Sea Sick: A Horror Novel(42)
“Yes,” said Ivor. “You’re a kind man…in the grand scheme of things, at least. And the things you did? I think most people would understand them too.”
“Thanks,” said Jack, getting up from the table. “You all take care now. I wish you luck.”
Jack wore a smile on his face and headed out of the room, ready to go and commit another murder.
***
Jack took the elevator down to the Orlap Deck, resuming his previous mission to locate Donovan. Funnily enough, out of all the places he’d encountered the cowboy the last two weeks, the Cargo Bay wasn’t one of them. In fact it was about the only place that Jack hadn’t had a confrontation with the American. Yet when he arrived there now, Donovan was standing in plain sight in the centre of the walkway. He was holding his hands up.
“Given up even hiding now?” Jack asked.
“Just calm down a second, pardner.” Donovan backed away slowly but didn’t make a run for it. “You been coming at me like a wild bull with his tail on fire for two weeks now and you haven’t once stopped to tell me why.”
Jack approached. “You know why.”
“I truly don’t, pardner. Truth is you got me terrified. One night we’re drinking together, nice as pie, the next you start coming at me like a mad man trying to kill me. Heck, let’s be honest about it, you have been murdering me – strange as that may sound.”
Jack shook his head. “I wish that were true, but we both know that killing someone on this goddamn ship is impossible. We all come back again.”
“You believe that, Jack? Do you really think that what you’re doing is not killing?” He lifted up his shirt to show a deep purple bruise where Jack had previously stuck a knife in.“You think that when you stab me, shoot me, or drown me, that I’m not dying? You’re a murderer, Jack, plain and simple. Before you went psycho on me, you told me a little story about how you let rage overcome you once before. How did it turn out for you that time, pardner?”
Jack thought about how killing those drug dealers had changed him, how it had sickened his soul. But what he had been doing to Donovan was not the same. The man was a rapist – the lowest form of human being.
“You’re wandering further down a dark and shadowy path, Jack. You give in to that rage again, after what it did to you the last time, and there’s no coming back from it. We could be stuck on this ship for all eternity; do you really want to lose yourself to violence? Is that how you want to spend your existence?”
Jack snarled and continued approach. He was almost stalking the other man now. Donovan backed away. Jack felt his heart pounding in his chest. “What do you suggest I do with you then? You’re sick!”
Donovan shook his head and let out a long, pitiful breath. “I’m not the one who’s sick here, Jack. You obviously have something inside of your head that’s making you do these crazy things, and I for one would like to know what it is.”
“Enough,” said Jack. “You know exactly what you did.”
Jack went for Donovan, but this time the other man was ready for him. This time Jack was met with resistance as Donovan whipped his pistol from its holster and smashed the grip against the bridge of his nose. Jack went blind for a moment, his vision exploding in bright colours and flashes of white. The pain filled his entire skull and the blood flowed down the back of his throat and choked him.
Donovan attacked again, this time smashing his fist squarely into the centre of Jack’s chest. The wind was crushed from his lungs and he fell to the floor, blind and breathless.
“Now,” said Donovan. “I hope I just made it clear that I can take you on any day of the week if I wanted to. You’re a capable man, Jack, no doubt – but I’m better, understand?”
Jack said nothing. That was, until Donovan prodded him with his toecap. “Okay, okay, I understand.”
“Good. The reason I haven’t fought back until now is firstly, because I was pretty darned surprised when you came at me, but secondly, because I like you. I considered you a buddy stuck in the same shit puddle as me. The kinder part of me is certain that there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for your nutty behaviour, but the more cynical side of me is getting pretty worn out with having to fight you. So can we please have a discussion about what we have going on here between us?”
“You know wha-”
Donovan booted Jack in stomach. “No, Jack! I do not know shit about shit, so enough with that, okay? You sound like a self-righteous prick every time you shout that at me. I don’t know why you’re so angry, or what I’ve done to you, but so help me God you have about six seconds to tell me.”
Jack gasped and managed to catch his breath. “T-Tally.”
Jack couldn’t see much through the cloudiness of his vision, but Donovan looked confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “What about Tally?”
“You…you f*cking raped her, you sick f*ck.”
Donovan hopped forward and swung his leg like he was taking a penalty kick. The blow caught Jack under the chin and sent him halfway to oblivion. He barely remained conscious.
“How dare you accuse me of such things,” Donovan shouted. His accent had become thicker than ever. “I ain’t done hurt a woman my entire life. You say those things ‘bout me again, Jack, and my violent temper is gunna get the better of me.”