5 hours, 35 minutes since outbreak in London
Having finished making her calls to frantic friends and panicked associates, Christine needed to clear her head, so she decided to take a walk and tend to her mother's blouse whilst her mother called the hospital.
This was all too much and taking a walk probably would resolve nothing, especially given the hysteria right across the ship at the moment. It would certainly be of no surprise if the captain decided to turn back.
Just as she had thought, mass hysteria like she had never witnessed before. Those aboard were demanding free WiFi so that they could stay in contact with family members and friends without limit, others someone to distract their children whilst they attended to problems back at home, it was all absolutely crazy and Christine could never before recall experiencing anything quite like this. There was the time flights were grounded throughout Europe because of the volcanic ash threat and she was stuck at a foreign airport for hours at end, but that was about it.
She arrived at the corridor of the number 1062 and noticed several members of staff standing guard outside a cabin door with face masks akin to what doctors wear on. As she drew closer, she quickly realised that this was the cabin she was supposed to be visiting to resolve the saga of the blood stained blouse.
Bemused, as well as nosey, she stopped before the staff and the closed door to ask what was going on.
"Ma'am, you can't go in there. Their son has contracted a virus and is having cold sweats, has gone pale, is twitching profusely and his nose won't stop bleeding", a male staff member explained.
"Ah, okay, well I only need to collect something from the mother for this..."
"Ma'am, as I said, you can't go in there, his parents appear to have contracted it as well, which means you could, so in the interest of your safety and that of everyone on board, we have quarantined them to this cabin until further notice".
"Are you serious? They just have to stay in there the duration of the trip?"
"Precisely".
An on board doctor shoved past her repeatedly saying "excuse me" and entered the cabin, opening the door just long enough for her to catch a glimpse of the ginger haired boy in a fetal position on the bed, shaking and twitching erratically as what looked to be his mother sat next to him holding her head and shaking whilst his pale, almost deathly looking father creepily stared at his own reflection in the mirror twitching, not unlike his son. As the door slowly closed, his eyes caught hers and they locked. It was a mere fraction of a second, but it felt like an eternity, a terrifying absence of sanity and seething with the hatred of a man who had been wronged.
The image imprinted on her mind sent a chill right down her spine.
She returned to her cabin feeling even more anxious and uneasy than before.
"Back so soon?" Her mother enquired as she walked through the door.
"Something is going on, they've quite literally been quarantined in their cabin. Staff are blocking their door", Christine replied, putting the blouse on the counter besides the door.
"I knew it, they've contracted something".
"What do you think it is? Ebola maybe? The man who stopped me said the little boy has cold sweats, went pale, was twitching monde stop and his nose keeps bleeding".
"Doesn't sound like all the exact same symptoms, but it could be, or something entirely new".
"This is too much. Did you reach the hospital?"
YOU ARE READING
Cryptophobia - Hell & High Water
Horror(Book 2 of the Cryptophobia series) Just before London falls to its knees, the largest cruise-ship in the world, the MS Heaven of the Seas sets sail on its long 9 day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton towards the Caribbean. Having to...
