Chapter 3Hell

Chapter 3

Hell

"Mayday, mayday, come in, mayday!"

The message replayed over and over again as my dad and I stared at the radio with wide eyes. The radio had been silent for the last month, according to him, and he'd started to worry that there really was nobody left out there.

I told him all about our run-ins with the trappers and how there were other survivors who managed to get swept up in their sick games. There were others out there, probably all over the country in tiny pockets of civilization, but reaching each other was another story.

Still, he said the last newcomers before us were a raggedy band of men and a young woman with a baby. I gritted my teeth just thinking about her. Apparently, the famous Jessa managed to get herself knocked up by one of the men she chose to abandon my guys for. How she managed to survive nine months in the apocalypse while pregnant was a fucking mystery.

"We hear ya," Daddy said into the radio when the message paused. "What's your location - over." He repeated himself when there was no answer.

"Is this the first time you've gotten an SOS ?" I asked, peering down at my dad, who rubbed at his temples as he stared at the old radio with a pinched frown. His still-smoking pipe was hanging from his mouth, clenched between his teeth.

"No," he said finally, looking up at me with a serious expression. "But it's the first time we've been able to respond. Travis just got this old thing fixed up right." He tapped the radio gently.

He'd had the antique for as long as I could remember, and I was never even sure it worked in the first place.

"We're getting some more static; mayday, can you hear us," he spoke again into the microphone.

Static roared again, but as we leaned in close to the speaker box, I could have sworn I heard a shuffling of feet and a few muffled voices.

Daddy sighed, adjusting in his seat with a groan. He'd always had a bad back, and I worried about him now that doctor's visits were out of the question. We had Dante here, and there was also a surgeon, but Jim was nearly seventy years old.

Finally, a quiet voice came through the speakers. It was mostly distorted, but I could make out a few words: "Help…help, we're…" it said in desperation before pausing and then beginning to repeat itself over and over again.

My dad's face went pale as he looked at me with wide eyes the same shade of golden brown as my own, realizing at the same time that I did, that there was someone out there who needed help.

We could have easily ignored the SOS . In the apocalypse, especially of the zombie variety, we were all in danger and needed help. But some of us were admittedly better off than others probably were. With most of us having military backgrounds, we were more prepared to survive in this kind of environment. Others weren't so lucky.

"Get to the comm room now," I said over my walkie-talkie.

I would have fucking killed for these things back on the road, but we never held onto many personal belongings for very long, much less had the time to hunt for batteries constantly. Yet another perk of having a prepper for a dad.

"This ain't those trappers you were tellin me about, you don't think?" My dad asked, pivoting in his office chair to face me. His skin was weathered, and wrinkles carved deep valleys through his forehead.

"No, it's not them," I said, shaking my head. "We're too far west, and that's not how they operate. They don't lure people in; they go hunting for them. It's like a game to them."

It was a sick game that I was lucky enough to win. Somehow. I wouldn't have made it out of that trapper pit without Nina and Missy. That was the closest I'd ever come to dying, even after months and months of running from zombie hordes and fighting my way through fog-infested land.

Sometimes I saw those cages in my dreams. The sounds of blood-curdling screams still jolted me from sleep, drenching me in sweat as my heart raced painfully. That's why I liked spending my mornings up on the roof. The wide open space was soothing when my mind felt trapped in that small, dark box.

I blinked as two strong arms pulled me into their embrace. The smell of my dad's pipe tobacco encompassed me as he pulled me to his chest, rubbing my back.

"Where'd you go there, Hellcat?" he asked gently. I shook my head, trying to clear the depressing images from my head. He pulled back, squinting down at me. "You're safe at home, you hear me? Whatever those monsters said to you, whatever they did, don't matter anymore."

"I know," I whispered. "It just hits me sometimes out of nowhere."

He pulled me into another hug and nodded. "You might not be able to totally forget, and I wouldn't expect you to, but you can make sure that those bastards don't have any more power over you. You beat them at their own game."

I nodded into his chest. Daddy was the only one I'd let see me at my most vulnerable. He patted my hair. "However long or short your life is in this new world, make damn sure that it's in spite of them."

