Flowers Vs. Zombies: Genesis Read online

  Ranj’s face paled and he stared, unmoving, at the approaching figures. Bill grabbed Ranj and shook him.

  “Wake up!” Bill said. “Do something!”

  But Ranj was in shock and did not respond.

  “Ranj!” Bill said.

  Bill slapped Ranj across the face. Ranj blinked, unresponsive. The captain was a big man, but he seemed to tower even higher over them now. He limped along on his broad flat feet.

  The music continued to blare from the speakers, a happy light summer tune. Bill cast around, his eyes alighting on a short wooden stool that had been knocked over in a crew member’s haste. He picked it up and held it by the circle top.

  The captain closed on Ranj, a deep rumbling groan escaping his lips. He was almost on Ranj, who backed away against the console. He had tears in his eyes. He reached out for the captain with a shaking hand.

  “It’s not him!” Bill said. “Don’t try to approach him!”

  Bill raised the stool above his head and brought it down hard on Captain Rodrigo’s head. He grunted and staggered. A trickle of thick blood seeped down the side of his face. He turned to Bill. Two of the legs on the stool had snapped off. Bill bent down and picked the fallen legs up, holding one in each hand. The tips that joined the circle seat were sharpened into blunt points.

  Bill surged forward with a roar and aimed the two lengths of wood at the captain’s face. One leg struck his cheek, cutting it open. The other stool leg entered the corner of the captain’s eye, the eyeball making a sickening popping sound. But the leg hadn’t pierced deep, and the captain’s arms were long and strong, and seized Bill by his shoulders.

  Bill ducked and threw himself backward. One of the captain’s hands lost its grip, but the other held firm, Bill’s shirt bunched up in the captain’s clawed hand.

  Ranj screamed as the other man fell upon him, crawling up his body, and lowering his teeth to Ranj’s flesh. Ranj had his hands on the infected’s forehead, pushing his head up, keeping his teeth from his skin, but it was a losing battle.

  The captain turned to look back at the noise, and the moment of distraction gave Bill the opportunity he needed. He seized the round stool saddle and flipped it over. He stood up and smacked the captain in the face, driving the stool leg deep into his eye socket. Another strike, and it entered the captain’s brain. His body stood stock still for a moment, and then began to crumple, first at the knees. He flopped to the floor.

  In the corner, Ranj screamed as his belly was torn open, exposing his intestines. They came away from his body with a wet snap. Ranj’s body jerked with the movement, watching in grim horror as the creature ate him alive. Bill picked up a stool leg and brought it down on the back of the attacker’s head. He slumped forward.

  Bill’s hands shook. He backed away from the bodies he had laid to rest. His hands were meant to heal, not destroy. A hissing sound, like escaping air, drew Bill’s attention.

  He looked down to find Ranj’s eyes open. They were bloodshot and haunted, seemingly unaware of his intestines hanging out over the floor. He reached for Bill, mouth gasping open and closed.

  He defied any medical explanation. No human, no creature, could survive this way. But yet here it was. It sent a shiver up Bill’s spine seeing something so wrong, so unnatural, as this. It went against all the rules of nature, everything he had studied in medicine his entire life. He picked up a discarded stool leg and noticed his hands were no longer shaking.

  You cannot murder what is already dead. He ended Ranj and moved to the door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “IS EVERYONE ALL RIGHT?” Bill said, hugging Liz.

  “Of course we are,” Liz said. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

  Bill didn’t answer her. He moved to Francis and hugged him too. Francis didn’t take his eyes off his computer game.

  “The boys are out,” Liz said. “What’s the problem?”

  “We had a spot of trouble earlier,” Bill said.

  “What kind of trouble?”

  Bill turned to look at Francis. He was lit by the glow of his screen. He turned back to Liz and lowered his voice.

  “What I’m about to tell you might come as a shock,” he said, placing his hands on Liz’s shoulders. “But know it is the truth and I will do anything within my power to get us out of here.”

  Liz put her hand to her throat.

  “Bill, what’s wrong?” she said.

  “Do you remember seeing on the news about a virus spreading across the world?” Bill said.

  “Yeah,” Liz said.

  “It’s happened. There’s been an outbreak.”

  “An outbreak? Where?”

  “Everywhere.”

  Liz blinked rapidly, processing the information.

  “Wait,” she said. “What?”

  “Entire cities have been overrun,” Bill said. “People get bitten, die, and then come back as monsters.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Deadly serious.”

  “What about Chucerne?” Liz said.

  “They’ll have to take care of themselves. So will we.”

  Liz’s eyes widened, the full impact of Bill’s words hitting her. She put her hand over her mouth.

  “Oh my god, Bill,” she said. “What are we going to do?”

  “Don’t panic,” Bill said. “Stay calm. We’re going to get through this.”

  “Does everyone on board know about this?” Liz said.

  “No,” Bill said. “I didn’t see the need to scare everyone for nothing, cause a panic. We heard it on the radio a couple of hours ago.”

  Liz narrowed her eyes.

  “You knew about this a couple of hours ago and you come and tell me now?” she said.

  “I would have come earlier, only I was indisposed,” Bill said.

  “Indisposed by what?”

