I've got a job for you part V
Standos, Marcus, Nigel, Wheels, and the three remaining crew members were still staring at the bloodied engine room door; behind it were at least 18 zombies and the controls to open the sealed holds. Not willing to start a firefight early Standos began searing the hold of the ship and came upon a sealed room. He motioned to the surviving crew and with the aid of Vinnie was able to find out that there should not be any zombies inside. He was not willing to take chance and had his shotgun at the ready as kicked the door open and promptly cursed in his native tongue.
There sitting on a chair halfway into the room was a body sans its head. Standos peered further into the room and saw a shotgun lying on the ground beside the corpse and a massive bloodstain on the ceiling. He hesitantly stepped into what he now realized as the bunk room and examined the corpse carefully looking for any clues as to what had happened to it. As he searched it was evident early on that this person was wearing their dress uniform and had some type of rank insignia, he found a few shotgun shells in a pocket but it wasn't until he found a bite mark hidden by a sleeve that everything slid together. Standos remarked, "Poor bastard got in here and then blew his head off once he found out he had been bitten. Bloody hell, at least he got to leave on his own terms."
Standos was lost in thought as he walked back to his comrades, the fate chosen by the officer weighed heavily on his mind. Would he do the same thing in his situation? Meanwhile Marcus and Nigel were desperately trying to come up with a plan that gave them the best possible chance of survival...they were not having much success.
Nigel began, "So opening the door and throwing dynamite in is out because of the damage it would cause to the engine room."
"Correct, that it we wouldn’t be sure of how many we would get and we have no dynamite." Marcus replied somewhat somber but otherwise cheerful.
"We can't fight them head on because they outnumber us about six to one."
"Yeap."
"So tell me again why the hell are we even considering doing this?"
"The scary Irish lady and scary Italian man."
Nigel mused for a moment, "Two valid points indeed."
Marcus interjected with a smile, "I'm willing to concede I almost more scared of failing those two then the zombie horde in the basement but I still want to live to experience more misfortune in the future.”
“I think that I have a plan that just might work” Standos offered.
“Well it can’t be any worse then what we’ve been coming up with. By the way if you thought of trying to use dynamite we’ve thought of that one already.”
“It was a good idea to... even if Nigel left it all in the van.” Marcus quipped.
Standos thought of the pipe-bomb still in his possession and was about to tell the others about it when he remembered the officer, no best to keep it for a last resort. “I was thinking more alike the lines of ‘Pied the Piper’ actually.” The pair listened intently as Standos explained his plan of using the boom box to lure the zombies into the bunkroom and then shutting the door behind them.
Marcus mulled over the plan for a moment, “That could work, but we’ll still need to get them out of the engine room.”
“So long as the music as playing and the door is open they should come out, so whoever opens the door better be fast, and trust me that’s not me. There’s a good reason I got into cars.” Nigel explained.
“I’m not that fast either, and whoever it is that goes out there has to get out of sight quickly or they’ll follow him and ignore the music.” Marcus offered shamed.
Standos saw the other two unwilling to meet his gaze. He let out a sigh and muttered “Well then nothing to it but to do it then. Start the music first and I’ll head over and open the door.” Marcus and Nigel went inside the redecorated bunkroom and let out a scream of surprise at the state of affairs. Standos jovially yelled, “Oh yeah there’s a corpse missing its head in there. Don’t worry he’s perfectly harmless.” Standos was cut off from saying anything else as the loud roar of a hard rock ballad filled the air. Marcus and Nigel rushed out with their hands over their ears as they ran down the corner, they split up with Nigel going to the left and Marcus going to the right and rounding a corner. Marcus gave a thumb up for good luck before he ducked behind a corner. The crewmen and Wheels had gone to the weather deck leaving just him in the hallway and the soon to be freed mob of zombies.
Nigel steeled himself and walked down the short flight of stairs and clutched the blood stained wheel handle, he was breathing so hard he barely noticed the door give way and open with hardly a squeal. The room was full of zombies but they were all hammering away at something on the far side of the room, something that looked like a gigantic generator that was giving off a constant whirling noise, until one caught sight of him. It let loose a wordless moan and turned to stagger after him, the rest soon followed as they stumbled over one another to reach him. Standos was moving before the first moan and he lunged up the stairs and down the hall. He ran faster then he had in years, his chest was heaving and his breath came in ragged gasps as he rounded the corner and nearly collided with Nigel.
As far as they could tell the plan was working, the zombies were leaving the engine room and ambling down the hallway towards the music but something just would not sit right in Standos’s mind. He thought back to his quick glance of the engine room, he pictured the zombies’ relentless pounding against the steel encased generators. Their single-mindedness towards the destruction of what was giving off noise…and that’s when his thought became a fear. He motioned to Nigel to cover him and he took off running down the hallway towards the bunkroom.
He could see other zombies at the far end of the hall making their way towards him and he could see 7 or 8 already inside of the room…they were all clustered around the radio trying to smash it to pieces. Standos slid to a stop just as the doorway and slammed the door shot locking the first group of zombies inside and readying his shotgun for the approaching group.
