Kevin looked at Candi and smiled. “I’ll leave you to get Sarah up.” He quickly moved back to his cabin.
“Chicken!” yelled Candi at his back.
***
Candi turned to face a sleeping Sarah.
“Get up, sleeping beauty, the ship is sinking.”
“Go to hell.”
“No, I’m serious, the ship is sinking. We have to pack supplies.”
“Says who? I don’t hear any horns.”
“Says Jonathan, who is almost never wrong.”
“Yeah, well, call me when the alarm goes off. In the meantime, I will be sleeping here, in this bed, ignoring you.” With that, she rolled over onto her stomach and fell back to sleep.
Candi went next door to talk to Jonathan. She found him scrambling all over the room, opening drawers and muttering to himself.
“Jonathan, what’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to explain, Candi. You need to pack. Remember all those things I told you to bring before we left? Get those and put them into your backpack. We’re going to need them if we’re lucky.”
Candi felt a shiver move up her spine. “What do you mean, ‘if we’re lucky’?”
“I mean, if we don’t drown when this ship goes down.”
Candi felt vomit rising up from her stomach and a sense of dread. She worked her throat convulsively to keep it down.
“Um, Jon ... I didn’t pack that stuff,” she said weakly.
Jonathan immediately stopped what he was doing and whipped around to confront her. “WHAT?!”
Candi started to cry. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I just figured there was no point. I mean, cruise ships don’t sink, right?” She looked desperately from Jonathan to Kevin.
“HAVEN’T YOU EVER HEARD OF THE TITANIC?!” Jonathan yelled in her face. “It was one of your favorite movies, Candi!”
“Hey, hey, Jon, there’s no need to yell at her; she didn’t know. She’s right, it’s like a chance in a million this would happen, right?”
“No, more like a chance in two million three hundred twenty thousand, give or take, but that’s not the point.” He looked at Candi again. “How much room would a magnifying glass have taken in your bag, huh? You couldn’t do that for me? Just that little thing?”
Candi was shaking from nerves and sadness. “I’m so sorry, Jonathan. I really am. I’ll go find anything I can to bring, just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
Jonathan looked chagrined. “Don’t felt bad. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m not perfect either. I’m kicking myself right now for not thinking about putting in a bigger knife, water purification tablets and about fifty other things that I’m afraid we’re going to need.”
Kevin laughed mirthlessly. “Jonathan, you’re nuts. No one on this ship brought anything like that. No one expects a cruise ship to sink.”
“Whatever,” said Jonathan, obviously not ready to forgive himself. “It’s too late for regrets now. Just go pack whatever you can find. Make sure you have at least one bottle of sealed water per person. More is better, but it all has to fit in the backpack, zipped up completely. Bring anything that could be made into a shelter, food in closed containers or packaging, any plastic bags you have. If you have any aspirin or other medicine, bring it. And don’t forget your sunscreen.”
Candi smiled weakly. “I have that.”
Jonathan grabbed her and took her in a surprisingly strong hug. “Don’t worry, Candi, I’ll take care of you.”
Candi could see Kevin watched with grudging admiration.
Candi went back to her room and started gathering supplies, shoving them into her backpack. Water? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Candy bar? Check. Windbreaker? Check. That was about all she had that was useful. She couldn’t believe that was all she had to contribute. On a whim, she pulled the thin sheet off the bed and threw it into the sack too. Next, she filled Sarah’s backpack with water and a few other things she found lying around, including airplane peanuts that she found in her purse.
***
Sarah continued to sleep, snoring lightly as she dreamed of being with Barry on a sailboat. Her eyebrows screwed up in confusion. Why am I dreaming about Barry on a sailboat? She could feel the gentle rocking of the boat in her dreams. She could hear yelling and banging too. Why was Barry making so much noise? Why is Barry even here, that cheating bastard?
The muster horn started sounding across the boat. Sarah stayed asleep, incorporating the sound into her dream. Now Barry was playing the saxophone very badly. He couldn’t keep a tune going at all. He just kept blasting the same note, over and over and over ...
“Sarah, get up NOW!!” yelled a voice in the back of her mind. It sounded like that annoying girl, Candi.
Then a few seconds passed before she heard Kevin’s voice, saying, “Sorry kid, I hate to do this to you, but you leave us with no choice.”
The sound of water splashing reached her ears, then immediately after, the sensation of something very cold and very wet ...
“AAACCCCKKKK!! What the ... I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!”
Sarah jumped out of bed, soaking wet from the freezing cold water dumped on her from the ice bucket. She was soaking wet, her leopard print dress clinging to her body. Her makeup was smeared down her face; her hair had seen much better days.
“What in the hell is your problem?!” she yelled at the three faces that were staring at her with determination.
Kevin spoke first. “Sarah, the ship is sinking. The muster alarm has gone off. Get your frigging life vest on and come with us. Bring whatever you can’t afford to live without.”
She noticed for the first time that they were all wearing life vests and carrying backpacks. Candi was fully dressed in her long green shirt and some white capris and sneakers. The guys were wearing windbreakers, t-shirts, and shorts. Her brain was not computing. Why was everyone dressed? Why did they have backpacks on? What time was it?
