Raising her arm, Wendy dropped down onto her knees, driving the blade into Anthony’s neck. Even when Anthony didn’t move, Wendy yanked her knife out and buried it again. Crying out, Wendy kept plunging the knife into the corpse.
When she stopped, Wendy saw a divot in the side of Anthony’s neck. Pulling her knife out, Wendy stood up and folded her knife. As she clipped it back in her pocket, Wendy noticed she was covered in blood. Not caring, Wendy looked at the corpse with disgust and then saw the tip of the spear sticking out of Anthony’s chest.
Stepping into a room and over a dead body, Wendy dug in a suitcase. Grabbing a shirt, she stepped back in the hall and wound the shirt around the tip. Putting her left foot on Anthony’s chest, Wendy pulled the shaft out with a grunt, falling back into the wall.
Taking the shirt off, Wendy shoved the bloody arrow into the holster on her leg. Walking over and picking up the spear gun, Wendy pulled the second strap back until it locked. Lifting her left arm up, Wendy wiped the blood off her watch and saw she only had a few hours until dark.
She headed to the stairs and back up to the main concourse. Using a cart, Wendy loaded up water and then grabbed a small display of flashlights and batteries. Pushing the cart out of the store, Wendy stopped at a closet marked ‘Emergency Staff Only’. Swiping her badge, Wendy opened the door and grabbed large flashlights, knocking over a stack of life jackets.
After leaving the closet, Wendy stopped in another store and grabbed some clothes for her and the kids. Glancing at the price tag of the shirts she’d grabbed for the twins, Wendy gave a scoff. “Thirty dollars for a t-shirt, are you kidding?”
Filling the cart with other supplies, Wendy pushed it back to the stairwell. Then she headed down to the kitchen. Loading another cart up from the refrigerator, Wendy pushed it to the stairs and then ferried it up to her floor, one armload at a time.
Then, she carried up the first cart she had loaded up one armload at a time. When she was done, Wendy glanced at the end of the hall at a window to the outside and saw it was almost dark.
Walking down to the room she’d left the girls in, Wendy gave the knock and put her mouth near the crack of the door. “It’s Wendy,” she said in a low voice.
Hearing movement behind the door, Wendy gave a sigh of relief as she stepped back from the door. When the door opened, Jo Ann and Sally gave a small cry to see the blood covering Wendy’s upper body. “It’s not mine,” Wendy assured them. “I found Anthony and he won’t ever bother us again.”
“What about Timmy?” Sally asked and saw Wendy’s lips tremble.
Shaking her head slowly, “He’s…,” Wendy whimpered. “He’s dead and please don’t ask,” Wendy finally forced out. Jo Ann and Sally stepped out and hugged Wendy tight, ignoring the blood.
“Girls, I need your help getting the stuff,” Wendy said and they noticed she was breathing hard and could hear a wheeze rattling in her chest. They let Wendy go and Wendy waved a hand inside the room. “Get that cart we have inside. I need to lie down.”
The girls grabbed the cart and Wendy saw Ryan asleep on the bed surrounded by pillows.
It took three trips to bring the stuff into their room and they still had to use the flashlights to guide the cart around a few bodies in the hallway that the emergency lights weren’t near. Ryan woke up as they were relocking the door.
As the twins moved to get Ryan, Wendy stepped in the bathroom and gave a startle at seeing her reflection in the mirror. Setting her flashlight on the counter, Wendy turned on the shower and was happy to hear and feel the water coming out. When the water never warmed up, Wendy stripped and gritted her teeth as she stepped under the cold water and washed off.
Wrapping a towel around her body and another around her head, Wendy stepped out to see the twins playing with Ryan. Glancing around, Wendy smiled when seeing the twins had stacked the stuff around the room in neat piles. “Girls,” Wendy said, walking over and closing the curtains over the balcony door. Then turning around, Wendy stepped over to the bed and sat on the corner. “We don’t know if Anthony was alone, so you have to help me make sure the door stays locked.”
“Okay,” Jo Ann replied with a sad expression. “Why hasn’t daddy or the others come back?”
“I don’t know baby, but we have to wait until I’m stronger before we can risk leaving. Until then, we will wait,” Wendy said, reaching over and taking Ryan from Sally. “Was your daddy sick?”
“Yes,” Jo Ann answered.
“You’re leaving?” Sally cried out.
Hugging Ryan to her chest, Wendy nodded. “Yes, and we will leave a note for your dad telling him where we are going because you can’t stay here.”
The twins looked at each other and then back to Wendy. “Okay,” they said together.
“Girls, at night if we have a light on in here, I want those curtains closed,” Wendy told them, motioning to the balcony with her chin.
“So people can’t see us?” Jo Ann asked.
“Kind of,” Wendy answered as Ryan curled up in her arms. “The emergency lights are on batteries and will go out soon. Any light on the ship will let others know we are here. They might be good or they could be like Anthony.”
Both girls
