Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Dexter glanced at the unconscious man on the floor. "What’s up with him?"

"His palm is injured. The men outside wanted to kill him, so I saved him. But he didn’t let me open the door, so I knocked him out," I said resignedly.

Dexter grabbed my wrist and said solemnly, "Remember to never trust anyone on this ship. Even if you hear my voice outside the door, don’t open it unless you’re absolutely sure."

He looked very serious. The situation outside must’ve been dire.

"From now onward, remember our code." He shot me a knowing look.

I nodded. "What’s... the situation outside right now?"

"Some lunatic gathered a bunch of people. They started killing people once the sun set. While doing so, they’re searching for the president of Crowdstar Group among those with injured palms."

The killing game had already begun.

"I want to go home, I want to go home," the girl cried repeatedly.

I knelt down and looked at her. "What’s your name?"

"My name is Yara..."

"Be a good girl, Yara. We’ll definitely get you off this cruise and bring you back to your parents, okay?" I patted her head to comfort her.

She calmed down and wiped the tears off of her face. "I’m so afraid."

"Don’t be. Go get some rest. It’ll be better in the morning,"

I brought her to the bathroom and prepared a bath for her.

After Yara was done, the man I knocked unconscious had also started to wake up.

He looked at us in fear. Upon noticing the wound on Dexter’s palm, he then relaxed. "The lunatics outside are going after people with wounds on our hands, like us. You should probably stay put."

He continued carefully, "Can I ask you a question? Are you the president of Crowdstar Group?"

Dexter looked at him and replied blankly, "No."

The man smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, that shouldn’t be something you disclose to a stranger... I’m not him either. I just got my hand randomly sliced open among the crowd, and now, I’m being hunted."

Dexter didn’t say anything. He sat on the couch and looked at me and Yara after we exited the bathroom. " Go get some rest. I’ll keep watch."

"You should all get some rest. I can help you keep watch..." the man offered softly.

"No need. Just take the couch." Dexter checked the time. "There’s still about three hours left before the sun comes up. They aren’t done with their killing spree yet. Don’t open the door no matter what."

The man nodded and curled up on the couch.

He said in a soft voice, "My wife and kid were both killed by those people... It feels like I’m in a dream. How could something like this happen? Who on earth is this president? How can so many innocent people die because of him?

"I’d step up if I were him... He could save so many lives just by sacrificing his own," he continued muttering.

Dexter stared at him with a knowing gaze but remained silent.

I shot him a glance before tucking Yara into bed. "Get some rest."

The young girl lay next to me and stared fixedly at me. "Do you believe in God?" she asked softly.

I smiled. "I suppose..."

The God I worshiped was the cause I believed in.

"My mom said that God is a faith. People need faith in order to have a sense of direction in life. With faith, they can achieve the impossible, create miracles, and rid themselves of suffering," she said in a soft voice.

"We need God to save us..." She buried her face in my chest.

I shot her a glance. Her first few sentences were fine, but the last bit.

Rid themselves of suffering? Why did it feel like her mother was in some sort of cult?

"It’s getting late. Hurry up and get some sleep."

Yara hummed in response before gradually shutting her eyes and drifting off.

Maybe because I was too exhausted, I passed out in a blur.

I didn’t know how much time had passed before Dexter woke me up for breakfast.

"Is it daytime?" I opened my eyes and stretched as I looked at the sun rising over the ocean. "Did you not get any sleep? I’ll keep watch. Go ahead and rest for a bit more."

He shook his head. "Let’s go get breakfast."

Food was now limited. We had to go eat.

I nodded and woke Yara.

The young girl rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Mr. Dexter, Ms. Stephy, I saw a kid on the lowest deck of the ship yesterday. He was so young-maybe around three or four years old. He was running around the place barefoot. It didn’t look like he had any parents either..."

I looked at her in surprise. "That’s impossible... There aren’t any kids onboard other than you."

The police couldn’t have been wrong. There weren’t any minors on the cruise except for Yara. All of them had been transported off of the ship.

"But I really saw a kid yesterday. He was playing with a ball on the lowest deck. I think there were more of them, but I only saw one. I wanted to go down and check, but I got scared. It was too dark."

Yara didn’t look like she was lying.

I glanced toward Dexter, but he didn’t say anything.

"We’ll go take a look later." I wanted to check if it was true.

Logically speaking, there shouldn’t still be children on board. Moreover, the lowest deck of the cruise was a restricted area equipped with guards. Tourists weren’t allowed to enter.

Why would there be kids down there?

"Please be careful, Ms. Stephy. The men guarding the place are terrible people. I saw them hit people," Yara said softly.

I nodded before getting out of bed to wash up.

The man that I rescued had also woken up. He sat up and peered cautiously at the deck above from the balcony. There was no one there.

"I suppose the killing has ceased." He then continued to introduce himself nervously, "My name is Maverick Collins. I’m a doctor, so perhaps I’d be of use to all of you. I no longer have any friends or family. Could I stay with you guys?"

"I don’t know how, but they’ve secured a master key to the standard rooms. The rooms below the 14th floor aren’t safe anymore since they have access to all the rooms..."

Since those lunatics weren’t able to open our doors, only the VIP deck was safe after nightfall. It’d be somewhat cruel of us to not take him in after his explanation.

I looked at Dexter. These decisions were made by him.

"I still have three male friends in another room. You could probably bunk with them." To my surprise, he agreed to let Maverick stay.

For some reason, I felt like there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. I wasn’t sure what was going through his head, though.

Maverick was overjoyed. He nodded hurriedly and said, "Thank you, thank you so much. You’re all good people. You’ll be rewarded for your kindness."

I didn’t say anything. I was used to adulations like these.

However, Maverick was someone who could offer you praises but then refused to let you open the door the next second.

"Fucking hell. What happened last night? Why does it smell so heavily of blood?" Joel complained in the hallway.

I looked at him quizzically. Did he not hear anything throughout that huge commotion last night? Eason glanced around alertly. "Have they started killing people?"

Dexter nodded.

"This is Maverick Collins. His entire family was killed and now he has nowhere to go. Let him stay with the two of you." He introduced Maverick to the rest.

Eason looked at the handcuffed killer in the room. "Sure, we’ll just squeeze a bit I guess."

"Yara said there’s a kid on the bottom deck. They looked about three or four years old." I suddenly recalled Yara’s words.

Frankly speaking, I was oddly interested in the bottom deck since I first boarded the cruise. Weirdly, I kept feeling drawn to it.