Bella Starr

I blink into the blackness. In the Celestial Sea's storage room, I expect to be attacked at any second. A throaty rumble reverberates through an infected person's clenched teeth. The sound comes from my right, the back part of the room. I cower, trying to hunker close to the floor and blend into the darkness. I fight to remain quiet, but against my will, an involuntary cry explodes from my lips... as loud as space jet thrusters in my ears. The infected person shrieks. The high-pitched shrill blasts through the room, sending chills down the back of my neck.

Movement cuts through the darkness. It could be Astra or Halo, or the infected person.

Metal rattles against metal. I recognize the sound; I've heard it before.

Light seeps through a crack at the bottom of the door, allowing my eyes to adjust, revealing vague outlines and shadows. Still, I can't make out anything in the darkness. To the left, a figure scurries over and drops to the floor. It may have been Halo or Astra, but I can't tell.

The metal clanking continues, vibrating amidst the agitated growl of the infected.

I have to think of something to do. Then it comes to me.

"Lights on," I say and the overhead fluorescents flicker to life, illuminating the room with a blinding flash. It takes a few seconds for the shapes to materialize into Halo and Astra, and a sickly infected person, a member of the ship's housekeeping crew, a female steward. The woman presses her face against a chain-link gate, her cloudy eyes shifting left and right, mouth agape, teeth rimmed with the outline of her thin lips. She shrieks again. Gnashes her teeth over and over, wanting to devour us.

Halo meets my gaze. So does Astra.

"Seriously?" I say. "You locked us in here with that..."

Halo and Astra rise to their feet. When he extends his hand to me, I ignore it and push up on my own. A fire burns behind my eyes as I stare at a snarling, slobbering infected person who somehow got locked behind a chain-link fence.

"How could you?" I shove Halo backward. With my lower center of gravity giving me leverage, he collides with a shelf of toilet paper and paper towels. The plastic wrapped rolls tumble over his shoulders and bounce off the floor. "I could've saved her, and you just let her die."

"The woman was going to die anyway, Bella. She would've never made it. And if I'd let you go after her, you'd be dead too. And that's one thing I refuse to do, let you die trying to save someone who's already dead."

Imprisoned behind the cage, the infected steward grumbles and rattles the chain-links.

Astra steps in front of me. "He's right. She was too far away to make it, and if you'd went after her, it'd be me and Halo trapped in this room alone with that thing." She jabs a thumb at the steward.

I look at the infected woman, smelling the odor that must come from her breath, the rottenness in her gut.

"Maybe you're right," I say, "but I had to try. I couldn't let her die without trying."

"You tried, Bella," Halo replies. "But I couldn't bear to watch you get torn to shreds in front of my eyes."

"The woman is dead and we need to move on," Astra says.

I glare at her.

"We need to think about what's important. We need to decide what to do because I'm not staying here with that thing. Infected zombie, mindless cannibal, white-eyed freak, or whatever you wanna to call it."

I cast a somber gaze at Halo, look away and then pace to the wall. I sink to the floor again, bringing my knees to my chest, arms draping around my legs, and my head buried.

"We can't fall apart, Bella," Halo says.

When I look up, my eyes sting with frustration. "I'm not falling apart. I'm thinking, and I can't think straight with that infected thing over there wanting to eat my brains."

"That's only in the movies," Astra replies. "The old ones. I don't think she could crack our skulls open and do that."

I stare at my beautiful, loopy-headed friend. In any other situation, I would have laughed, but not now. I sigh and speak over the spastic fits of the infected steward. "I wasn't talking in a literal sense. Listen, we still need to find the medical bay and get help for Cap, and find Adrianna. I can't bear the thought of that poor little girl out there alone with her parents infected."

Halo grimaces and wags his head. "We need to consider the big picture. We need to locate the bridge and alert the captain to stop the ship and send a message to Earth."

"I agree, but Caprica needs help first. And then Adrianna. Then we can search for the bridge, or a ship officer. Anyone who can call for help."

"I have a better idea," Astra says.

"What's that?" Halo asks.

"We find the engine room and get the engineers to stop the ship. Bella said it was below this deck. I bet it would be much easier to find than the bridge."

"She's right," I say.

"I think she is." Halo shrugs.

I stand and smooth my hands over my thighs, straightening my posture. "If Cap was here and Adrianna was safe, and that flesh-eating freak wasn't drooling over us, I'd stay here and hide until help came."

"Me too, but even if that cage was zombie free, we'd have to figure out a way to unlock it and get inside."

I turn to look. Behind the infected woman are shelves of bottled water, soft drinks, and boxes of food. The containers hold packs of crackers, canned meat, and chips.

"I think we all have good ideas," I say. "How about we start with the engine room, like Astra suggested?"

My friend beams. "Thank you."

"Then, successful or not, we find the bridge and warn the captain if he's still alive. If this entire ship is on the verge of being lost, then calling for help is the key to survival. Oh, and along the way, we stop by the medical bay to get help for Cap. Then find Adrianna. If all else fails, we can find somewhere else to hide and wait for help to come." I throw that possibility in as a last resort, to give us a chance to survive if all hope gets ripped from us. I gesture toward the starved out, salivating, infected steward. "Some place safe, without one of those things staring at us with those sickly eyes."