Chapter 9: Bloodied Waters

Thunder boomed and lightning cut the sky in two, illuminating the yacht sailing on the violent dark ocean below. The night air was freezing cold and raindrops beat the yacht like a drum. The ocean sent waves crashing down on anything in its path, complementing the thrill of the darkness. It was perfect for the shadows of the night to do their bidding.

"Ow!" Moaned Zane in pain, holding his injured leg. A sudden wave had crashed into the side of the yacht, sending him flying off his bed.

He could hear the rumbling of thunder and the annoying sound of thousands of raindrops hitting the outer decks. A storm was brewing.

"Right... I forgot that there was a storm out here... This is going to be a painful night..."

Zane hated loud noises. He could never find it easy to sleep whenever he was surrounded by an abundance of noise. Just then, another slight rumbling came into play. Zane looked down at himself to realize that it was his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything in a few hours now due to not having much of an appetite.

Thankfully, they had plenty to eat since Frank and his crew had left behind all their items. This included food, weapons, and many other needed supplies. Carefully, Zane opened his room door before stepping out into the darkened lobby. He was on the third floor with Layla and Sarah who slept peacefully in the other two rooms.

Zane then quietly moved toward Layla's room and slowly pushed the door open. He was still a little worried about her given how much she had been through. Fortunately, she was sleeping soundly like an angel. Seeing this made Zane extremely satisfied. The last thing he would want is for her not to be able to get any sleep, especially since it was the apocalypse. 

A second later, Zane grabbed one of the bags from the lobby before taking out a small snack.

"Crackers and cheese, huh? I used to love these as a kid. Sigh... I guess days like that won't ever be coming back again..." 

As Zane prepared to sit on the nearby couch and enjoy his snack, a bright flash of lightning illuminated the yacht's interior. This was when he glimpsed a moving shadow on the wall next to the staircase. However, it disappeared almost as quickly as he saw it.

Zane froze. He couldn't decide if his eyes were tricking him or if he had seen something move. However, this was when he heard a slight rumbling on the second floor beneath them. This sent a chill running down his spine.

"It's probably just the waves..." He said, trying to comfort himself. However, a bad feeling loomed over him. His intuition was warning him of danger.

Not able to quell the feeling of danger, Zane grabbed a knife from one of the bags and crept toward the staircase. With his heart pounding against his chest, he peeped down the stairs. The darkness was thick and was only swayed by the constant flash of lightning.

This was when he glimpsed another subtle movement right below the staircase. Cold sweat soon began to wash his face wet. He was becoming more and more certain that something or someone was lurking below them on the second floor.

"Should I wake Layla and Sarah..? No, I can handle it by myself... My eyes could just be tricking me so I think it's best to confirm it first anyway..." He thought to himself, making another mistake.

Zane then quietly forced himself down the stairs. With every step he took, goosebumps flooded his skin. He looked around frantically, making sure that nothing was there. He was paranoid. As soon as he stepped down onto the second floor, he heard shuffling coming from one of the rooms to his right. 

Zane took a deep breath. With the knife clenched between his fist, he approached the door. He was now certain that something or someone was inside. 

Slowly, he turned the knob. It was cold to the touch. With a throw of his arm, he flung the door wide open. He was ready to attack whoever was inside. However, to Zane's surprise, the room was empty. The only thing that could be seen was an open window at the opposite end of the room.

Zane took a huge breath of relief. His heart rate slowed and his anxiety was quickly fading away. But this was when he heard a slight knock on the side of the yacht. Quickly, he then moved toward the open window before looking out. This was when he saw something that made his heart skip a beat.

Pulling up to the side of the yacht was a strange boat-like vehicle. It looked extremely similar to one of the Apocrypha vehicles that had chased them through New York. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that Zane noticed.

A flash of lightning illuminated a long shadow standing not too far behind him. Seeing this, Zane was afraid to turn around. He knew something was standing behind him and it wasn't human. Reluctantly, he turned around.

