Secrets at Sea

Chapter 12

My head pounds as I sit up. Maybe from the fall as the man drags me down to the hard deck? The sound of the gunshot from Kepner's gun? Or more likely from the stinging on my right cheek. I reach up to my face and feel sticky blood running down my cheek.

"Chelsea." I hear Kepner say to me, but I'm so focused on the blood. "Chelsea, I'm so sorry." His voice hitches and he takes my hand away from my face.

"What happened?" I ask, disoriented. I look behind me and see the man, dead. A hole where his right eye should be. "Oh my god." I gasp and a wave of panic takes over. "He's dead." I mutter.

"I know he is. He was going to hurt you." Kepner moves my hair out of my face. There's a thud from behind us and I can see his eyes widen as he checks on the noise. "We have to go. Chelsea I'm so sorry, but I need you to run." He whispers in my ear as he lifts me onto my feet. He puts my arm around his shoulder and practically drags me down the corridor. It takes a few minutes before my mind connects back to my body and my legs start to support my own weight. My head is pounding and my body feels heavy, but every step I take reminds me I am closer to safety.

Just keep going. We'll get fixed up and rest in a little bit. My thoughts wander and I start to panic.  A wave of adrenaline kicks in and my pain subsides. We run even faster down the corridor, hearing the footsteps behind us slowly fade to silence.

The corridor splits into two and Kepner hesitates before taking the path to the left. We haven't spoken a word in minutes, but I can feel Kepner checking on me every few feet. I look down and can see my favorite baby blue shirt is covered in dark, sticky blood.

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath. Kepner slows down as he stares at me. "I really liked this shirt." I sigh and he chuckles.

"I'll buy you a new one when we get out of this. I was the one that shot you after all." He runs his fingers along my injured cheek, careful not to touch the wound. "We're almost there." He whispers and we pick up our speed again.

After another minute or so of running we start to slow down. I see a lone door on the left side of the hallway. Kepner stops at the door and raps his knuckles lightly on the metal. The door opens immediately and Kepner gently pulls me inside.

"What the hell took you so long?" Liam spats at Kepner. Kepner walks past Liam, guiding me up the stairs towards the bridge.

"We ran into a few of our kill happy friends terrorizing the ship." He responds automatically. We reach the top of the dark stairs and open the door to the bridge. The room is completely lit up from the first man-made light I've seen in hours. I scan the room, my vision still shaky from my headache, until I see Mason. He's already on his feet rushing towards me.

He wraps his arms around me and I melt into his chest. "Thank god you're okay!" He pulls my head back and examines the cuts on my cheek and neck. "What happened?" He glares at Kepner. I rest my head back against Mason's chest and close my eyes, tuning out the boys' voices.

I take a deep breath. I'm safe. I think, smiling.

Mason scoops me up in his arms and brings me over to one of the cots clustered in the middle of the bridge. One of the other soldiers that had helped escort Mason and me here crouches in front of me and examines my wounds. I look at his shirt to figure out his name, Henry. Henry opens up the duffel bag next to him and pulls out a first aid kit. He rummages through the box for a minute before pulling out a bottle, gloves, string, and a needle. "This is going to hurt." He says softly. I close my eyes and prepare for the worst, but a small scream still escapes my lips as he applies hydrogen peroxide onto my cheek. "I'm sorry, it needs to be treated or you'll get an infection."