SPACESHIP ZOMBIE CRUISE

FILE ENTRY 27.0

Bella Starr

I rise to my feet and guide Adrianna around my hip, allowing the girl to hide behind me. I nod to Astra who pulls the girl close to her side. I'm not one to pass judgment without evidence, but I've seen it with my own eyes. The night before the cruise when we received our AG Sickness inoculations, I remember when Dr. Mintaka entered the medical bay. He'd been on the phone. I overheard his conversation. I don't know who the person was on the other end of the line, but I could draw my own conclusion as to the identity of the mysterious individual. Dr. Mintaka told the person that he didn't think they should proceed with their plans. At least that's the way I remember it. Specifically, I recall him saying they should wait. Then I call to mind what Halo asked his father moments before being injected with the AG Sickness drug. He'd asked him, "Wait for what?"

The doctor brushed him off and gave his son the inoculations anyway. Apparently, the person he was talking to convinced him to proceed. But proceed with what? The only thing I could reason was that the doctor had been ordered to give the inoculations to the tour guide crew first, possibly to use us as guinea pigs.

And I can only think of three individuals who Dr. Mintaka might have been talking to. One...the resort manager, Grayson Flux. Two...the bony shell of a man standing in front me, the personal assistant and Space Venture spokesperson, Cygnus Lo. Or three...the CEO herself, Electra Draco. If I was placing a bet in the casino, I'd put money on Draco. She's the one in authority. She's the one solely responsible for it all anyway, even if someone under her supervision was carrying out her orders.

I raise the hefty wrench and aim the fat end of the tool at Draco. "You're the one to blame for all of this."

Draco's lips part but she doesn't speak.

"That's why you're going to take us to the bridge of the ship so we can send a message to Earth, warning them about this apocalypse that you created. Hopefully, they can send someone to help us."

"You have a big mouth for a teenager?" Draco says.

Cygnus Lo jumps in. "You dare threaten Electra Draco?"

"Do you think I care who she is?"

"That's quite alright, Cygnus." Draco glances back at her assistant. "She's one of the tour guides. She was at Neptune Shores under a work agreement and to complete her senior year of high school. She also had a university scholarship. Key word had."

"What are you talking about?" I wield the wrench closer to Draco.

"I think you know what I mean. I'm revoking your scholarship, effective immediately. Violence will not be tolerated at Space Venture."

I rear back, but Halo catches my wrist. "What are you doing?" he says.

I glare at him. "She caused this outbreak and she's going to take us to the bridge."

"I certainly will not," Draco says.

"Don't you get it," I reply. "You don't have a choice. You have access to the bridge and you will take us there and let us in."

"I'm afraid to inform you, little girl, but something happened to the ship's comm arrays. Even if we made it to the bridge, we can't access the data stream."

I jab the end of the wrench at Draco. "Take us anyway."

When she doesn't reply, I rear back and slam the wrench into the top of the grand piano. Bits of wood splinter and break free, fall to the floor. "Move it, now."

Draco grins incredulously and wags her head. She adds a roll of the eyes and then marches for the door, flashlight in hand. Lo clings to her side as Adrianna, Halo, Astra and I follow them toward the corridor.

"Wait a second," I say.

Draco and Lo turn around to face me. "What?" Draco replies.

"Did you kill the lights on this deck?"

"No, someone else did. When the lights went out, we were in the middle of making our way back to our staterooms. It was chaos up here. We weren't about to stay up here and die."

"That's when we stumbled upon the lounge in the dark and found the girl hiding inside," Lo says.

I turn to Adrianna, a hand on the back of her head. "How did you get to be on this floor, all by yourself?"

"My mum was sick in bed with the fever, and my dad was ill too." Adrianna gazes up at me with glassy eyes. "He wanted some air, felt cooped up in our room. Then mum went to sleep and I couldn't wake her, so I went to find him, but I couldn't find him anywhere."

My heart skips in my chest. I hug the girl. If Adrianna had waited a second longer to leave her stateroom, her own mother could have killed her or turned her into one of the infected.

Adrianna looks up at me. "We live on a cliff overlooking the ocean, so that's why I chose this floor in the elevator. It seems quite daft of me now, but I didn't know what to do. I wanted to find my dad so he could wake up mum. But I hardly doubt she will ever wake up now." She buries her head in my stomach.

I don't know what to say. I want to give her hope, but I don't want to give her false hope. In Adrianna's eyes, at her young age, she might view it the same as lying.

Halo says to Draco, "Do you know how to get the lights back on?"

"There's a power hub on each deck for the lighting system, but I can't remember where it is on this floor."

Astra crosses her arms. "You're the creator of this thing and you don't know how to cut the lights on."

"Look little girl," Draco says. Astra's eyes bulge at the comment, "I didn't create the ship. I came up with the concept and approved the final designs, as well as oversaw its construction in Earth orbit, but I don't know where every nook and cranny is located."

"Don't call me a little girl." Astra stabs the tip of the screwdriver at Draco.

Draco flinches.

A whirlwind of thoughts circle me. I have to figure out how to make it to the bridge, safely. I doubt wandering around in the dark is the way to go, even if it puts the infected at a disadvantage.

"The lights might still be on up on the Sea Breeze Deck," Halo says. "I think we should go that way."

"Bad idea," I reply. "I've already been that way and it was...let's just say...not good." I can't shake the image of Adrianna's father, sick and infected, joining the other infected passengers and chasing the people from the cafe. The last I remember, the girl's dad disappeared inside the cafe. He might be dead now, or worse, waiting for us somewhere up there. "I don't think the Sea Breeze Deck is a wise option."

"Why not?" Halo asks.

"But it makes sense," Astra says.

I'm not about to tell them the reason I don't want to take the top deck is because Adrianna's father might be up there. An infected. A freaking zombie. I think for a moment. Again, the last time I saw the man, he'd entered the rear cafe. There are two cafes, one in the stern and one at the front of the ship. He could be anywhere now. He could have taken a stairwell? He could be on the Serenity Deck? At this point, he might be wandering around in the dark on this floor.

"Well?" Cygnus Lo says.

I grab Adrianna's hand. "We're taking the elevator. Out in the corridor, we can go right, and then take the next right. The elevator's in the cross passage." I poke him with the wrench. "Go. Now."

Draco follows Lo out of the lounge, with Astra and I guiding Adrianna. Halo takes up the rear to watch our backs. Once the elevator doors close and seal us inside, I feel a small fraction of security, but the way this night's gone so far, I know it won't last.