Zombies In Space

As Predicted, they emerged victorious, and Ridge, now slightly panting and exhausted, turned to the others who survived. The first one was the man who helped him over the fortifications. 

"Vice commander, do you know what's going on?" he asked, to which Ridge could only reply, " I don't know, I only managed to find you guys after restoring power to the ship in the meantime, though I don't know how long that will last us. What's your name."

"Peter, sir, I am a machine operator carrying large cargo onto some of the smaller transports within the ship, an engineer basically," he replied.

Nodding to Peter, he thanked him once again and then moved over to the recognizable female who had called out to him when he first encountered them, "Caroline, it seems you guys managed to survive these infected, do you know what happened to infect them?" 

"No, the ship simply started shaking, and then the power went out. Following this, I had gathered some of the ship's soldiers, who numbered around twenty, but as you can see, these other infected members had managed to wear us down to our current eleven, including you. As for the infected, they just sort of showed up when we were looking for other crew members. We don't know if anyone, including the commander, is still alive," she replied extensively. 

"Understood, let's just rest up for a little longer to catch our breaths and also find any extra things we can take as weapons in case we find more of these fungi things. Also, you were one of the engineers assigned to the engine room correct?"

"Yes sir, I also served as the captain of a small security squad hence why I was able to gather a few of the soldiers," she gestured with her hand showing six male soldiers now resting, " I am also the lead engineer so I was able to gather a few of my engineers after wondering for a bit which resulted in the other four finding us and helping us out."

"That's excellent news. I checked out the engine room not too long ago before ending up here and found that there didn't seem to be too much damage. However, the power did go out for a while, so I'll need you and your team to check it out once more, especially since I'm not as knowledgeable," Ridge replied.

"No worries, sir. That should be our first destination before trying to rescue anyone else who could be out there to ensure that nothing goes horrible while we are out in space," she slightly chucked while answering.

"No need to be sarcastic, I will take two others with me while the rest of you go to the engine room to make sure it maintains perfect operations, I think the best rendevous spot would be there as well, also on your way to the engine room make sure to pick up any supplies including food, equipment, and maybe weapons if you find any. I get the feeling we will have to try and land on a planet or something solid."

"Yes sir," Caroline replied while saluting and then immediately busying herself with directing the small group to rest up for a minute and then depart for the engine room.

Ridge promptly took two men named George and Falley who were both soldiers and led them away from the group, eventually leading them to a passage that had been unexplored as of yet.

"Okay, let's just take it slow and scour through every room we pass for survivors and also supplies. A quarter of the crew from the entire ship is already dead and or alive going to the engine room so the main priority is honestly to get enough supplies to last us for however long." Ridge said aloud to the two men, who then promptly nodded and they all began their sweep.

Within this battleship, each hallway was essentially filled with doors that held supplies for the crew's journey and also cabins that the crew themselves stayed in. The only place that was home to many and not just one person was the soldier's dorm. The reason was pretty much just that it helped to keep them disciplined and also organize occasional training while traversing in space.

Caroline had previously mentioned that she had gathered twenty soldiers, but ten of them had ended up becoming infected and that led to there only being six soldiers somehow, though perhaps she also counted the four engineers and excluded herself when figuring out how many there were. In any case, the ship with a population of around one hundred people had about forty soldiers in total, which also means forty guns guaranteed to be somewhere on the ship.

This also means there might be survivors near the soldier's dorm since they have access to weapons.

The results so far while walking down the hallway and sweeping the rooms were unsatisfactory, to say the least, and while one of the soldiers did find a backpack with supplies that could be used, there was nothing else, including no survivors that appeared nor devices that would help locate any.

Ridge sighing aloud, gestured to the two soldiers and they kept moving. The plan was to walk to the soldier's dorm and not only find weapons but also the remaining soldiers. With the footsteps of three men sounding out throughout the metal hull, the three walked for a short period, and with only the occasional lights flickering, they followed the map installed on one of their devices toward the dorms.

Luckily the hallways seemingly ended because they were entering the more straightforward part of the ship which typically held the soldier's dorms and also the cargo rooms only.

This meant fewer doors, larger spaces behind said doors, and also more time spent making sure there weren't survivors in each cargo space. The map simply pointed out that they would need to make another right and then walk straight for a few minutes before reaching the soldier's dorms. So in reality they wouldn't need to do all that much exploring it would seem.

It was good news that they were making it to the dorms relatively easily, but it was also a bit worrisome. There was little to no noise at all and if they encountered no one while they were exploring the rest of the ship then that meant they were either dead and gone or at the soldier's dorms which once again wasn't a good sign because there was only ten or so infected they saw which meant there should have been around seventy-eight survivors and with that many people it was impossible to stay as quiet as it was now.

While contemplating the numbers, Ridge was finally at the point where they would need to turn right, and in doing so they would be able to ascertain what the situation was like firsthand.

Just before they turned the corner he turned to the two that followed him and whispered, " Geroge, Falley, make sure you are ready for a fight, since we hear no noises and there have been no other survivors so far, we can only assume the worst, so just be prepared."

When both men nodded and affirmed his orders with a couple of grunts to make sure they kept quiet, it was only then Ridge tightened the grip he had on the debris he picked up and prepared.