Deadshifted (Edie Spence 4)

“Did you figure anything out?” I asked him, so I looked like I had a reason to stay behind.

“I tried. I sorted by restaurant, by dining time, by hometown, by recent travel, by airlines, but I couldn’t find any commonalities—other than everyone affected being here. ” He sat down in his chair and breathed like someone with heart failure, his lungs searching for, but not finding, enough air.

“You don’t look well. ”

“That’s no concern of yours. ”

Outside of the curtain’s Raluca’s megaphoned voice was getting quieter as it moved farther away. “You should get on the rescue ship—”

“Just as captains go down with the ship, doctors should go down with their sickrooms. ” He stirred the papers in front of him restlessly, seemingly more out of habit than need.

I prepared to back out of the room to inspect the papers I’d swiped, but then I paused. “Where … is the captain?”

“Isolated above. All the officers are quarantined off by floor—the ones upstairs are taking shifts manning the ship. ”

“You’re sure?”

“They’re still on the radio with me. Luckily when the quarantine went in place, we had a good crew. ”

“And all of them are still well? None of them is sick?”

“Not last time I radioed, no. What are you getting at?” He didn’t sound angry, just exasperated and tired, and took another wet-sounding breath.

I shook my head. I didn’t know, yet. But the utter destruction of an entire ship full of people was a tall order for any single man. Nathaniel must have had help, and it made sense for that help to be on the inside. And if Asher was right, he’d held the right patents to afford it.

Dr. Haddad didn’t notice my distraction; he was too busy staring off behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at, and saw where the curtains had parted and a slice of the ocean was visible through the window outside. Shit. Him too. I stepped in front of the window, blocking his view, and knelt down to be in his field of vision. “I’m sorry, I lied to you earlier. I am pregnant, and I cannot have this baby alone. I need to find my husband. Do you have another master key?”

His eyes focused on me slowly. “I gave my last one to Raluca. ”

“Where’s Raluca going now?”

“First floor. Where the tender boats dock. ”

“Which side of the ship? How can I get there?”

“The freight elevator and down. It’ll be aft. ”

Which the fuck way was aft? “Down by the morgue?” I guessed.

“Yes. ” He tilted his head so that he could see past me to the window.

I knew what was coming for him, and I knew I didn’t know how to help. Should I do what he’d done to the others and tie him to the table bodily, or should I just leash him by his foot?

“Before you go, can you get me a glass of water?” he asked.

“I’m sorry—” I stepped away from him. “I’ve got to go. ” If Raluca got on the medical ship, I’d lose my chance to snag her key. I closed the curtain so he couldn’t see out anymore. It felt like the only thing I could do. Then I ran into the Dolphin to follow the volunteers down.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Every jogging step jostled my arm in its socket, and the manifest papers I’d swiped and hidden chafed. The wait on the elevator seemed interminable. I paced in circles trying to figure out how I’d get Raluca—or Marius, as a distant runner-up—to give me a key. I couldn’t exactly go and get into a fistfight with anyone in my current state.

The freight elevator doors opened, and I jogged down the hallway to the morgue—I knew I was going the right way from all the flower petals people moving bodies had tracked back to the elevator doorway. If I went past the morgue, hopefully I’d run into them—there was no way transferring so many people over would be a quick process.

The sound of gunfire stopped me in my tracks.

I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard it. I paused, trying to convince myself that it’d been some weird engine noise—but no, another staccato burst and panicked shouting, coming my way—fast.

Without thinking, I ducked into the morgue. Who would look for survivors in here? And maybe I could get some answers. I tapped the nearest body with my shoe.

“Shadows—what’s happening?”

The body didn’t answer me.

“I know you’re in there. ” The sound of screaming stopped, but the gunfire didn’t. I looked furtively at the doors, and they burst open. I bit back a scream and dropped to the floor, before I saw that it was Rory.

“You!” he said, recognizing me.

“What’s going on out there?”