Untitled

chapter 4

The knocking stopped for a moment, but then we were greeted by more..

"I know someone's in there!" a muffled voice called from the other side. "You can come out, it's safe!"

I recognized that voice, that unmistakable accent.

I immediately reached for the broom, pulled it out and opened the door.

"Barbie? I knew it was you!" I exclaimed, in relief.

"My name is not Barbie!" she countered, bubbling with frustration. She sighed, trying to push it aisde. "Come on, follow me. I'll explain everything once we get somewhere safe."

Sabrina and I complied without any hesitation, because obviously. At this point, I understood that we were at the very front of the ship. We slowly walked through the tiny corridor to a large metal door with green tints.

What awaited us inside was not something I expected. It was a huge area, with pipes, tubes, tanks, and all sorts of machinery. I couldn't see anyone there.

Barbie lady veered off to the side, stepping into another room before we could even take five steps inside the large engine room. Being faithful companions, we followed her.

This room was small. It also looked somewhat like a storage, but for tools instead. There were wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and all sorts of other things I wasn't able to name, all lined up on racks.

The woman sighed, and her shoulders drooped to a level I didn't know was possible.

"My name is Blair Bennett." she began. "We're currently in the bottom deck of the engine room."

She paused and waited for something.

"Go on." I said.

She glanced around and sighed once more.

"This is... One hell of a situation." she admitted. "I understand you both were running from them?"

For a second, I didn't know what she meant by them. "From the faceless man." Sabrina confirmed in a shaky voice.

Blair nodded. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again.

"I was in the storage cabinet beside the one you two were in." She said. "And then I heard some voices." She gestured towards us with both her palms.

"Who are they?" I asked, ignoring the need to specify, because it really wasn't required.

"I'm not sure." she admitted. "But I'm sure my father does."

"Your father?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

"The captain. Captain Bennett." she responded, meeting my eyes.

"He might know what's going on." she continued. "The lack of people on the lower decks, the power cut."

"So ask him." I said blatantly.

"That's the problem." Blair said. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because no phone is working. And to reach the engine control room, I... I'll need to go through the main engine room."

"You don't know how to navigate it?" I asked. It would make sense, that room was huge. Seemed like it connected through multiple decks.

"No, that's not the problem." Blair looked uncomfortable. "There's more of those things in there. I almost got attacked."

Well that certainly made more sense. But there were more of them? I was just about to ask but I was interrupted by Sabrina.

She suddenly searched her pockets frantically and pulled out her phone. She began scrolling through her contacts and clicked on a name. That was when I remembered that we had other friends. She put the phone to her ear, but pulled it away in just a few seconds.

"It's not working..." she said, trying again.

Blair looked unsurprised. Sabrina kept trying to call other numbers. "That's what I meant." Blair said. "It doesn't work."

That meant we just had to hope our friends were safe. My head throbbed. What was happening? This must all be a dream, surely.

"We should go to the captain, then." Sabrina said, her voice steady. There was that leadership I was talking about. A smart girl, she was.

Blair nodded wearily.

Sabrina continued, "I wouldn't mind having a weapon of some sort, seeing as we're surrounded by workshop tools."

True. We each grabbed a heavy tool- sorry, weapon. I settled with a fat wrench about the size of my forearm.

Oh boy, was this turning into a military operation.