Marcus and Nigel could not believe what Standos had just done or why he had done what he had done. Marcus was secretly thankful that he had gotten rid of the wretched sounding music…he much rather preferred classical, but what the hell was he thinking really? Nigel was likewise confused but he readied his rifle and was preparing to start shooting at the first unliving thing that he had a shot at.
Standos was standing his ground as the zombies advanced towards him; he wasted no time in firing off two quick shots at the lead zombies and then executed a strategic retreat down the hallway towards his comrades at top speed. The sight of Standos running towards at top speed was humorous but heralded ill tidings as that meant a large group of zombies were coming this way. Marcus and Nigel took their shots almost gleefully as the zombies advanced, and they had destroyed all but two of the zombies. The rest had fallen from a combination of headshots and critical wounds, the other two were now close enough to attack Standos and they dragged him to the ground.
Standos struggled but was unable to escape until the last second when he squirmed out of the zombies grasp and scampered back several feet. Marcus and Nigel resumed their barrage but without much luck as both zombies were still standing albeit with several holes in them and what was when the third group of zombies arrived in mass. The trio of survivors was now outnumbered three to one and the situation got a whole lot more desperate. Marcus was able to hit the lead zombie of the next group disabling him but the rest kept advancing and Standos found himself being dragged to the ground by the same zombie he had just escaped from. He became little more then a punching bag as the neighboring zombies pounded him relentlessly as he struggled to escape. His thought went back to the officer and resolved to blow his head off before he would be infected.
That would not happen this day, somehow he escaped the undead mob as one zombie mistakenly struck the zombie grasping him, the blow struck with such force that its head was utterly demolished. Standos praised whatever saints were watching over him and whatever devils were tormenting him as he scrambled for the stairway. Nigel and Marcus were disgusted at his action but they could understand them as they held their ground opening fire on the mob. The zombies thinned out to attack the two and both would receive several wounds from a severe bashing. The situation was rapidly passing the point of desperation and that’s when Standos made his triumphant return.
He still looked little better then a piece of raw hamburger but he defiantly yelled out what could only have been a curse I his native tongue and threw a small tube at the mob. It seemed to be flashing as it sailed past Marcus and Nigel into the midst of zombies and suddenly there was tremendous flash of light and roar of thunder that nearly knocked of the two of them to the ground and then they were covered by a blossoming cloud of necrotic tissue.
The explosion had thinned out the mob noticeably but four zombies were still barely standing and they renewed their assault on Marcus and Nigel. The two responded in kind with several shots but were only able to drop one more zombie. The remaining three were still somehow standing. It fell to Standos who charged like a mad bull into their midst and placed his shotgun to each of their heads in kind and opened fire. The three fell in short order leaving the three breathing but heavily battered survivors in control of lower deck and several zombies trapped in the bunkroom.
There sitting on a chair halfway into the room was a body sans its head. Standos peered further into the room and saw a shotgun lying on the ground beside the corpse and a massive bloodstain on the ceiling. He hesitantly stepped into what he now realized as the bunk room and examined the corpse carefully looking for any clues as to what had happened to it. As he searched it was evident early on that this person was wearing their dress uniform and had some type of rank insignia, he found a few shotgun shells in a pocket but it wasn't until he found a bite mark hidden by a sleeve that everything slid together. Standos remarked, "Poor bastard got in here and then blew his head off once he found out he had been bitten. Bloody hell, at least he got to leave on his own terms."
Standos was lost in thought as he walked back to his comrades, the fate chosen by the officer weighed heavily on his mind. Would he do the same thing in his situation? Meanwhile Marcus and Nigel were desperately trying to come up with a plan that gave them the best possible chance of survival...they were not having much success.
Nigel began, "So opening the door and throwing dynamite in is out because of the damage it would cause to the engine room."
"Correct, that it we wouldn’t be sure of how many we would get and we have no dynamite." Marcus replied somewhat somber but otherwise cheerful.
"We can't fight them head on because they outnumber us about six to one."
"Yeap."
"So tell me again why the hell are we even considering doing this?"
"The scary Irish lady and scary Italian man."
Nigel mused for a moment, "Two valid points indeed."
Marcus interjected with a smile, "I'm willing to concede I almost more scared of failing those two then the zombie horde in the basement but I still want to live to experience more misfortune in the future.”
“I think that I have a plan that just might work” Standos offered.
“Well it can’t be any worse then what we’ve been coming up with. By the way if you thought of trying to use dynamite we’ve thought of that one already.”
“It was a good idea to... even if Nigel left it all in the van.” Marcus quipped.
Standos thought of the pipe-bomb still in his possession and was about to tell the others about it when he remembered the officer, no best to keep it for a last resort. “I was thinking more alike the lines of ‘Pied the Piper’ actually.” The pair listened intently as Standos explained his plan of using the boom box to lure the zombies into the bunkroom and then shutting the door behind them.
Marcus mulled over the plan for a moment, “That could work, but we’ll still need to get them out of the engine room.”
“So long as the music as playing and the door is open they should come out, so whoever opens the door better be fast, and trust me that’s not me. There’s a good reason I got into cars.” Nigel explained.
