Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

Joma nodded. “They have an under-twelve football match between eight and nine, but other than that it is locked up tight. Too dark for people to be running around outside on deck. Dangerous.”


Jack glanced back around at the gentleman in the corner, who was still coughing and hacking, then looked back at his watch. It would only be an hour or so until the Sports Deck was overwhelmed with eyebleeders again. If Tally was there, as Joma suggested she might be, it would not be a great time to talk to her. Jack needed to get back to his cabin, for now, where it was safe. He would visit the Sports Deck earlier tomorrow. Then at least he would have enough time to see what was going on with Tally and try to convince her to start helping him again.

The thought of seeing her again sent a shiver through his tummy. He really hoped she would be there tomorrow. But he’d have to wait to find out.



Day 216

Jack checked the ship’s newsletter that came under his door every day and learned that the Sports Deck was open until 6PM. He decided he would get there an hour before. If what Joma had told him was correct, he’d eventually be asked to leave, and the deck would then remain empty until the children arrived at 8PM (to be subsequently attacked by eyebleeders at 8:20.)

Right now, there were still lots of people milling about. Young couples batted tennis balls back and forth, while the older generation played bowls on a small green in the far corner. Up ahead was the enclosed football pitch that would later play host to a monstrous siege. It was a place of fun and hijinks, which made its eventual fate even more tragic.

Jack took a seat on a spectator bench beside one of the tennis courts and watched a game being contested between two teenage girls. They seemed very competitive and were even donning appropriate athletic skirts and nondescript white panties underneath.

The sea beyond the deck shone gold beneath the wide rays of the setting sun. Once it went down completely the ship would be surrounded by the featureless black of night, but right now it was pleasant.

Jack shivered at the thought of approaching darkness creeping towards the ship, ready to engulf it. He hoped Tally would turn up soon. There was something about the Sports Deck that sapped the strength from his soul. All the young life and joyful energy made him miss the world even more. Jack realised that what he wanted more than anything was to go back to his old life; he wanted to go back to where his actions truly mattered. Jack might have been jaded by his impotency as a police officer, but at least there was always the hope that he could do some good. But onboard this damned ship his actions were useless; his effect on the world was less than a mayfly.

Sitting there alone, surrounded by obliviously happy people, Jack found his thoughts turning to Laura. He didn’t want his mind to go there, but he was powerless to stop it. His memories came charging at him like a trainload of grief, crashing through his barriers and forcing their way into his consciousness.

His partner, Laura, was only just past thirty when Frankie Walker had shot her in the stomach. There was no need for him to kill her; he just did it for kicks. The decline of young morals in the United Kingdom seemed unstoppable. They fucked each other indiscriminately, snorted drugs, attacked each other, and robbed old ladies from as young as ten years old. It was chaos. And it was getting worse.

But Laura had always seen the best in people. She believed in the inherent -goodness of society and that people would generally make the right decisions if given the chance. It was a na?ve outlook, Jack thought, but he sometimes envied her. It must have been a great comfort to see the world in such positive colours instead of the bleak black grime and sodden greys that he did.