NOVEL WEB Sleep
Orion stares at Cole's torn flesh and grimaces.
"We gotta get you back to the island."
"The Abode?" Cole chuckles.
"Yeah. Whatever."
"I'm fine. I really am."
The imprints across his body and through his clothes look horrible. Some are not as fleshly and exposed and torn as others, but it isn't good.
"Cole, those will get infected."
"Look. We are here. We are this close. I know there are medic kits in that ship."
"Decades old."
"Doesn't matter. Look at that ship. There will be something in there that can help me. I'm sure of it."
Cole sure seems positive.
Orion shrugs.
"Well, clean what you can with this," Orion pulls his only first aid kit out and hands it to Cole.
Cole nods and sits on the sand and starts working on the bad wounds with whatever strange ointments and expired medicines Orion has.
"In the old days, we'd just have you jump in the water," Orion says.
"That'll be soon enough," Cole says, trying to find the most gaping wounds. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Very funny. They never have their backs exposed. That helped," Orion says, looking around. "I'm surprised all of their friends didn't hear all of that. But that is why they were out here."
Orion then pulls up his main menu.
SURVIVAL XP - 87%
KNOWLEDGE XP - 87%
COMBAT / FIGHT / DEFENSE XP - 87%
LEGEND XP
Not bad.
Orion looks at the harsh sun and knows they've been under it too long, and knows the night is coming.
He also knows they'll be sleeping in that ghost ship in front of him.
Orion, for once, feels tired. He almost collapses. He trips and catches himself.
"You okay?" Cole asks, still working on his wounds.
"No. It's been non stop. We need to rest. We need a night of sleep and food and water."
"We have food. We have water. And we'll find a hiding spot in there," Cole says, nodding towards the ship.
Cole finishes tending his wounds, and has tape, bandages and all the rest around him.
Orion is surprised he looks as well as he does.
"Good luck us sleeping in there," Orion says. "It's full of hell. Literally."
"Well, we might as well go say hi."
"Why don't you reload your weapon first there, hero?"
Cole nods, remembering the click click click with the beast. He empties his clip, then inserts one and checks the chamber on his pistol, then winks at Orion.
The two grab their gear and start wading in the water towards the monolith of death breaking from the ocean.
As they come to the backside of the ship, they soon are waist deep, and Cole and Orion look up in amazement and horror at the tipped over ship before them.
Bridges and walls and pipes and exhausts and satellites and weapons systems and wiring, all in some sort of puzzle on the side.
Cole looks around, trying to find what his memory was triggering for him.
Suddenly, he sees it. Upside down and small, but an entrance.
The door bent by the water and years of decay and no use is pried open into the darkness.
Orion and Cole shine their lights from their guns into the dark corridor, and start to walk in.
The floor is on the ceiling, and the ceiling is on the floor, as they walk over lights and seaweed and vents and pipes.
But, they find themselves in small outer hallway or hatch before a larger set of hallways and rooms starts before them, all behind a door.
In other words...
"A safe place," Orion says, and he cannot believe it. "We'll rest here. Take runs watching that door."
Cole doesn't argue with him. The cozy little hideaway barely fits them, but they have an exit and solid door that doesn't look like it has been opened.
After a little while, the camp is made, and the two eat their rations and drink their precious water.
A warning sign keeps popping up to Cole's display, but he whisks it away.
"I...I need to sleep," Orion admits.
"I got you. Sleep," Cole says.
Orion is already out before Cole's words are finished.
A small lantern lights their little safe room. Cole looks towards the door they entered in, which is still cracked open, and looks out at the afternoon glow across the water.
Cole then leans back and stares at the door they will open the next day.
It was his watch. But he falls asleep as well.
After some time, Orion and Cole wake from their deep sleep by some strange noise.
"You okay? My bad, Cole. I should've stared my shift."
"It's okay. What was that..."
They both listen.
And they hear it again.
It is soft, but distinct.
A chant. Or verse. Or a hymn.
But it is not joyful nor happy.
It is a dark calling. Whispering to them and to everyone else. A melody of death.
Orion begins to get the chills from it.
"Cover your ears," he warns.
"What is it?" Cole asks, trying to discern it through the echo.
"They're singing. They are chanting," Orion says, looking for something to plug their ears with. "Calling out to anyone who will hear."
Orion tears some cloth pieces and hands them to Cole, and motions for him to get them in his ears immediately.
The two plug their ears then stare at the door, like something is going to break through, but it doesn't.
Cole's display keeps bringing up a warning.
Over and over.
FATAL WOUNDS
ENERGY DRAINING
FATAL WOUNDS
INFECTION GROWING
Cole keeps clicking it away, but the one warning keeps going.
FATAL WOUNDS
FATAL WOUNDS
FATAL WOUNDS
Cole then accidentally clicks another piece on his sub menu, and the whole world around him becomes radar like, briefly.
He stops and almost yells and what he sees, but doesn't.
The radar's power is draining in increments of 10.
90% 80% 70% 60%
That is fine with Cole.
Through his eyes, he briefly sees through the ship.
They are surrounded by fallen. Not behind that door. Or even in the hallway near them.
But in and around the ship. They are there.
"Try to sleep," Orion says.