I took a deep breath and stepped away. I smiled at him, and he winked before turning around. "Where are those rat bastard men of yours anyway?"

I shook my head. "They're not rat bastards, Daddy. Well, two of them aren't." That last part was said slightly under my breath. Alex was just being a dickhead.

My dad had a new name for my guys every day it seemed. It wasn't that he disliked them. He was just being ornery.

He waved me off with a huff as he sat in front of the radio as it started to crackle. The door to the office opened, and in walked Dante, Alex, Wyatt, and Ret, with Missy and Nina on their heels. Anubis squeezed around them, coming to my side immediately.

I bent down and gave him kisses, but avoided his mouth because he'd been on patrol with Nina and Ret, so he'd probably had zombie guts for lunch.

Daddy raised an eyebrow, looking between the guys and then at me. "Y'all finally decided to wake up from your naps and join us?"

I sighed loudly while Nina and Missy chuckled.

"What's going on? Dante asked, ignoring the jab. He knew my dad didn't mean anything by it. "It sounded urgent over the walkie."

As soon as I stood up, as if in answer to Dante's question, the voice was back. "Mayday, mayday! Can someone fucking hear me?!"

Everyone shuffled closer, eyes wide as we circled my dad. He bent over the microphone. "Loud and clear. What's your position?" he yelled into the mic. "I repeat, what is your position - over."

"Man, I don't freaking know! Like...coordinates? Are you military?" He sounded young. Like a teenager. "We're in the San Francisco Bay on a boat. It's one of those old ass submarines. We were with a FEMA camp but we got overrun."

"Woah there, son, slow down for me and take a breath," said dad, sensing the boy's panic."

"Calm down?!" The boy shouted, and we all cringed as the radio squealed. "I can hear their nails on the fucking doors! It's not gonna hold them forever, man..."

"Son!" Daddy said firmer now. "How many of you are there? Which sub are you on?"

More crackling came over the radio, and my stomach sank. Did we lose him?

"USS Pampanito," the boy said finally.

My dad and I eyed each other, and I said, "What's a FEMA camp doing on a submarine?" That ship was long decommissioned and mostly used as a tourist attraction.

"Probably wasn't their first choice," Alex said. All eyes went to him. He didn't talk much, but when he did, we all listened. He was frowning down at the radio, his jaw clenched tight. "He's a civilian, which means the camp must have fallen completely."

"What's your name, kid?" Dad asked.

"Sam," came the boy's muffled voice. In the background, I could have sworn I heard the sound of a baby crying. "There's seven of us. We're locked in the mess hall, but I don't know how long we can hold out. We're going to run out of water soon, and there's a woman here who's really fucking sick."

"Sick how?" I asked, pressing the button on the microphone myself, a pit opening up in my stomach as I met Alex's eyes.

"She's got a bad fever, and she's coughing up blood," Sam said. His voice was shaky, and he sounded tired and hopeless.

I could feel the tension rising in the small cabin as we listened to Sam's plea for help. He had no idea who we were or what our intentions would be once we got there.

Dad exchanged a look with Wyatt, and I knew they were both thinking what I was - that there wasn't much we could do for those people on the sub unless we made it there within the next few days.

"Sam," Dad said into the microphone. "We're going to try our best to help you all out. My daughter Helana and her friends were in the military before all this mess. They'll try their darndest to get to you." The radio crackled, but there was no response. Dad scooted closer to the table. "You sit tight and keep that door fortified until help comes; you hear me?" Again, no answer. Dad's brows pinched. "Sam, how old is that baby I hear? Is the mama there too?"

Once again, all we received was radio static. My chest was tight with dread as we all looked around at one another. Dante was shifting back and forth on his feet, the doctor in him probably itching to get to his new patients who needed him.

"She's only three weeks old," Sam's voice said finally, the signal spotty, muffling his words. "Her mom is one of the zoms outside the door. I don't know what to do with a baby, sir. The mess hall has one can of formula left, and we're nearly out of water."

Dante cursed, sinking his hands into hair as he started to pace. This puts a real timeline on things. An infant couldn't go very long without food, and formula wasn't exactly in abundance. FEMA would have stored it, but how much?

