Sea Sick: A Horror Novel(59)
He took another swig of the whisky and enjoyed the taste one last time. The bottle was almost empty and Jack had drunk it so quickly that he was yet to feel its full force. He figured being drunk would make things easier.
“Well, pardner,” he looked down at Donovan beneath the blanket. “If there’s an afterlife and you’re already there, get me a drink ready.”
“Seems like you’ve already had enough to drink,” said Tally, appearing from behind the pallets of blue, plastic cash crates.
Jack stood up, unsteady on his feet from the whisky. “Tally! I ought to wring your bloody neck.”
“Try it,” she said. “But I promise that this time the bullet will kill you permanently.”
Jack looked at the pistol in her hand and immediately recognised it as Donovan’s. “How did you get that?”
“What? This?” Funniest thing. When I first…dealt…with Donovan, I took his gun for protection in case you came after me, but I woke up the next day and it was gone. Guess where I ended up finding it. Right back in Donovan’s holster. Weird, because he wasn’t under the spell like we were, was he? He stayed dead when I killed him, but I guess the fact that the gun didn’t belong with me meant that Joma’s spell kept having to make a slight adjustment and put the gun back where it came from. Interesting stuff, really. Would be fun to learn more about it, you know? Pity Joma’s not able to give any more lessons.”
Jack shook his head. “Why, Tally? Why kill them? Why keep trying to set me up for something I never did? I thought we were friends.”
“A friendship forged through fire is brittle, Jack. We are not friends; we are just victims of the same fate. My true friends, my family, my…daughter…they are waiting for me someplace else. You won’t stop me seeing them anymore.”
“What are you talking about? I thought we were both looking for a way to end this. Donovan was too.”
Tally laughed and lowered the gun slightly. She was too far away for Jack to reach her before she could raise it back again, though. “Donovan wanted to end it, alright. He wanted to end it all.”
Jack wanted to keep Tally talking so he remained silent, trying to inch towards her slowly.
“The night Donovan shot you, he took me hostage. He knew all about the day resetting, and that he hadn’t really killed you, but he wanted to know who the hell we both were. We spoke for the rest of the night and I told him what I knew, about the spell and a pathwalker being on board. It seemed to be a relief to him that there were others besides him that knew what was happening.”
“Of course it was a relief. We were all in this together, I thought.”
“Me too,” said Tally, “but then I found Donovan drinking himself to death in the Casino one night and he told me something. He told me that he was going to carry on drinking and screwing as many women onboard as he could, but that when the whisky stopped tasting good and the sex stopped being fun, he was going to sink the ship in order to kill the pathwalker and end the spell. He wouldn’t tell me how; just said he had a plan. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t stand around and wait for him to kill me and everyone else.”
Jack took a step towards her. “So you killed him first?”
Tally raised her gun. “And you’ll be next if you don’t step back. I thought about killing you before now, but I guess I took pity on you and decided to stick Security on you instead. I couldn’t risk you finding the pathwalker and making rash decisions. I knew if I could just hold you off long enough the candle would eventually melt and the spell would end. Then I could go home to my daughter, along with as much of the cash in these crates as I can carry.”
“Is this what this is all about? Greed?”
“No, not at all. That’s just a bonus. This is about me being with my daughter again, plain and simple. You finding the pathwalker would put that in jeopardy.
“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?”