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Someone had eaten here Pitt stared at the dishes that still had scraps of food on them There was a nearly empty bowl of what looked like clam chowder, broken rolls slass of ice tea It was as though someone had just finished lunch and left for a stroll around the deck Had they opened the dining salon early for soested a passenger had eaten here after the death plague struck

Pitt tried to write off the intriguing discovery with a dozen different logical solutions But subconsciously, a fear began to grow Unthinkingly, he began to look over his shoulder every so often

He left the dining salon and ift shop and worked forward into the ship's lounge A Steinway grand piano was situated beside a small wooden dance floor Chairs and tables were spaced around the lounge in a horseshoe arrangement Besides the cocktail waitress who had fallen while carrying a tray of drinks, there was a party of eight men and women, mostly in their early seventies, who had been seated around a large table but now lay in grotesque positions on the carpet As he studied the husbands and wives, souish at the same time Overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness, he cursed the unknown cause of such a terrible tragedy

Then he noticed another corpse It was a woe Her chin was on her knees, head cradled in her arms Dressed in a fashionable short-sleeved leather jacket and wool slacks, she was not in a contorted position, nor did she appear to have vomited like all the others

Pitt's nerves reacted by sending a cold shiver up his spine His heart sprinted fro control over his initial shock, hedown on her

He reached out and touched her cheek with a light exploring fingertip, experiencing an incredible wave of relief as he felt warently shook her by the shoulders and saw her eyelids quiver open

At first she looked at hi, and then her eyes fleide, she threw her arasped "You're alive!"

"You don't kno happy I am to see you are too" Pitt said softly, his lips parted in a smile

Abruptly, she pulled back from him "No, no, you can't be real You're all dead"

"You needn't be afraid oftone

She stared at hiaze Her facial complexion was flawless, but there was an unauntness Her hair was the color of red copper She had the high cheekbones and full, sculptured lips of a fashion model Their eyes locked for a htly From what he could tell about her in her curled position, she had a fashion ure Her bared arms looked muscular for a woman Only when she lowered her eyes and peered at his body did he suddenly feel e johns

"Why aren't you properly dressed?" she finally murmured

It was an inconsequential question bred from a state of fear and trauma, not curiosity Pitt didn't bother to explain "Better yet, you tell me who you are and how you survived when the others died"

She looked as if she were about to fall over on her side, so he quickly bent down, circled his arm around her waist and lifted her into a leather chair next to a table He walked over to the bar He went behind the bar expecting to find the body of the bartender and was not disappointed He took a bottle of Jack Daniel's Old No 7 Tennessee sour lass

"Drink this," he said, holding the glass to her lips