"Don't you worry bout that, son. Keep her warm, and try to get her to sleep for as long as you can. We'll take care of the rest. "What can you tell us about your surroundings?"

"The ship is crawling with zombies, sir. All the soldiers either turned or abandoned us. I don't even know how to give you a map; this boat is like a maze." Sam sounded like he had swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing nervously, "The doors aren't going to last forever. Eventually, it's coming down, and we're fish in a barrel."

I kneeled next to Daddy, catching his eye and nodding. He scooted the microphone my way without question. "Sam?" I said softly. "This is Helana Gray. My team and I are coming for you, so sit tight and watch out for the others, got it? We need you to be a leader right now."

There was nothing but static in response. We waited for a solid two minutes, but nothing else came through. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to find Wyatt there. His eyes were grim but determined, matching those of the rest of us.

"I'm coming with you," came a feminine voice from the doorway that raised my hackles. We all turned to find none other than that bitch Jessa standing there, her eyes pinned on Alex.

"No," Alex said before anyone else could get a word in. He didn't bother meeting her eyes before turning away and folding his arms over his chest. "Absolutely the fuck not."

She took a step into the room, but Ret moved fast, cutting her off with a single hand on her chest. Jessa frowned at Ret. She wasn't a tall woman, probably a little bit taller than me, but she was soft in all the places I was hard. She looked like the kind of woman who never had to do a day's work in her whole life.

"I heard what that boy said. There's a newborn baby trapped on that ship, and I'm still lactating. I have to go with you or that baby will starve."

We all fell silent as her words settled on us. She wasn't wrong. As much as I wanted to tell her to fuck off and go breathe fog, we had bigger problems.

"We have formula," Alex snarled.

"Not enough," she snapped back. "Plus, what if you get separated? What if something goes wrong? You need me."

"What about your son?" I asked, stepping past Wyatt. Jessa looked at me, her gray eyes briefly flashing with distaste. It wasn't a secret that she hated me, even though we'd shared less than two words since I got here.

She'd just given birth not long ago, and her son was breastfeeding. We weren't about to bring a baby on this rescue mission.

"I'll prepare bottles for Jax, and his father can feed him," she said. I glanced at Alex, who glared at the wall as if he were going to burn it to a crisp with his laser eyes. The father must have been the random man she'd left with the day she shot Alex and fled.

"We have power here, so they can be refrigerated, but they'll go bad if I send them with you. That baby needs fresh milk, and right now I'm the only source. You need me, and I'm going."

Dante scoffed, pivoting to face Jessa. "Since when are you a fucking superhero? I seem to remember you fucking off when shit got hard and leaving Alex for fucking dead."

Alex stiffened, his body utterly rigid, as if it were taking everything inside of him not to turn around and deck the woman.

"We're not discussing that right now, Dante," she said, her voice wobbling slightly as if she were about to break down in tears.

Dante looked like he was about to say something especially scathing, so I cut him off, walking up to Jessa. She stiffened as I brought myself nose-to-nose with her. She knew nothing about me and vice versa.

All I really knew was that she was a coward who abandoned the men she claimed to love in the time of their greatest need. They were a team and she'd broken their trust. That was all I really needed to know.

"The only reason I'm allowing this is for the sake of that baby. If it were up to me, you'd be scrubbing the shit-covered bathrooms for the rest of your life to earn your keep on my property." She opened her mouth, but I shook my head, immediately shushing her. "No. See, this is where I talk, and you listen, got it? I'm in charge. This is my team. You either follow orders, or we leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. I will not have you as a liability, and you will not be carrying a firearm."

Jessa glared at me, her eyes flashing with raw hatred. But for a moment, she said nothing. That's how I knew that my words had hit home.

"I understand," she finally muttered through clenched teeth.

"Good," I nodded curtly before turning to Alex. "And you? Can you handle this?"

He grunted noncommittally, his jaw set tight in frustration as he stared off into the distance.

I took that as a yes and turned back to Jessa. "Get your gear together then, and we'll all meet at the hangar at sunrise. Whoever isn't there gets left behind." I glared at Jessa again. "You're responsible for yourself. You're playing with the big kids now, so don't fuck this up."