“Lori, come back in, baby. Shut the door”, Rachel pleaded.
“There’s a crowd gathering at the end of the corridor”.
“Don’t get involved”.
“Maybe they have information or something, I should at least go and check, I might find out something crucial”.
Rachel sighed.
“And what if you don’t? What if there’s a damn good reason the captain wants us to stay in our cabins?”
“And stay here none the wiser with nowhere to escape to if something major is happening? We might as well be seals in shark tank”.
“Lori!”
“I’m going, stay here if you want”, Lori insisted, slipping out of the cabin and venturing into the corridor. She marched down the corridor towards the crowds and heard raised voices as a particularly heated situation neared boiling point.
“Why hasn’t the captain told us what is going on?” One man shouted.
“Yeah! This is some bullshit! Is he keeping something from us?” A woman snapped.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down, the captain will alert you when more news has been provided, until then, the only option is to wait”, a security guard instructed.
“Wait? When the ship might be sinking? Wait until it’s too late?” Another man replied. Lori stopped at the back of the crowd.
“The ship isn’t sinking, I can assure you, but your safety comes first and as part of protocol, it is our duty to make sure you are all in a safe space before we investigate, inform you of and resolve the issue and then resume the rest of the voyage as normal. This however only slows us down and endangers you”, the security guard replied.
“You know something, so why won’t you tell us?” A woman demanded.
“Ma’am, please”.
A situation was clearly developing into something more than it needed to be here, the staff’s coyness was doing little to alleviate the nervousness of those onboard and if anything, invited more questions.
Someone placed their hand on Lori’s shoulder and she turned to find Rachel.
“Any news?” She asked.
“No, nothing. They’re being tight lipped”, Lori replied.
“I told you we’d most likely discover nothing”.
“Yeah, but I can’t stay in that windowless, escapeless cabin with no indication as to what’s happening, because if something is, we’re trapped”.
Rachel sighed.
“I’ll stay with you until they do”.
“Thanks”.
1:32pm - 6 hours, 45 minutes since outbreak in London.
22 minutes since outbreak aboard MS HotS.
Wendy and friends had been in the pool at the upper quarter of the stern of the ship shortly before the chaos began, cooling off and recollecting thoughts. What had happened in London was truly tragic, but it did no good dwelling on it in the middle of the ocean where she was unable to do anything to change it. Her family and girlfriend were okay, shaken up, but okay and they would evacuate if they deemed it necessary.
This trip was supposed to be a treat for the massive promotion she had attained, position upgrade, pay rise, more respect and responsibility and of course a massive lump sum bonus, what more could she ask for?
In order to commemorate that, she gathered five of her friends, three males and two females and together they booked the trip, wanting nothing more than to leave work behind and head out on vacation, but here they were now wanting nothing more than to go back.
It was whilst she and her friends were in the pool that she had heard the public service announcement from the captain, instructing them to return to their cabins. Of course this only made people nervous, including her. It didn’t help that she also had the added pressure of having to collect her things from the lockers before heading back. Honestly, she should have just left them in the cabin like her friends suggested.
Being in the pool during this overcast weather, teasing with the prospect of a storm, was a spontaneous and equally ridiculous decision, made purely to clear their heads and calm their nerves in light of the events in London that they had no control over. It did no good to just be inside looking at news articles and watching videos that would only serve to tank their emotions and fuck with their rationality. Normally there would probably be staff up here to stop them, but after hearing that announcement, it made more sense as to why they weren’t.
They had collected their clothes and quickly rinsed off, before beginning the journey back to their respective cabins. That was when they spotted people running in their direction, screaming. Confused, she and her friends stood there amongst a fleeing crowd of people, looking for what had spooked them. People jumped behind bar counters, others fled down either side of the ship. It was akin to something they had seen in a disaster movie.
They didn’t have to wait too long to find out what the cause of the commotion was, when shortly afterwards a fleeing man was tackled to the ground by another and it certainly didn’t look as though they were play fighting, as the man on the ground flailed and screamed, trying to push the attacking man off of him. One of Wendy’s male friends instinctively sought to help, lunging at the attacking man and punching him in the face. He himself was a kickboxer, so he was more than used to confrontation, to some extent, revelled in it.
The man fell to the ground, seemingly stunned by the attack, giving Wendy’s friend a chance to free the man being attacked.
“What the fuck is your problem, dude?”
The downed man slowly looked up towards them, twitching erratically as he did so, a menacing grin spread across his face and blood trickling from the side of his mouth he had been punched. It was then that they noticed what looked to be a bite gash on his neck, he had been bitten, but by