  Bill put his hands on Liz’s shoulders.

  “I don’t want you to panic,” he said.

  “You’ve said that already,” Liz said. “It gets worse?”

  “Much worse.”

  “Tell me.”

  Bill took a breath.

  “One of them was on board,” he said.

  “One of them?” Liz said, turning pale.

  “One of the infected,” Bill said. “She came from the Middle East, where the outbreak first happened.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She’s no longer any threat to us,” Bill said.

  Liz nodded, picking up Bill’s tone.

  “How about the Montroses?” she said. “Are they all right?”

  “No,” Bill said. “Dennis was bitten.”

  Liz’s hand went to her mouth.

  “No...” she said. “What does that mean?”

  “It means he was with Gloria when she turned.”

  “Gloria?” Liz said. “She’s the one who was infected?”

  “Yes.”

  “When did she bite Dennis?” Liz said with a frown.

  “About the same time Gloria turned,” Bill said. “Why?”

  Liz took an unconscious step back.

  “Because I think I saw them when it happened,” she said.

  The door opened.

  Liz screamed. Bill spun around to meet his assailant, fists raised.

  “Zack?” Bill said.

  “I’ve got news,” Zack said. “And it’s not good.”

  “Join the club,” Bill said.

  “It’s Dennis,” Zack said.

  “He’s turned already?” Bill said.

  “I don’t know if he’s turned yet or not, but there was blood over the floor, the walls,” Zack said.

  “Marie?” Liz said.

  “Marie?” Zack said. “Who’s Marie?”

  “Dennis’s wife,” Bill said.

  Zack shook his head.

  “I didn’t see any sign of her, or anyone else,” he said. “I guess we’re not as safe as we thought after all.”

  “It’s worse than that,” Bill said. “I just came back
from seeing the captain. There was another infected on board. The captain was bitten. I took care of the ones in the wheelhouse but there’s no telling how many might be on board.”

  Liz whimpered.

  “The boys...” she croaked, grasping Bill’s sleeve. “The boys are still outside. They’re not safe. I can’t believe this is happening. Why now?”

  “There’s never any rhyme or reason for such things,” Bill said. “We just have to adjust and try to deal with them. Where are the boys? We have to find them.”

  “I don’t know...” Liz said, shaking her head.

  “Think, Liz,” Bill said. “Where would they most likely be?”

  Tears ran down Liz’s face.

  “Keep it together, Liz,” Bill said. “Think. Where are they?”

  “Jack will be somewhere up high,” she said. “He’s always climbing things. He thinks I don’t know, but I do.”

  “What about the others?” Bill said. “Fritz?”

  “He gets seasick,” Liz said. “He’ll be throwing up somewhere.”

  “And Ernest?” Bill said.

  “He’ll be wherever the books are,” Liz said. Then she frowned. “Although he’s been acting strangely lately. Oh, Bill, what’ll we do if they get hurt?”

  “That’s why we need to find them now,” Bill said. “Zack, will you help us?”

  “You just try and stop me,” Zack said. “Where do you want me to go?”

  “Walk around the railing,” Bill said. “You’ll bump into Fritz throwing his guts up at some point.”

  “Where will you go?” Liz said.

  “I’ll get Jack,” Bill said. “If Jack’s in the highest part of the ship he’s bound to be in the crow’s nest.”

  “What about me?” Liz said.

  “You wait here, in case the boys come back while we’re out looking for them,” Bill said.

  Liz took a step forward.

  “No,” she said. “I’m going out to look for them.”

  “We don’t want to lose the boys if they come back,” Bill said.

  Liz picked up a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She hung it from the doorframe at head height.

  “Anyone coming in can’t miss it,” she said.

  Bill held the note steady and read it. It said:

  GONE OUT TO LOOK FOR BOYS. IF ANY OF YOU COME BACK. STAY HERE! THERE MIGHT BE TROUBLE. WE WILL BE BACK ASAP. MUM x-x-x

  “A note will do the same job as me,” Liz said. “I’m going to look for Ernest.”

  “I doubt there’s a library on board,” Bill said. “How will you find him?”

  “I’m not going to find him sitting here am I?” Liz said. “I don’t know what kind of woman you think you married, Bill, but I’m not the type to just sit around while my boys are out there in danger.”

  Bill smiled.

  “I know you’re not,” he said.

  He drew her to him and kissed her full on the mouth. They broke apart.

  “What about Francis?” Bill said.

  Francis had his eyes glued on his videogame.

  “I’ll take him with me,” Liz said.

  “You be careful out there,” Bill said. “It’s not safe. If you don’t find Ernest within the next thirty minutes come back to this cabin and wait for the rest of us to return.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  ZACK TOOK OFF AT A run toward the prow, where a family sat in deckchairs gazing up at the night sky. Liz turned and ran toward the stern, holding Francis’s hand. Bill looked up at the crow’s nest. It was an intimidating distance away, a small round circle against the large bright moon.

  The direct route would take him down a dark narrow alley that wound between two structures: one led up some stairs to the wheelhouse, the other to a block of cabins. The moon was high on the other side of the cabin. Its light did not penetrate.