“I’m not that fast either, and whoever it is that goes out there has to get out of sight quickly or they’ll follow him and ignore the music.” Marcus offered shamed.
Standos saw the other two unwilling to meet his gaze. He let out a sigh and muttered “Well then nothing to it but to do it then. Start the music first and I’ll head over and open the door.” Marcus and Nigel went inside the redecorated bunkroom and let out a scream of surprise at the state of affairs. Standos jovially yelled, “Oh yeah there’s a corpse missing its head in there. Don’t worry he’s perfectly harmless.” Standos was cut off from saying anything else as the loud roar of a hard rock ballad filled the air. Marcus and Nigel rushed out with their hands over their ears as they ran down the corner, they split up with Nigel going to the left and Marcus going to the right and rounding a corner. Marcus gave a thumb up for good luck before he ducked behind a corner. The crewmen and Wheels had gone to the weather deck leaving just him in the hallway and the soon to be freed mob of zombies.
Nigel steeled himself and walked down the short flight of stairs and clutched the blood stained wheel handle, he was breathing so hard he barely noticed the door give way and open with hardly a squeal. The room was full of zombies but they were all hammering away at something on the far side of the room, something that looked like a gigantic generator that was giving off a constant whirling noise, until one caught sight of him. It let loose a wordless moan and turned to stagger after him, the rest soon followed as they stumbled over one another to reach him. Standos was moving before the first moan and he lunged up the stairs and down the hall. He ran faster then he had in years, his chest was heaving and his breath came in ragged gasps as he rounded the corner and nearly collided with Nigel.
As far as they could tell the plan was working, the zombies were leaving the engine room and ambling down the hallway towards the music but something just would not sit right in Standos’s mind. He thought back to his quick glance of the engine room, he pictured the zombies’ relentless pounding against the steel encased generators. Their single-mindedness towards the destruction of what was giving off noise…and that’s when his thought became a fear. He motioned to Nigel to cover him and he took off running down the hallway towards the bunkroom.
He could see other zombies at the far end of the hall making their way towards him and he could see 7 or 8 already inside of the room…they were all clustered around the radio trying to smash it to pieces. Standos slid to a stop just as the doorway and slammed the door shot locking the first group of zombies inside and readying his shotgun for the approaching group.
Marcus and Nigel could not believe what Standos had just done or why he had done what he had done. Marcus was secretly thankful that he had gotten rid of the wretched sounding music…he much rather preferred classical, but what the hell was he thinking really? Nigel was likewise confused but he readied his rifle and was preparing to start shooting at the first unliving thing that he had a shot at.
Standos was standing his ground as the zombies advanced towards him; he wasted no time in firing off two quick shots at the lead zombies and then executed a strategic retreat down the hallway towards his comrades at top speed. The sight of Standos running towards at top speed was humorous but heralded ill tidings as that meant a large group of zombies were coming this way. Marcus and Nigel took their shots almost gleefully as the zombies advanced, and they had destroyed all but two of the zombies. The rest had fallen from a combination of headshots and critical wounds, the other two were now close enough to attack Standos and they dragged him to the ground.
Standos struggled but was unable to escape until the last second when he squirmed out of the zombies grasp and scampered back several feet. Marcus and Nigel resumed their barrage but without much luck as both zombies were still standing albeit with several holes in them and what was when the third group of zombies arrived in mass. The trio of survivors was now outnumbered three to one and the situation got a whole lot more desperate. Marcus was able to hit the lead zombie of the next group disabling him but the rest kept advancing and Standos found himself being dragged to the ground by the same zombie he had just escaped from. He became little more then a punching bag as the neighboring zombies pounded him relentlessly as he struggled to escape. His thought went back to the officer and resolved to blow his head off before he would be infected.
That would not happen this day, somehow he escaped the undead mob as one zombie mistakenly struck the zombie grasping him, the blow struck with such force that its head was utterly demolished. Standos praised whatever saints were watching over him and whatever devils were tormenting him as he scrambled for the stairway. Nigel and Marcus were disgusted at his action but they could understand them as they held their ground opening fire on the mob. The zombies thinned out to attack the two and both would receive several wounds from a severe bashing. The situation was rapidly passing the point of desperation and that’s when Standos made his triumphant return.
He still looked little better then a piece of raw hamburger but he defiantly yelled out what could only have been a curse I his native tongue and threw a small tube at the mob. It seemed to be flashing as it sailed past Marcus and Nigel into the midst of zombies and suddenly there was tremendous flash of light and roar of thunder that nearly knocked of the two of them to the ground and then they were covered by a blossoming cloud of necrotic tissue.
The explosion had thinned out the mob noticeably but four zombies were still barely standing and they renewed their assault on Marcus and Nigel. The two responded in kind with several shots but were only able to drop one more zombie. The remaining three were still somehow standing. It fell to Standos who charged like a mad bull into their midst and placed his shotgun to each of their heads in kind and opened fire. The three fell in short order leaving the three breathing but heavily battered survivors in control of lower deck and several zombies trapped in the bunkroom.