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“Who is he?” I ask.
“Chris is Sara's boyfriend. I haven't seen either of them since—” Kelly trails off, looking down at her feet.
“Since you killed John?” answers Julie.
“Julie!” I shout.
“What? She did kill him and now you and Tyler have killed someone too.” Her words linger in the air for a moment.
“Hold on a second, calm down,” I say before continuing. “Apparently, this Chris guy controls all the water and he refuses to share it with Logan. But here’s the catch: Logan, supposedly, is working on a plan. He intends to send his group to the other side of the ship and demand water, threatening to kill them if they don't give him what he wants.”
“So what does that mean? What's your plan?” asks Mary.
“Now that we think Kelly's friends are on the other side, we’ll go there and explain what Logan has planned,” I answer.
“Okay, I like that idea. But what if it’s not the same Chris that Kelly believes it is?” Mary makes an excellent point. I ponder her question for a moment.
“You are right; it may not be. But either way, we know about Logan’s plan and we still need to tell them.”
“Good point.” Mary nods. “Now, can you explain why you are both covered in blood and whatever it is Tyler said you made him do?”
“Yeah, about that — remember Roger, the guy that John had working in the kitchen with him, a bigger guy, kind of intimidating?”
“Yes…” answers Mary.
“We ran into him when we tried to leave from the 6th floor. He appeared out of nowhere and cornered us. He told Tyler and me that we have a bounty on our heads.” I trail off for a split second. “Now that I'm thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if all of us had a bounty out on us. Logan wants us captured. And the bounty is worth... wait for it — five cans of beans.”
“No, Theo, you are worth five cans of beans. I’m only worth two, which means he is really gunning for you,” says Tyler.
“Is food really that scarce out there now?” Kelly asks.
“Seems that way,” I say. We all stand silent for a moment, processing what this means for everyone.
We devise a plan to locate Chris and his group and figure out how to make contact without being seen by Logan's group. Since Tyler and I have already left once, everyone decided we would be the ones to go out again and find Chris. I wasn’t sure if Tyler would be able to handle going out again, with what happened last time. But he didn’t refuse, and I didn’t want to bring it up. While Tyler and I were out, Mary, Kelly, and Julie would gather as many medical supplies as possible in case we all needed to evacuate if Logan attacked. Mary suggested that once Tyler and I find Chris and his group, we offer to have them relocate to the medical center, since it’s one of the largest secure areas of the ship, with only one way in and one way out, unless you scale the side of the ship to get in from the balcony. Luckily, no one has tried that yet. Being on the 11th floor, you would fall to your death if you slipped.
After cleaning up and sleeping a few hours, I help pack up the medical center. Mary disappears to the back for a few minutes, then returns with a large duffel in hand. She pulls everything out to inventory, and it’s packed with essential medical supplies, including surgical scissors, saline bags for IVs, suture kits, and burn creams. Julie grabs a bag and starts grabbing anything that may be useful.
“What can I do to help?” I ask, empty-handed.
“Follow me,” Mary says, getting up and walking toward a storage closet where Kelly is standing. Inside the closet, Mary has shelves full of powdered baby formula in cans.
“Do we need to pack this? Where the hell did it even come from?” I ask, a little confused.
“Yeah, pack it. It could come in handy if we run out of food, and it came from the daycare on board. There was an entire stock of it,” she tells me.
“Holy shit, I forgot about that!” The board of directors insisted there be adequate supplies for the childcare room for the future sailing with families. Not sure why that was a priority, since there weren't kids on this sailing, but unfinished floors were easily overlooked, but what the hell do I know? I don't say that out loud. Instead, I help Kelly pack the formula in the bag.
“Well, I am glad that they did because I used the formula for one patient right after the explosion. He couldn't eat solid food at the time, and believe it or not, the baby formula provided enough nutrients to keep him stable,” explains Mary.
“Huh, I never thought about that. I guess it would be like a protein shake for an adult.” I finish helping Kelly, then walk back out to find Tyler gathering blankets, towels, and sheets, and placing them in a cardboard box from a storage closet. The sight reminds me of the secret that’s slowly eating me alive with guilt. I make a mental note to keep track of this box because winter will be coming very soon and we will need all the clothing and blankets we can find.
The sun has set and the night has fallen. Tyler and I are getting ready to leave to go hunt for Chris. Mary once again removes the barricade to let us exit. As we are walking out, Mary grabs me on the shoulder. I stop and face her.
“Good luck.” I nod, not sure what else to say. I turn back around to Tyler. The door shuts behind us and instantly I hear the shuffling sounds of the barricade being put back in place.
Quietly, we creep through hallways and stairwells, descending to the lower decks, checking each floor for movement or noise. On the 1st floor, there are only crew areas, including the engine room, and there is no sign of anyone else. Before we leave, I notice another service closet, and I find two more axes inside. Tyler and I each grab one and tuck the other into our belts. As we are leaving the 1st floor, I remember that Logan mentioned Chris’s group being aft of the ship.
“Remember, Logan said Chris’s group is at the back of the ship, let's head that way.” Tyler follows me. The 2nd floor is unfinished, but we check anyway before continuing upward. By the 6th floor, we are running out of potential locations. I do my best to remember the lounge locations and recall that the 6th floor is where the two biggest ones were. I knew that the Stardust lounge was occupied by Logan, so that left the Paradise Cove lounge at the opposite end. Unlike Stardust, Paradise Cove lacked an outside patio. It was smaller, more secluded, with a bar, dance floor, and booths.