His gaze met a pair of bright purple eyes staring at him intently. Tentacle-like extensions danced atop its head like a flame and a smile filled with metallic-like teeth greeted him. It was an Apocrypha.

Immediately, it began making a strange bellow, as if to signal its comrades. Zane felt as if his heart was about to pop free from his chest. However, he did his best to maintain his composure. If he allowed himself to start panicking, then that would wake the girls which would result in them running down the stairs, right into the clutches of the Apocrypha.

As it stood, the Apocrypha only knew of him being on the yacht. If he was somehow able to defeat them then the girls wouldn't be exposed to danger.

Zane then lunged at the Apocrypha. He swung his knife at its head, ready to kill it in a single blow. However, he had forgotten how physically able an Apocrypha could be. It grabbed onto his wrist and twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the knife.

Zane groaned in agony, cursing himself for his amateur mistake. The Apocrypha then came up with a powerful swing of its shadowy arm. With pain striking him in the leg, Zane kicked the Apocrypha in the gut, using the momentum to dodge the punch. 

Zane hissed in frustration. If he hoped to win then he needed to think of a plan. He couldn't win in a head-on fight, especially with his injured leg. Quickly, Zane then dived toward the Apocrypha once more. However, this time, he threw himself to the ground and grabbed his knife before rolling past it through the door.

  With the Apocrypha quickly giving chase, he did his best to spring toward the outer deck. Pain rocketed his leg like an exploding missile but he had to persevere.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!!" Cursed Zane as he ran.

Zane soon came to regret his unwise decision of moving to the outer deck. As soon as he stepped outside, he came face-to-face with at least fifteen other Apocrypha.

Regrettably, that was not all. By their side were hideous dog-like creatures that Zane had never before. They stood at the same size as an average dog but their heads were split into four sections. Each section was filled with endless rows of shark-like teeth. Their color-changing eyes sat on either side of their head like that of a chameleon. Their eyes transitioned from black to grey to a creepy blood-red.

Their claws were like that of a lion's. Their body was shadowy-black with their skeletons on the outside, rather than on the inside. Finally, they had scorpion-like tails that seemed efficient for neutralizing prey.

Due to this, Zane's mind played an awful trick on him as he saw his heart jump from his mouth, run across the deck, and dive into the ocean.

The Apocrypha were already bad enough. The dog-like creatures were just too much. Zane lost his composure. He could no longer keep himself calm, knowing creatures like this were about to attack.

He screamed loudly as he ran back inside the yacht. Even the pain in his leg had gone numb due to the adrenaline that now pumped through his body.

The dog-like creatures immediately gave chase. They growled and snarled aggressively like a pack of hungry wolves as they ran. Zane ran as fast as he could, dodging and knocking over furniture, trying desperately to get away. Unfortunately, Zane had failed to see another Apocrypha that was standing before him. It grabbed onto his arm and pulled him toward itself.

Zane breathed heavily. He was coming dangerously close to hyperventilating. All he could think about was how to get away. He quickly began searching himself for his knife, forgetting that it was still in his hand. Due to this, it gave him a small cut across his leg, pulling him back to his senses.

He wasted no time. He quickly plunged the knife between the Apocrypha's eyes, immediately killing it. 

"Let me go!!!" 

As soon as he did this, one of the dog-like creatures jumped onto his back, knocking him into a nearby room. The door was flung open so quickly that the momentum caused it to close as soon as they both fell inside.

"Damn it! No! No! No! I'm not gonna die here!!" Screamed Zane

Zane began kicking wildly, trying to get the creature to back off. However, it made another powerful jump, landing atop Zane's chest. This caused Zane to drop his knife. He was left staring into the creature's slimy mouth.

It extended its tongue, licking Zane across his face like a tasty meal. Its breath was so rancid that Zane thought he was about the vomit just from the smell.

"Damn it! Get off of me!" Screamed Zane in terror.

With a powerful thrust of his legs, Zane kicked the creature from his chest. Agitated, it came back at him, snapping its jaws. Zane jumped to the side. The creature managed to latch onto the side of his shirt, ripping it to pieces with a single bite. This caused Zane to tumble over once more. 

