Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ORION
“The key, the key, the key,” Sharon mumbled, searching Paul’s body. “Where the fuck is the key?”
“Hurry,” Becky said, her hands over her ears as the hissing twisted my belly into terrified knots.
Curse this night.
At least Sharon wanted to free us before jumping ship. Our fae blood may have saved our lives.
If she could find the key.
I watched the ladder, waiting for the next set of pink eyes to appear.
“Got it.” The blood magi freed my arms first.
Goodness, the relief in my wrists, the kiss of cold air stinging my burned flesh was nothing short of wonderful.
I tried to not look at the mess the iron had made of my wrists.
As she worked on my ankles, the next set of pink eyes appeared. A woman rolled onto the deck, springing to her feet. Seconds later, another man made a forward tumble over the edge of the ferry to join her.
The woman hissed, darting into the room. Sharon roared, dropping the key and lunging forward.
“Get off my boat!”
“Sharon!” Becky wailed, hopping back, bumping into Basil.
“Do you mind!” he seethed.
Becky cried bloody tears, covering her ears again.
I bent to retrieve the key, ignoring the agony in my wrists. Speedies climbed onto the deck, hissing their one word, their numbers already too many for us to handle.
“Fuck!” Sharon wailed. “Help!”
Becky screamed, hunching forward. “Oh, God. Oh, God.”
“You could help!” Basil bellowed.
Working through the terrified tremors in my hands, I freed myself just in time to meet a speedie’s charge.
A woman with one eye, maggots falling out of the empty socket, crashed into me.
We went down together, rolling into Becky, taking her off her feet.
She wailed, collapsing into the path of an undead man.
“Eat!” the zombies cried as one.
I held the speedie woman by the head, her jaws snapping. Maggots spilled onto my firmly closed mouth, the stench of her decay bringing up a wave of vomit.
Becky screamed as she was torn apart in a feeding frenzy.
Good riddance.
Finding a softness in the woman’s skull, I pressed as hard as could.
Weak bone cracked, her other eye popping out of its socket.
I gagged, another wave of maggots spilling from her cracked skull getting in my mouth.
I threw up, but kept pressing harder, my fingers penetrating deeper, tearing through spongy bone and goo.
“Orion!” Basil yelled.
Two hissing speedies went for him.
With the mightiest roar I could summon, my right fingers broke through to the zombie’s brain. She hissed, convulsing violently. Not dead yet but rolling off me to thrash her limbs around.
I kicked myself away, scrambling to my feet.
A zombie bit down on Basil’s shoulder, teeth sinking deep, dirty fingers clawing at his body. The dead man pulled back, taking a chunk of flesh and cloth with him. Blood quickly spread across Basil’s top, spurting from the wound.
He spat a flurry of colorful curses.
The speedie gagged, clutching at his throat. The room fell still. Every zombie froze, turning their attention to it.
What in the name of the stars was going on?
“I… I…” the speedie said. “I… I… I am here. Emma? Are you… Are you here? I lost you at the park. Where… Where am I? Are you here?” The man blinked, his terribly bruised face flooding with fear.
“I’m… I’m…” He wrapped his arms around himself, eyes darting around the room.
“I… I…” A gargle bubbled in his throat, his body jolting.
“I…” He hissed, the speedie part of him restored. “Eat!”
I grabbed Sharon’s dropped blade, sticking the speedie in the temple. It went down. I kicked another in the chest as it lunged. It staggered back, tripping over the others feasting on what was left of Becky.
What just happened?
Did I really see and hear that?
Desperately fighting off panic, I unlocked Basil’s chains and got his good arm over my shoulders.
Time to jump ship.
Speedies fed on all three magi corpses in the room, more climbing onto the deck. We ran the opposite way past more blue chairs, arriving at another part of the deck facing west.
“Eat!”
There were speedies swimming in the dark water, their pink eyes bobbing in the shadows, all aiming for the pack’s old boat and the ladder to the buffet up here.
One choice remained. I shivered in the bite of the wind in anticipation of taking another plunge into the tidal water.
“Oh, stars.”
Speedies charged after us. “Eat!”
“Jump, Orion…” Basil wheezed, launching himself at the metal barrier.
Jump. Get to shore. Fix his bite wound with my healing saliva. Figure out the rest after.
A dead man reached us, his hisses spraying me with rank spittle. I dodged him, swinging a punch into the side of his face. I followed up with a kick, jumping back to avoid a woman launching herself into the fray.
“Eat!”
The two zombies collided, rolling across the deck to trip up two more charging out of the indoor passenger space.
Taking hold of this brief opportunity, I helped Basil climb onto the barrier. Despite the agony he must be in, he dove into the water. I followed, the fingers of a speedie skimming the ends of my hair.
Lucky escape for me.
I hit the water, the shock of the icy temperature sucking the air from lungs. The current snared me, dragging me away from the ferry.
Oh. Stars.