Yanshuo pushed through the storage room door and crept back into the hall. The air smelled different now, metal, blood, and something acrid like burned wiring.
Disgusting.
Upstairs, he thought. Need to see how bad it is up top.
He took the stairs slow, hand on the knife.
When he reached the main deck landing, he froze.
Chaos.
Tables were flipped over. Glass crunched under every step. The bar was smashed open, bottles scattered across the floor, liquor pooling in dark puddles. Emergency lights flickered on and off, casting shadows that jumped and twisted.
Zombies moved through the mess in packs now, not just running, but working together. Two were dragging a heavy crate across the floor. Three more were prying open a door to the bridge.
He spotted more bodies, crew members, guests, even one in a captain's uniform piled near the rail. Some had been moved, stacked like trash. Others were still being dragged away by pairs of zombies.
A loud CRASH echoed from the sky deck above. He peered up the stairs smoke drifted down, mixing with the ocean wind. The railings were bent, some panels torn clean off the deck.
One of the zombies near the bridge looked up, black eyes locking on him. It barked something sharp and rough and three more turned toward the stairs.
They're communicating now.
Yanshuo didn't wait. He backed down the steps, moving silently as he could.
They're the ones in control.
Dead end.
The hallway stopped cold at a locked bulkhead door metal, bolted tight.
Yanshuo spun around. The pack was closing in six of them, moving in tight formation. Black eyes fixed on him.
Got to buy time.
He spotted a fire extinguisher on the wall. Wrenched it free, heaved it hard at the lead zombie.
THUD.
It hit square in the chest but the thing didn't even stagger. Just kept coming. He pulled the pin, squeezed the trigger hiss white foam shot out, covering its face.
No effect. It wiped the foam off with one hand and kept moving.
Useless.
He threw the empty canister at another one. It bounced off its head. The pack split, two going left, two right, cutting him off from the stairs.
Yanshuo backed against the bulkhead, heart hammering. His hand hit something hard on the wall click.
A loud sound blared through the yacht. Red warning lights flashed everywhere, painting the hall in strobing blood color.
He'd hit the emergency alert.
For half a second, the zombies froze heads tilted, listening to the noise.
Maybe it'll scare them off.
Then they lunged. Faster than before.
Yanshuo dodged left, slamming his elbow into one's jaw. It went down, but another grabbed his ankle. He kicked it in the face, stumbled, and slammed his back against the bulkhead again.
Damn this!
The lead zombie was inches away—mouth open wide, teeth glinting in the red light.
Then a loud CRASH echoed from behind the bulkhead.
The door shook twice.
Something's on the other side.
Yanshuo turned the corner fast. His feet slid on something wet. He looked down, it was blood, leading into the kitchen.
The kitchen had steel counters and pans hanging up. But everything was a mess. Broken glass was all over the floor. There was blood and grease too. The door at the end was locked tight.
No way out.
"Fuck this." He stepped back. Then he heard footsteps behind him. He turned zombies were filling the hall.
He held up his knife. One zombie jumped at him but a hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him down.
"Get down."
The voice was clear and hard. Yanshuo fell to the floor. The zombie flew over him and hit a metal counter with a loud crash.
A red-haired guy slammed the freezer door shut. BOOM—a zombie hit it hard. Then another.
"Move." The guy pulled Yanshuo up and pushed him to the back of the kitchen. The air smelled bad like burned wires and raw meat.
The guy kicked a table over. It blocked the side path. Then he slammed a door to the pantry and stuck a metal bar through the handles to lock it.
I didn't know that was possible. Yanshuo thought.
Zombies screamed and hit the doors.
Yanshuo leaned against the wall, breathing hard. "Who are you?"
The guy didn't look at him. He was looking around the room, checking everything. His hair was messy and had blood on it. He wore an engineer's suit, and his arm had a burn wrapped in cloth.
"Reon." He picked up a big knife and a heavy meat hammer. "Did you hit the alarm?"
"By accident." Yanshuo said. "I was trapped, my hand slipped." a lie.
Reon made a short sound, not a laugh. "That's why they're all coming here. Alarms make them come running."
"They were slow before. Now they run fast."
"I know." Reon turned the hammer over in his hand. "I've been watching them. First they're slow and confused. Then they get faster. After about an hour, they move like runners. The virus changes them, it makes them faster and smarter."
He pointed at the pantry door. Claws were scratching deep marks in the wood. "They can figure out locks now. It took them ten minutes to break into the bridge. Before that, they just hit doors and gave up."
The freezer door bent more. A piece of metal broke off.
Reon looked at a vent above the ovens. The metal grates were loose. "That vent goes to the service tunnels. When I say go, you climb up there. Don't stop."
"Why save me?" Yanshuo asked.
Reon looked at him his eyes were cold and sharp. "You were running smart. Not yelling or panicking. We need people who think. There aren't many left."
The freezer door cracked open. A zombie's hand reached through.
Reon gripped his knife tight.
"Get ready to move."