Taking advantage of this, it jumped back onto his chest. Its claws sank into Zane's skin and its four-sectioned mouth opened wide, ready to devour Zane's head in a single bite. Drool ran from its mouth, pitter-pattering onto Zane's face.

Zane didn't understand why it was trying to kill him. Layla had stated that the Apocrypha was supposed to take them alive so it didn't make sense. However, if he didn't do something then he would surely die.

Zane scuffled his fingers across the floor, searching for his knife. The creature then went in for the kill with a powerful bite. Zane grabbed his knife. It was too close. With the creature's mouth mere inches away from taking his life, Zane jammed the knife into the side of its neck. It yelped in pain before quickly falling over. Zane had managed to kill it.

Zane breathed as if he was having an asthma attack. His body trembled with fear and anxiety threatened to paralyze him. This was when Zane noticed something odd. It had at least been a minute since he was fighting with the dog-like creature. So why hadn't the Apocrypha entered the room to subdue him?

"Sarah! Layla!" He shouted, scurrying to his feet.

As soon as he shoved the door open, he heard a blood-curdling spin. This was when he saw Sarah being dragged down the stairs by an Apocrypha. It pulled her down the stairs violently as if it had no regard for her well-being.

On the other hand, Layla was struggling to fend off two other Apocrypha by herself. A gun that she had dropped in the commotion laid not too far from her feet.

"Layla!" Shouted Zane.

Layla quickly looked over at him desperately. She needed help. One of the Apocrypha then slammed its foot into her stomach, sending her crashing through a door. It immediately charged in at her to continue the brawl.

Seeing this, Zane dived toward the gun. He needed it if he hoped to save everyone. However, he was quickly met with a kick to the face, stifling him with pain. 

"What the hell should I do here..?" He asked himself desperately.

They were severely outnumbered and didn't have much chance of survival. However, the strangest thing of all was that the Apocrypha didn't appear to care whether or not they were taken in alive. They even had plenty of chances to use the metal bracelets but they had never done so. It was nothing like he had seen before.

An Apocrypha then picked up Zane by the back of his neck. There was nothing he could think of to save everyone. It all looked like it was over.

This was when he saw Sarah being dragged toward the outer deck by one of the Apocrypha. She flailed her arms wildly, hitting the Apocrypha on the tentacles on its head. This caused it to fall over, giving Sarah the chance to run away.

However, seeing what Sarah had done to its owner, one of the dog-like creatures gave chase. It latched its sharp teeth around her leg, pulling her violently to the ground.

"NO!! HELP ME!! PLEASE!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!" 

Zane bit his lip in frustration. He couldn't stand by and watch. Due to this, he immediately started fighting back against the Apocrypha that held him. However, it kicked his feet from beneath him, causing him to fall over. It then dropped its knee in the middle of his back and grabbed onto his arms, subduing him completely. There was no escaping this time.

"No! Sarah!" He shouted.

The dog-like creature opened its four-section mouth and lodged its teeth into Sarah's stomach. She screamed for mercy but mercy was nowhere to be found. Blood splattered across the deck, mixing with the rain and seawater. The creature dipped its head, deeper into her stomach, making it appear as if she was pregnant. With a lethal pull, the creature dragged her intestines from her body and slurped them down its throat like ramen. It was eating her alive.

Sarah continued to scream. Blood filled her mouth, painting her teeth red and her eyes were soaked with tears. She looked over at Zane, desperately trying to call for help, but all that was heard were constant glugs and coughs. The blood had filled her throat, making it impossible to speak. 

As Sarah hopelessly continued to struggle, the creature continued to feast. It pulled out her liver, kidney, womb, and heart, killing her before too long.

"SARAH!!!!" 

Zane stared at Sarah's bloody body in despair. The only thing left of Sarah was her lifeless half-closed eyes that continued to stare at Zane.

The Apocrypha laughed in amusement. And before long, the dog-like creature turned its attention to Zane, ready for another meal.