JenEric Designs

List of Characters | Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

“Yes, this is the right room,” replied Riko as she gently touched Zoe’s arm.

“How can you be so calm? We’re all going to die. I don’t want to die. Why is this happening. Oh god. Oh god. Someone took the bodies.” Zoe started to hyperventilate.

With a big sigh, Sandrine slapped Zoe in the face. “Calm down!”

Zoe swore and punched Sandrine in the nose before turning around and running for the stairs.

“Why’d you do that?” asked Riko.

“It works in the movies,” Sandrine replied as she put pressure on her bloody nose.

Riko turned and ran after Zoe who was running for her room. “Zoe, stop please.”

At her room, Zoe turned to Riko and said, “I’m not dying on their terms. I’ll die on my own. I’m swimming out.”

“We’re in the middle of a storm. Let’s talk about it again in the morning when things have cleared up. Then we’ll see about making a raft or something.”

Looking calmed Zoe turned the doorknob of her room. “Ok, but I need some thicker clothes now it’s cold.” They were all still damp from the rain. Zoe finished opening her door looked inside and screamed. Her scream was cut short by a gunshot.

Riko looked away but couldn’t get the sight out of her mind. She threw herself at the wall next to the door and peeked around, maybe she could get a glimpse of the shooter.

Around the corner she saw a shotgun mounted on a tripod with string and a complicated pulley system; another trap. Riko collapsed against the wall. She felt numb or maybe she didn’t care anymore, she wasn’t sure.

“Zoe. No.” Kate rolled up to Riko and just swore. Sandrine joined her.

“We need to find a place to bunker down and defend ourselves until tomorrow,” Riko’s voice sounded flat, even to herself.

“Then what do we do?” demanded Kate.

“We burn this place and the entire island to the ground.” Sandrine’s eyes were filled with mischief. “If the killer can’t hide or plant traps than they can’t kill anyone else. Plus the fire will get someone’s attention.”

They all sat or stood there, next to the body of their friend and digested the thought in silence. When their phones rang they all jumped.

The eighth pretended to be a reporter but the bribes were more important to her.

“She was a Vlogger not a journalist you stupid…” Sandrine yelled a few more profanities into her phone.

Standing up, Riko said, “We need a place that can easily be defended and we need food.”

“The kitchen is a galley with only two ways in or out. We could easily fortify there, assuming there aren’t any traps already set,” Kate suggested.

“Where are Zane and Blaine?” Riko panicked.

“They’re waiting at the elevator to make sure no one does anything to it.”

“Ok. Go to them and get to the kitchen. I’m going to leave a surprise for the murderer.” Riko waved off their protests.

The shotgun was the double barreled kind that were so popular with farmers in television shows. She knew the kind and had worked with them before. She checked and both barrels were empty. Looking around the room, she found some bits and pieces to block the barrels far enough in that the shells would still fit but the gun wouldn’t fire properly. If she was lucky, it would backfire on the shooter. If she wasn’t, it would still misfire.

She knew there was a chance that the killer was watching everything she did, but if they weren’t, this would give her an advantage.

As she left the room she wondered if Ethan had been lying when he said he hadn’t brought a gun. She hadn’t brought hers since she never carried when she wasn’t on duty, but he always seemed to have a gun.

She unlocked the shared door, pushed it, and moved off to the side. When nothing happened she entered his room. It was a mess. His clothes were everywhere as if someone had ransacked it. She found the hotel safe smashed open on the bed.

There was no way he’d have left a gun in the safe if he thought he’d need it. She went to the washroom and checked under the toilet tank cover. It was the place that most people hid their money or drugs and they would make jokes about leaving each other notes there if they were ever in trouble.

Under the tank cover was a plastic bag with his handgun and a note. The note said, “Just in case I don’t make it. Kill the asshole.”

She laughed, changed, and put the gun into the small of her back. Its weight gave her hope; she knew it was false hope but it was better than nothing.

When she turned the corner to into the kitchen, a knife flew by her head barely missing her. She threw herself down and yelled, “Who’s there?”

“Riko?” Zane’s voice asked.

“Yes.”

“You have to announce yourself girl, you’re way too quiet.” He was drunk. She could tell by the slurring.

When she stood up she saw that they’d made a barricade from one of the metal islands and had locked the door to the outside. They were all in the small galley kitchen on blankets and pillows passing around a bottle of tequila and a few lemons.

“Tomorrow we burn the place to the ground. Tonight we drink!” announced Sandrine as she took a shot.

Riko shook her head when the bottle came to her. She was determined not to let anyone else die and she needed to be sober for that.

“Any coffee left?” she asked. It was going to be a long night.

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