Infection- Book 2

Chapter 8- Ship

“One more thing,” Budgey called to us before closing the door. “When you landlubbers make it down into the ship, make your way to the hull. The fuel should be there.”

“Got it, let’s go,” I muttered. Willow followed close behind me as Budgey shut the door.

“Where the hell is the hull?” Willow groaned, checking behind the corner of the hall.

“How would I know? I’m not a sailor,” I snarked, still annoyed with how long it took us to start searching for the fuel in the first place. “We should stick together just to be safe, though.”

Willow scoffed. “I work better alone. It won’t be my fault if you come crawling into the hull with scratches up and down your arms. You’re on your own.” I rolled my eyes at her and took a turn, separating from her. I was seriously considering pushing her off the boat when we
got back with the group.

I didn’t expect a huge party to be going on within the ship, but I didn’t think it’d be dead silent, either. I let out an alarming scream when a nearby radio transmission started buzzing, filling the room with static. I slammed my fist on the power switch, but it continued to buzz. I growled and grabbed the radio to smash it before I heard a faint voice pick up through thedevice. I set it back on a nearby table and stuck my ear next to it to listen when the signal was picked up better. A woman’s voice spoke softly, but she didn’t say anything but numbers. Odd.

A number pattern kept being repeated through the radio, so I scribbled it down in my old
notepad that I used for cases before I was promoted. As soon as I lifted the pen from the paper to form the final number, the static returned to the radio. Another voice began speaking, this time a man. I couldn’t understand a single thing he said because it didn’t even sound like english. I didn’t even recognize it as any language at all. I reached for the volume button before hearing a certain name through the radio. It still wasn’t clear and it wasn’t even in the right order, but it was her name. “Eez,” the man kept repeating.

Zee.

I flipped to a new page and frantically scribbled the code down into my notepad. Why was Zee being mentioned on the radio? How did this guy even know her? Was he watching us? I quickly decoded the messages, rewriting everything underneath. Frozen in place, I dropped my
pen against the ground when I finished translating the message.

“Zee will never speak.”

“The insolence calls to you.”

“Help me.”

“Run.”

“Her hand gone.”

“Smile for him.”

My hands shook so much that I could hardly read the words on the paper. I didn’t have the slightest idea what the message meant or why Zee was involved, but it didn’t sound good. I cranked the radio volume to 0 and stuffed my notepad back into my belt, struggling to close the pouch.

“What the hell are you doing?” a voice from behind me said. I whipped my head around
to see Willow leaning against the door frame, raising an eyebrow at me. I pushed off my knee to
get up and walked past her, holding my hand inside the unclipped pouch. I didn’t need anyone
else knowing about that message. Willow followed behind, continuously checking around us as we went deeper into the ship. She pointed down a flight of stairs to a huge crate with black liquid spilled around it. “I found the fuel.”

“Good,” I whispered, my throat dry. I slid down the railing of the stairs and entered the crate to see a dozen barrels full of fuel. Willow appeared behind me and groaned at the sight.