Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

“I don’t have time for that.”


“Like hell you don’t. I’ve been isolated down here for over six months, only popping upstairs for food and drink. You’re going to have a knees-up with me tonight even if I have to shoot you again to keep you here.”

Donovan was obviously joking about shooting him, but Jack thought the invitation wasn’t the worst idea he’d heard lately. It would be nice to take a break for just one night. Upstairs the other passengers were no doubt already being torn apart by monsters and it would be too late to help them. They would just have to do without Jack’s concern for one night.

“Okay,” Jack said, picking the bottle up off the floor. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get off this godforsaken ship?”

Donovan smiled at him. “Go get a flu shot.”

***

“So how long have you worked for Black Remedy?”

“Not long.” Donovan’s voice was approaching a full-on slur now. “I was a promis-promis…promising young boxer once, if you can believe it. I got hurt pretty bad, though, before I ever got the chance to…belch!...to really make it. I could have maybe made a comeback, but my girl – my family – was against it. In the end I just did what made them happy.” Donovan shook his head and sighed. “Then my girl up and leaves me a year later anyway and both my parents pass on within the same decade. If it wasn’t for shit luck I’d have no luck at all.” He took another swig on the bourbon. “Anyway, started doing private security when I hit twenty-five-or-so and been doing it ever since. Black Remedy is just the latest in a long line. The pay is good, but not as good as if I’d been a professional fighter. Don’t that just suck?”

“Yeah, that sucks,” Jack admitted. “Still, least you were good at something. My whole life has been the epitome of average. Average kid, average teenager, average police officer, and not much else.”

Donovan looked at Jack bleary eyed. “You…you’re a cop, man. That’s not average. That’s honourable. You p-protect people.”

Jack shook his head which unsettled his vision for a moment. His view tilted to and fro before finally centring again. “That’s American cops you’re talking about. British cops spend most of their time dealing with drunks and bad drivers. They never let us do anything to make a difference. Goddamn justice system protects the criminals more than it does the public. It’s become cool to be a thug in the UK.”

“Then why…why don’t you…why don’t you do something about it?”

Jack laughed. “You think it’s that easy? I’m just a sergeant. No one listens to me. Anyway, I did do something, once.”

Donovan leant forward. “Oh really? What did you do?”

“I killed a bunch of drug-dealing scumbags, that’s what. Took ‘em out while they were lying around stoned. One of them even started giggling while I slit his throat. Never seen anything like that in my life – not even in the army. Drugs make people so screwed up that they laugh at their own murders.”

“Hell, man, that’s stone cold. You just rolled up and killed them all? What the hell got into you?”