“It’s… I think,” Claire responds as she pauses to think. “It’s like the car—it’s all automated. You just tell it where you want to go. I remember my dad used to teach me… I suppose there’s not much to be taught it is just like the car—memorizing commands.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Robert says.
“Let’s load up what we have here and then come back to the house and search for more supplies,” I say as I open up the door.
We make our way down to the pier. It is a bit of a distance, and quite a few stairs. Claire places her hand along the door at the back of the sleek, strangely shaped boat—it looks like the boats I remember, but much aerodynamic. It is painted all black, save for the silver railing. The deck has a lot of open space. I figure that Robert will probably like this, after all he doesn’t seem to like confined spaces… unless it’s a tent. Perhaps we can set him up a tent up here.
Claire runs her finger down a silver strip and the door slides open. The large control room is revealed. It is very luxurious, soft blue carpet lines the floor and sparkles, mimicking the flecks of sunlight against the ocean. A single seat rests at the far end in front one huge window. A row of monitors line the dashboard. Couches lines one wall, a wooden table sits next to it. A fridge, stove, and sink line the other wall. Paintings of old huge wooden ships fill the empty spaces on the wooden walls. Two sets of spiraling staircases lead downward. I follow Claire down to a hall that leads a storeroom. It seems to be pretty well stocked with a lot of the stuff like bagged meals and canned goods and water.
“We might not need… to stock,” Claire says as she nods. This should be good.
She leads the way to two bedrooms. “Robert pick one, they’re pretty much the same. Ethan and I will take the other.”
She leads us to the very end where a full shower and bathroom reside. Another door leads to the engine room—I’m fairly certain we won’t have to use it, or at least hope so.
Robert chooses the left side, and we take the right bedroom. We toss our stuff onto the bed and head back towards the house. Robert comes back out carrying his assault rifle on his back.
“We’re quite safe, I’m sure…” I say as I think about getting my rifle. I suppose you can never be too safe.
“You never know… killer whales and all that shit…” Robert says as he shrugs and then pats me on the back rather roughly. “Where are we headed anyway?”
“Hawaii,” I say. I’d been giving it a bit of thought. After all, they weren’t killing their Unstables—they had merely quarantined them. Plus, that should be far enough that it should be safe… at least, at this moment it seems like a good idea. “I think, Claire?”
“We’ve… I think… we’ve done that before in this,” Claire adds. “Hawaii is… a good idea.”
“You’ve done really well today, Claire,” I say as I hug her tightly. I know that it is very hard for her when she is struggling with her words. I know how difficult it must be for her. However, despite the pauses—she is doing so well.
“Well let’s go then?”
“We need… the wheel,” Claire says as she shakes her head.
“The wheel…? Like the one to steer the ship?” I ask. “I thought it was all automated?”
“It’s just shaped… shaped like it,” Claire answers. “It’s like a key, it activates everything. Kind of like turning the car on… that way you know, my different mother or I could not wander off to sea.”
“Do you know where it is?” I ask. I knew that things were a little too easy.
“My father’s room, dresser drawer…”
“Well let’s not wait around for a nuke to hit near us,” Robert says as he begins to climb up the stairs.
We walk back into the house in a rather rushed pace. Robert pulls open the door and we file in.
“Strange…” Claire says as she looks back to the large glass doors. “Shouldn’t… just open?”
“But we’re already inside, that’s why… right?” Robert says with a very worried tone as though he has just done something terribly wrong. “We’re you supposed to open it?”
“It shouldn’t… I don’t remember.”
“Well let’s get the key and go,” I say as I begin to head off to the row of doors at the far side of the large room. “Which one is it?”
“The far left one,” Claire says we begin to turn our walk into a brisk run.
Claire opens up the door to the huge bedroom. “They’re… no… someone is close.”
A strange, terrible smell fills the air. A piece of white fabric hangs across one side of the room—almost like a shower curtain partition. A loud beeping begins to chirp as a red light flashes from behind the curtain—its light appears ghostly, filtered through the thin fabric.
“What the hell is that a bomb or something?” Robert asks as he instinctively pulls his assault rifle from his shoulder and readies it in his hands.
Claire pulls back the curtain. Sitting in wheelchairs, all lined up in a row and hooked up to wires and tubes, sits twelve Catatonics—all large, tall men. “No… Claire whispers.”
“The key…” I say as I reach for Claire and attempt to pull her back. She pushes my hand away and keeps her attention upon the Catatonics.
I begin to search through the dresser—I don’t find anything that fits the description. Robert keeps his gun on the group of Catatonics as the beeping quickens its pace.
I search through another set of drawers and find a silver object; it appears to be a captain’s wheel and has a red LED on the top. “This it…?”
“Calm down…” Claire pleads. “Please…”
“Robert…” I say as I begin to pull Claire back. “I think we have it, let’s go….”
“You think?” Shouldn’t we be sure?”
“Claire,” I whisper as I hold up the wheel—making sure I’m not holding onto some silly souvenir. “This is it, right?”
“Please… they aren’t going to hurt you…” Claire says as she holds her hands out. The Catatonics begin to stir. One of them rises from their wheelchairs and pulls away violently at I.V.s stuck into their bodies. The man is covered in his own filth. It appears that C-Shapes had arranged for one last little surprise if by chance we decided to seek refuge here.
“Claire!” I shout as I begin to pull her away.
“No!” She shouts back as I place my arm around her and begin to lead her out of the room. “I was trying to keep them calm.”
“They’re not going to listen—there are too many. We have to go…” I say as we begin to run. A loud crashing noise quickly follows behind us. “Is this the key?”
Claire nods as she turns to look behind us. All twelve of the Catatonics have gone full Aggro. Robert begins to fire into the crowd—he does some damage and manages to take out one, however they are quickly upon us. We rush through the door and navigate our way back to the boat. Robert continues to fire into the crowd, buying us enough time to not get rushed by the group. We reach the dock. Claire slides her hand over the door and opens it, she then flips a switch on the wall and it remains open. I toss her the key and she runs over to the console and places it into the center. A red glow appears as the boat comes to life. Robert stands on the pier. He takes careful aim and attempts to take down as many of the Aggros as he can.
“Get on the boat,” I say as I run out and begin to pull him away from the group that is quickly closing in upon us.
“You go,” Robert says he shakes me away. “This time… This is my time.”
“Get on the boat,” I say once again as I grab the man by the back of his uniform and begin to pull him. “You can still fire your gun from the boat.”
“This is my duty,” Robert says as he takes aim on an incoming Aggro and takes him down with three well aimed shots to the head. The head explodes into a bloody mess and the remains fall into the ocean. Another one is quick on his heels.