving right on time.

I put on a fresh set of clothes real quick. Fresh jeans and a comfortable black top were my simple outfit, followed my some black moccasins. Nothing fancy.

"Jessie, you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

It was a quick trip back to the dining room. We scanned the crowd for familiar faces. We found the Swains by my dad. No sign of Finn, but I did see his brother and The Bimbo at a table with some other people. Jason was sitting with his sister and parents. We headed in the direction of our own parents. Together we sat at a table. Bowls were set out. A woman came around with a cart and a pot of what I guessed to be soup. Gradually we were all served.

"So how's everything going so far Dad?" I asked.

"Well we barely made it out on time, but the ship's running well, and we have a decent amount of supplies. It should be a while before we dock, and by then hopefully by then the docks will be fairly deserted. Our goal right now is to get into the ocean. Then we'll probably drift until we come up with a better destination."

"Have you considered one of the private islands owned by the cruise companies?" Kathy Swain asked. My dad nodded.

"We've been debating it. It may be a safe place, the zombies couldn't reach an island, but if there were people there, and one had accidentally been turned before they arrived, who knows. We'll figure something out." He smiled. Rick appeared behind him.

"Hello everyone, mind if I join you?" No one did, so he sat. He looked handsome in a tight shirt and tight jeans, hair wet from a shower. I thought about the other handsome man that I'd been around today and again wondered where he was.

The soup was good, really good actually. Somebody on the ship really knew how to cook. The conversation was dull and I spent more time playing with my food than eating it. I was glad when dinner was over. Since all of our rooms were in the same area, everyone left at the same time in a group. Once on Deck 10, we split, Rick walking us ladies to the door.

"Can I talk to Lo for a minute Jess?"

"Sure, you have your key right Logan?"

"Yeah, I'll be in shortly."

After I heard the door close I turned to Rick.

"You hardly touched your dinner. Something wrong?" He brushed a finger over my cheek, not liking the worry that marred my features.

"Just worrying about my friend. He didn't eat dinner. He was worried about his mother, I'm wondering if he got bad news."

"Finn?" he asked. My answer was a nod.

"I'm sorry about your friend Logan. Do you still have a walkie-talkie?"

"Yes, it's in my bag."

"Keep it, I have the other two. If you need anything, just turn it on and ask for me. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Ricky."

His lips curved upward at the nickname I'd used for him during childhood.

"Anytime Logan. Any time."

"Goodnight," I whispered.

"Goodnight."

I slipped into the room, and then into the bed. The day finally caught up with me, and I drifted right off to sleep. Not even dreams plagued me. I probably drooled everywhere in my deep sleep.

I awoke to loud knocking in the middle of the night. I looked over to Jessie and I was surprised she wasn't awake. I shouldn't have been surprised; she always slept like the dead. Hah, the dead. Bad joke. But someone was still knocking. I got out of bed in my rumpled clothing and looked through the peephole.

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