  Bill entered the alley. He heard a soft groaning noise from somewhere to his left, followed by muffled footsteps. He was cloaked in darkness so thick he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. His breaths seemed loud in his ears. He tried to breathe quieter. Something moved behind him, what sounded like footsteps. He hurried until he was running for the end. He emerged into the light.

  Bill spun around, chair leg raised, but nothing came out of the alley. He backed away until his heels met the railing on the other side. He forced himself to look away from the alley and up at the crow’s nest. He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted.

  “Jack!” he said. “Jack!”

  No one replied.

  Bill tried again with the same result. He took hold of the ladder and began to climb. The wind blew and he thought the mast wobbled, creaking. He clutched the mast tight, wrapping his arms around it and gripping it with his knees. The wind abated. He unclenched his eyes and reached up to continue climbing. His hands shook.

  The rung snapped in his hand. He stretched to reach another rung, but missed. He fell, his back finding the deck almost instantly, winding him and forcing a grunt from his body.

  He got to his knees and shook his head. His vision was blurry. Indistinct forms stumbled along the deck in a stiff-legged gait, away from Bill. Bill forced himself up onto his feet, stumbling to one side. He braced himself on the railing and shook his head. He looked up at the mast – there were two of them – and waited until they resolved into one. There was no way he was going to make his way up there by himself.

  Then something shone, bright with moonlight out the corner of his eye: a hair-thin wire that led from the crow’s nest to the front of the ship. Another wire ran down the mast to a small box on the side. Bill crossed to it, flinching as something stabbed him in the ankle. He’d twisted it – presumably due to the fall. His ankle complained with every step.

  He opened the box to find an old-style telephone. He picked up the receiver and pressed the button with ‘Crow’s Nest’ written on it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “DO YOU KNOW WHY I LIKE being up here?” Will, the elder boy, said. “I like being close to God. So when I say my prayers I’m louder than everyone else and He can’t ignore me.”

  “Does He ever reply?” Jack said.

  “In his way,” Will said.

  Jack, Will and Ian looked out over the crow’s nest at the ship and the world spread out before them, like gods over the earth. The fluffy silver waves caressed Adventurer’s hull. The waves were only visible twenty metres out. They could have been floating through space. The stars were brighter than Jack had ever seen them before.

  “I like being high!” Ian, the younger boy, said. “Everyone looks like an ant from up here!”

  “What about you?” Will said to Jack. “Why do you like being up here?”

  “I don’t,” Jack said, hands clasped tight around the crow’s nest railing.

  “Then why are you here?” Will said.

  “I like the challenge of getting up here,” Jack said. “To push myself to the limit, to see if I can achieve it.”

  Something moved out the corner of Jack’s eye. He looked up in time to see a streak of light across the sky. First one, then another. Jack closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

  “What are you doing?” Will said.

  “Making a wish,” Jack said.

  Will frowned.

  “It’s something we do in my culture,” Jack said. “When we see a falling star we make a wish.”

  “What did you wish for?” Will said.

  Jack turned away, his cheeks burning red. Will waited patiently, seemingly unaware of Jack’s discomfort.

  “That I would become the best climber ever,” Jack said.

  Will smiled.

  “It’s a good dream to have,” he said.

  Ian pointed up at the sky.

  “Look!” he said. “A red star!”

  Jack looked up at it.

  “It’s blinking,” he said.

  “What do you think it is?” Ian said.

  “I
don’t know,” Will said. “A sign from God?”

  The flashing red light moved slowly across the sky, and then suddenly picked up speed and fell toward the horizon. It disappeared.

  “That was strange,” Ian said. “I’ve never seen a star do that before.”

  “That’s because it wasn’t a star,” Jack said. “It was an airplane. I think all the falling lights were.”

  The implication filled the silence between the three boys.

  Trrrrring!

  The piercing shrill made the boys jump.

  Trrrrring!

  Ian answered it.

  “Hello?” he said.

  He listened, and after a moment handed the phone to Jack.

  “It’s for you,” he said.

  “Hello?” Jack said into the receiver.

  “Jack? This is Bill,” the voice said.

  “Bill?”

  “Your father, Bill?”

  “Oh. Hi Dad.”

  “What are you doing up in the crow’s nest?”

  “Making wishes.”

  “What?”

  “I made some friends.”

  “Are their names Danger and Irresponsible, by any chance?”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. Do you mind coming down? We’re having a bit of a crisis here.”

  “Cris... What?”

  “Trouble. Come down.”

  “Am I in trouble?”

  “Not if you can get down within two minutes.”

  “Easy.”

  “Then let’s be safe and make it five minutes. And Jack?”

  “Yeah?”

  “These friends of yours, are they real or can only you see them?”

  “They’re real.”

  “Then tell them to come down too.”

  “Okay.”

  The boys climbed down together. None of them used the ladder. Jack went first. He tried to pull away from the two brothers, but each time he looked up he found they were still with him. When they got to the bottom Jack was pleased to see them panting for breath, their faces slick with sweat.

  “Jack!” Bill said. “Come with me. We’re going back to our cabin.” He turned to the other boys. “You boys should return to your cabins too. Your parents will be worried sick.”