To Be A Killer

Chapter 49: Dynamite

I hesitate at first, wanting to put up more of an argument on saving Caleb, but then I remember how Maxine has always been our main priority in this mission, and we need to at least try to get her back to safety.

And we'll probably have time to save him. I mean, if these guys aren't even trying to pursue us, then I should be able to head back around to find the smaller cryo-freeze room.

Pulling Maxine along isn't too hard, but she keeps murmuring things and trying to pull away. She's too weak and woozy to put up a fight, but I can't understand why she's trying to fight us. She knows who we are, so why doesn't she want to leave?

What did they do to her on this ship?

From the looks of it, it wasn't the kind of torture or experimentation that the man who jumped off the boat was put through. That's good. It means Caleb might still be in one whole piece as well.

God, I hope so.

Irritation and sudden anger forms in my chest at the thought of Caleb being like that man-hurting, rotting away. I grit my teeth. Janine says she doesn't want me firing any weapons, but if I find out that they hurt Caleb while keeping him captive here, then there will be blood on my hands by the time I leave.

We cross the walkway onto the Ariadne, but I can see some people rushing about on deck, so I pull Paula and Maxine into one of the corridors to keep from being seen.

"This way," I say in a hushed voice. "Come on."

I pull them further down, looking back over my shoulder to make sure we're not being followed. But as we keep going, I find myself getting lost in the twists and turns. It all looks so... dreary. There's nothing really discernible about any of the hallways we go through. I try to make a guess on where to go, but each turn leads to another corridor.

I glance down at the gun in my hands, and I bite the inside of my cheek. Maybe I should've just used this instead of trying to not be seen.

"Sam, do you have sight of if anyone's still out there? I think we could try to head back, if I remember the w-"

A scream cuts me off, and I tense.

"No, please! No, you can't!"

I choke on my own breath. It's the same man before, the man that was pleading for mercy.

Haven't they tortured him enough?

"Jesus," Sam gasps. "Have they just like, interrupted their pursuit of fugitives for some light torture?"

"That does seem to be their primary hobby," Janine murmurs.

"What direction did that scream come from? This ship-the Ariadne-she's a sister ship of the Aurora. You remember the Aurora, right, Five? It's where we-uh, yeah-it's where we-"

"It's where we found Sarah," I say, voice empty, the memory hitting me like a brick to the face.

"Um, Sam," Simon says softly. "We're... we're gonna die."

I breathe in shakily as we watch them approach. There's nowhere to run; Nowhere to hide. We're trapped...

I'm scared. I'm terrified because even though I'm willing to die, that doesn't mean I want to. In a broken, terrified state, one word manages to leave my lips. It's soft, and broken, just barely heard over the zombies' moans and Jody's terrified screeching. It's 'help me' and 'please don't let me die' even though I know that's not something he can always do.

"Sam."

Four boats fall, two not crashing through the deck while the other two do. All four of us are too stunned to speak, but Sam isn't.