Voyage (Powerless Nation #2) by Ellisa Barr Page A

I’ve got a keycard,” said Paris. “I was flirting with one of the cabin boys and he gave it to me along with directions to his room.” She rolled her eyes. “As if .”
    “Do you want to see something creepy?” Charity said. “I heard there’s a morgue on the ship.”
    “I’m sure that’s off-limits,” Kade said.
    “Exactly,” said Charity. “It’s perfect. Who’s in?”
    Sena reached into her pocket for her book light. When she touched it, she said, “I’m in, and I know where it is.”
     
    The stairs were still lit by glow sticks, so they weren’t too dark. At the bottom, they found the crew door and Paris opened it with her keycard. Sena had half hoped the batteries in the lock would be dead, but the green light blinked on with a cheerful chirp, and they pushed the door open. The hallway loomed in front of them like a gaping black maw, and Sena flicked on her little light.
    Everyone spoke in whispers, despite the fact that the area looked deserted except for them. A few of the kids had mini flashlights on their keychains, and they led the way, tiny beams of light slicing into the darkness.
    Jessica screamed, and Sena about jumped out of her skin, while one of the guys laughed. “Got ya,” he said to Jessica.
    “I’m going to kill you!” she said, laughing too.
    The bumpy rubber flooring beneath Sena’s feet reminded her how the stainless steel had looked in full light, stretching endlessly ahead of her. She tried to remember which door led to the morgue. The teens passed several doors until they came to the area with the walk-in freezers. 
    “Check this out,” one of the guys said. He motioned for them to follow him into one of the smaller freezers. It was barely cooler inside than in the hallway.
    “What is it?” asked Charity.
    “Heaven,” he said. Flashlights revealed shelves and shelves of ice cream. It dripped from cardboard boxes, forming sticky puddles on the ground.
    “More like hell. It’s all melted.”
    They looked around the freezer, hoping to find one last carton that was still frozen.
    Kade found a container of whipped topping and opened it. He glanced over at Charity, and then scooped out some of the fluff onto his finger and held it to Sena. 
    She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. 
    “It’s okay, try it,” he said.
    She hesitated and then licked a tiny bit from his finger. It was rich and sweet.
    Kade traced her lips with the rest of the whipped cream on his finger. She opened her mouth slightly, wanting more. In the darkness she felt him lean toward her and thought he was about to kiss her. She’d never been kissed, and she closed her eyes in anxious expectation. 
    A loud crash startled them apart, and Sena looked over to see Charity staring at them. Next to Charity, one of the guys stood up from where he’d fallen. He held out a container and said sheepishly, “Sorry, I slipped. A guy’s gotta have his Rocky Road.”
    “Come on, let’s go find the morgue,” Charity said in a clipped voice. “Which way, Sena?”
    With reluctance and some relief, Sena stepped away from Kade and toward the door, the sweet taste of whipped cream on her lips.
    Not far down the hallway, Sena was surprised to see a door standing ajar. She caught a whiff of a terrible, fishy smell and knew she’d found the seafood freezer.
    As they approached, the smell of fish and other seafood beginning to decay was thick and cloying. Kids groaned and gagged and Sena wasn’t sure if they were serious or faking. She pulled the neck of her t-shirt up over her nose and mouth to try to block some of the smell, and pointed to the door of the morgue.
    Paris’s keycard didn’t work the first time, and Sena hoped they would all want to leave. Paris realized she had the card upside down, and on the second try, the green light blinked, the lock chirped, and they opened the door.
    It was forbiddingly dark in the next room, and the air had a smoky tang to it. It wasn’t bad, exactly. More