Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

“But I found Joma. He told me what was at stake. You don’t know what you’re doing.”


“I know that you found him. I was watching you on the security cameras in the room where I was sitting. Once I knew Joma was the one, it made it much easier to expedite things. Now the spell is broken and you and I are going to sit tight until we reach shore. I am going to see my daughter again. Now back away, Jack, before I change my mind and just shoot you.”

Jack did as he was told and stepped back. There would be no chance of him grabbing her before she could get a shot off. She was too in control and he was beginning to feel sluggish from the booze in his system.“If this ship makes it to land, the whole world is going to be wiped out.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Joma’s dream could have been wrong. I’m not about to throw my life away and never see my daughter because of the nightmares of an old shaman.”

Jack shook his head. “You know it’s true. You were the one who told me about pathwalkers and their abilities in the first place. You told me they were protectors. Joma gave his life so that billions others wouldn’t have to. Your daughter included.”

Tally seemed to hiss as she spoke. “I can keep my daughter safe, don’t you worry, but I can’t do it stuck on this godforsaken boat.”

“You don’t get it, do you? The virus on this ship is unstoppable. If it gets off they’ll be no hope for anyone. It’s up to us to make sure that doesn’t happen. You must see that?”

Tally shook her head. “I’m going to see my daughter and you’re not going to stand in my way.”

Jack glanced at his watch. It was just after eight. The infected would be attacking any minute. The lives of the passengers above were about to come to an end, and this time there would be no coming back. Jack felt sorrow for them, but he now knew that their deaths had always been inevitable. There’d never been any chance to save them. What he needed to do now was make sure that their deaths were the only ones caused by the virus. Tally was the only obstacle currently in his way of achieving that goal.

Jack turned and ran, hopping between pallets as the sound of gunshots rang out behind him. If there’d been any doubts that Tally was prepared to kill him, they vanished now. Jack peeked out from behind a stack of boxes and was met by another gunshot. The bullet hit only inches away from his face and sent shards of plastic up in the air.

Jack crouched down and hurried toward the back of the cargo area. Tally had said that she didn’t know what Donovan’s plan had been to sink the ship, but Jack was pretty sure he knew. He reached the rear pallets of the cargo area and slid around behind them, using them for shelter. Tally had stopped shooting, which made it impossible for Jack to pinpoint her location without breaking cover and exposing himself.

Have to work fast.

Jack took out the keys he’d taken from Donovan before he’d draped the man with a blanket and inserted them into a nearby footlocker. He opened it up to reveal a collection of American assault rifles. Jack had never fired an AR-15 before and he hoped his military background was enough to help him through. He opened up a small green box on an adjacent pallet and pulled out a handful of rounds along with a magazine to load them into. After a quick look over his shoulder, Jack thumbed the rounds into the magazine and slammed it into the base of the rifle. He managed to locate the safety and disengaged it. Finally he pulled the charging handle and primed the weapon to fire.

Time to go to war.

“Don’t move, Jack. I don’t want to kill you, but you know I will.”