Sea Sick: A Horror Novel Read Online Free Page A

eventually. 
    Jack lay back and closed his eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face.  Then the smell of cooking sausage meat wafted up onto the upper deck and he was powerless to resist his growling appetite.  He closed the book he had not yet started and hoisted himself up off the lounger.
    I’m so hungry I think I could eat a whole pig.  Let’s hope there’s plenty to go around.
    Heading down the steps to the Lido Deck, Jack couldn’t help but notice something a little bit odd.  It appeared that Conner and his mates weren’t the only oneswith colds. There were several other passengers who were sneezing and coughing.  Obviously there wasa nasty bug going around.
    Hope I don’t catch it, Jack thought to himself as he joined the queue for hotdogs.
    ***
    The hotdogs had been good and plentiful.  Once Jack had filled his belly with three or four, he decided to explore the ship, surprised to find that there was a Sports Deck and a casino.  His initial plan was to find somewhere peaceful to read his book, but somehow he’d found himself unable to settle anywhere in particular.  He visited the ship’s five bars, speaking briefly to Joma at the Voyager’s Lounge and ordering a double bourbon whisky at an American-style pub called Columbia. 
    He’d eventually ended up at a place called High Spirits and that was where he was now. The barroom was immediately next to the Sun Deck Sun Deck where he had briefly sunbathed, but it was also, more importantly, right above the Lido Restaurant Lido Restaurant where they served a twenty-four hour buffet.  It would not be long before Jack wanted to eat again, and when he did all he would have to do was descend a short flight of stairs to find a wide array of snacks waiting for him. Drinks upstairs and food below.  Perfect.
    Looking at his wristwatch, it was ten-past-eight.  Currently there was a comedian who would beperforming on the room’s small stage until ten-o-clock.  Jack would most likely get a bite to eat after the set was over andthen retire to bed with the book he was still eager to finally get started on.
    The room’s waitress – another Filipino girl, as a majority of the serving staff seemed to be (apart from the dark-featured poolside waitress that had brought him a beer earlier in the day) – brought over the drink he had ordered: another doublebourbon, this time with coke.  Jack took the drink and thanked the lady, before settling in to watch the rotund comedian ply his trade on the stage.
    “The wife and I were sat having a cup of tea with my mother-in-law the other day when, out of the blue, she says to me, ‘I’ve decided I want to be cremated.’  I said, ‘Alright, get your coat. ’ ”
    Mother-in-law jokes.  How original.
    Jack sipped his drink and glanced around the dimly-lit lounge.  The attendance was high and nearly all of the seats and tables were occupied by passengers with their various drinks.  Nearby, he spotted the family that had boarded just before him: the middle-aged couple and their daughter.  Their little girl was not the lively spirit she’d been earlier and was nowlying across her mother’s lap, her damp blonde hair matted against her forehead as she clutched her dolly against her chest.  At first Jack assumed that the girl was just exhausted from the excitement of being on holiday, but the longer he looked at her the more certain he became that she was unwell. 
    Periodically the girl would let out a hacking cough, followed by a pitiful moan.  Each time it happened, the mother stroked a hand through her hair and looked at the father worriedly.  The two parents didn’t look much healthier than their child, and as Jack studied the roomhe saw that quite a few people seemed to be under the weather.  The sneezing fitsJack had noticed earlier on the Lido Deck had now been replaced by a chorus of harsh, chesty coughs.  Everywhere around him sick peoplewere rubbing at their clammy foreheads