Brian Keene - Deluge - The Conqueror Worms II

“I’m afraid so.”

“Well, fuck that. Short of tossing you over the side so he leaves us alone, how do we get rid of him?”

“I’m hoping Sarah can tell us,” Simon said, turning to her. “After all, if she’s escaped him once before, perhaps she knows a way we can do so again. If not, then I’m afraid all might be lost.”

CHAPTER 80

They sat in silence for a moment, pondering the ramifications of Simon’s dire pronouncement. Then, one by one, they turned to look at Sarah.

“Well,” Gail asked, “how do we defeat this thing?”

“I don’t know,” Sarah said. “I honestly don’t. When it attacked us in Baltimore, it left eventually.”

She recounted her encounter with Leviathan, beginning with the cult on the nearby rooftop, the arrival of the vampire-like mermaid, the ill-fated rescue mission that Kevin and the others had launched in an attempt to disrupt the cult’s sacrificial ceremony, how that – and the murder of the mermaid – had led to Leviathan’s emergence, the creature’s subsequent attack on their building, and how she, Salty, and Kevin had escaped.

“And it just left?” Novak asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

The others all began to talk at once, but Simon held up his hand, signaling silence.

“It makes perfect sense,” he said. “The girl, Lori, was a sacrifice. Leviathan held Kevin responsible for killing one of its brides—the mermaid. In retaliation, it took Kevin’s female. Sated, it then departed.”

Caterina frowned. “But why wouldn’t it kill the rest of them?”

“I’ve always wondered that myself,” Sarah muttered.

“It’s because we are insignificant to Leviathan,” Simon said. “Normally, humanity is beneath his attention, other than as bothersome insects who must be destroyed. But we as individuals? Leviathan could care less. When we come across a nest of wasps, do we have a stronger loathing for one particular wasp from the hive more so than the others? No. All we know is that we want to destroy the entire nest. That’s how Leviathan views us. He didn’t bother with Sarah and her two friends because he figured they’d die anyway, sooner or later, once his ultimate goal was achieved.”

“Then why is he after you?” Novak leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. “If we’re nothing more than gnats to this thing, why is he now focused on you?”

“Because I am a particularly bothersome wasp,” Simon said. “Leviathan senses my presence… and my power. He knows that I have abilities not shared by most of humanity. He thinks I have it in me to halt his destruction and reverse what has happened.”

“Do you?” Henry asked.

Simon shook his head. “No. As I said, all I can do at this point is save our lives. I can’t save our planet. But Leviathan doesn’t know that.”

Novak dropped his feet to the floor with a loud thud. His chair squeaked across the floor as he stood abruptly. “Then what the hell do we do, Simon?”

“Hope that we reach LeHorn’s Hollow before Leviathan reaches us.”

Novak opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly, the hull clanged like a bell, the sound deep and hollow and reverberating throughout the entire ship. The vessel lurched violently to one side, spilling the crew’s gear and belongings onto the deck. Screaming, they held on tight as the ship rocked again.

“I reckon maybe it’s too late,” Henry said.

“Did we hit something?” Gail asked.

“No,” said Novak, his face ashen. “Something hit us…”

CHAPTER 81

With Novak and Simon in the lead, they raced up the ladder, weapons at the ready, and ran out onto the deck. The wind had picked up again, and Sarah squinted against the cold rain as it stung her face. She glanced around in panic, expecting to see giant tentacles with teeth-lined sucker-mouths, or a bulbous elephantine head sticking up out of the water and peering at them with baleful yellow eyes, but there was nothing. Fog rolled in over the ocean, obscuring their view.

The boat listed to the side again, spilling them onto the deck. The vessel groaned, as if under great stress.

“Grab on to something,” Novak yelled, struggling to his feet. “Be ready for—”

A clacking sound interrupted him.

“The hell is that?” Mylon scrambled backward. “Sounds like a big pair of maracas.”

The boat tilted more, and waves splashed over the side, drenching them. Then something else came over the side, as well.

At first, they only saw the eyes—two basketball-sized black dots attached to stalks that waved back and forth like wheat. Then a massive, serrated claw latched on to the railing, snapping it in half. A second claw appeared, and seized a length of metal ductwork. The steel bent as the claw squeezed. Then the claw’s owner heaved itself over the side and onto the deck. The deck shook beneath them.

It was a giant crab. Sarah gaped at its size. It was big enough that the eight of them could have used its hollowed-out shell as a lifeboat. The eye-stalks wiggled as the creature surveyed them. It waved its arms in the air, clacking its claws together. Then it scuttled forward, its segmented legs clacking across the wet deck. Tatiana screamed as the beast bore down on her. Sarah saw Simon and Novak trying to reach her, but both men slipped as the ship rolled even further to the side.

Tatiana jabbed at the crab with her makeshift spear, but the creature grasped it, snapping the weapon in half. She shrieked as it pinned her down with two of its smaller legs, the tips piercing her chest and thigh. Then it seized her head in its other claw and squeezed, slicing the top off. Tatiana’s brains slipped from her open skull and slid across the deck, leaving a grayish-pink trail behind.

Novak and Gail opened fire, pelting the crab with shot after shot. Most of the rounds were ineffectual, unable to penetrate the hardened shell, but they succeeded in blasting off one of the creature’s eyes. Hissing, it stomped on the deck, writhing with agony.

“Aim for the other eye,” Gail yelled, reloading.

She and Novak unleashed another volley, driving the enraged crab back to the rail. The ship rolled again, and Novak’s shots went wild. The others ducked, except for Henry, who crouched next to Sarah, gaping. She grabbed his pants leg and pulled him down.

“Hold on to me,” she shouted, wrapping her arms around a cable. “Don’t let go!”

Nodding, Henry closed his eyes and shuddered.

Novak and Gail continued firing, forcing the crab back into the water. It paused on the railing, claws waving in frustration, lone-remaining eye glaring at them. Then it dove. As it did, the boat rocked hard. Tatiana’s lifeless body slipped over the railing after it. The others screamed, hanging on for dear life. Then the boat splashed back down again, and rocked back and forth.

“Everyone back inside,” Novak ordered.

“This was just the first,” Simon said. “There will be others like it. Leviathan will send more denizens of the Great Deep after us. I suggest you make haste, Mr. Novak.”

“I don’t think we have enough fuel, Simon. I gun it, we’re going to run out that much faster.”

“If you don’t, then we’ll die here.”

“Pedal to the metal, then,” Novak said. “Next stop, Pennsylvania. If we can find it, that is.”

“Pray we do,” Simon answered. “All of you pray that we do in time.”

CHAPTER 82

Hours later, Sarah, Henry, and Mylon were sitting in the galley, hastily grabbing a meal of granola bars, canned fruit, and bottled water before heading topside for a turn on watch. Mylon was sullen and sat apart from them, quietly sipping the juice from the can.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Henry said.