“What?” It came out weakly, missing the venom that had so recently laced her words.
Candi stepped forward and took her hand. “Come on. We have to go. Get your shoes on.”
Sarah looked around the room in a daze. She sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching over to grab her heels and put them on.
“You can’t wear those shoes, Sarah,” said Jonathan, impatiently.
“Why?”
“Because they are unsuitable. Don’t you have any sneakers or flip-flops at least?”
“No, I only have heels.”
Jonathan threw his hands up in the air. “What kind of person goes on a trip with only high heels?!”
“I thought I was going to be dancing every night, Jonathan. Excuse me for being a complete idiot who didn’t plan on a sinking ship like you apparently did!”
Jonathan left the room in frustration. “Come on, we have to leave,” he said from the hallway.
Candi took Sarah’s heels away from her and put some of her own flip-flops down on the floor by Sarah’s feet. “Here, wear these for now.”
“But they’re way too small. You have oompa loompa feet.”
Candi rolled her eyes in exasperation and responded sternly. “Well, you can’t afford to be choosy right now. Put ‘em on and let’s go.”
Sarah cooperated woodenly. Half of her heels were hanging off the ends of the stupid rubber shoes, but she had lost her will to fight. This whole thing was probably just a nightmare, and she was going to wake up from it very soon. She couldn’t wait. The first thing she was going to do when she woke up was take these stupid flip-flops and throw them off the ship.
Everyone but Sarah finally exited the room, all of them wearing their life jackets. They could see that the people in the neighboring cabins were taking the warning seriously too. People were moving towards their muster stations, some quickly and some very slowly, obviously reticent about going out into the wild night that was still full of rain, thunder and lightning. The doors at the end of the hall at the top of the stairs were open; through it
they could hear the stormy night that raged above their heads.
Sarah grabbed her makeup valise on her way out the door. Jonathan didn’t notice until they were in the foyer, getting ready to head out towards their lifeboat.
“Holy crap, Sarah, you can’t bring that!”
Sarah got a stubborn look on her face. “Yes, I most certainly can.”
Jonathan stepped over to stare down at her. “No, you can’t. Put it back.”
Sarah stared right back at him, mutiny in her eyes. “I will do no such thing, and if you so much as make one move towards my Louis Vuitton, I will take you out, do you understand me?”
“Louis Vuitton? What the heck is that? I’m talking about your makeup suitcase.”
“Then we understand each other perfectly. Now step aside. I’m going to my lifeboat.”
Jonathan spun on his heel, leaving her standing there holding her makeup case in a kung-fu grip Everyone followed Jonathan, walking up flights of stairs until they got to the main doors that led outside. Lots of people were milling around, nervous about going out into the wild night.
Jonathan looked at Kevin and nodded as they reached the doors that were only partway open. They grabbed them together and pulled them open wide enough so they could all get through.
The rush of rain and saltwater hit them in the face. Already there were several people on the deck, all of them staying clear of the area that had the broken railing.
Jonathan yelled to the others, “Watch out for the railings! They’re not secure! I saw one of them break earlier!”
Candi looked at her brother in horror, hoping she had misunderstood. “What do you mean you saw one of them break earlier?”
“I came out here before I woke you up to see what was wrong. I wanted to be sure we had a real problem before I did anything else.”
Candi looked like she felt sick to her stomach. “You could have been washed overboard! You could have died! Why did you do that?!”
Jonathan just shrugged and shouted to be heard over the waves, “I don’t know. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time!”
Kevin just shook his head, along with Sarah. Jonathan either had nerves of steel or a complete lack of appreciation for his mortality.
They arrived at their muster station and looked around them. Half of the passengers weren’t wearing their lifejackets. None of them were carrying supplies. Some were still in their pajamas. A few looked like they had come directly from the bars.
The muster horns were still going off. The ship’s crew was running back and forth, trying to get everyone organized. It was hard when the railing wasn’t safe.
Sarah looked out towards the lifeboats that were secured to the side of the ship. She could barely see them because the night was so dark, and the rain obscured everything. She couldn’t believe she was possibly going to be getting into one of those. This was the most realistic nightmare she had ever had. She felt completely wet and could taste the salt of the sea on her lips.
Just then a guy in a ship’s uniform came over to their area and started yelling, “Okay, we need all of you to get on your designated lifeboats! They are numbered. You are on lifeboat number eighty-four. Everyone in muster line eighty-four must get on lifeboat number eighty-four now!” And then he moved on to another row, repeating his instructions with the next boat number.
The four of them looked at each other and then at the couple behind them in line. There should have been twelve people there but there were only six. The couple took one look at each other, shook their heads and took off.
“Where in the hell are they going?!” yelled Sarah.
“Who cares? You heard the guy, we have to go get in!” responded Jonathan.
“But I wanna go where they’re going ... ,” wailed Sarah.
“Get in!” yelled Jonathan and Kevin together.
Sarah jumped and started moving towards the lifeboat, sullenly, grumbling to herself.
Kevin and Jonathan reached the lifeboat first and lifted up the edge of the cover that was on top of the boat. It was held there with heavy-duty snaps and straps. They lifted up the edge high enough so the girls could climb in under it, passing in the backpacks behind them. Kevin was the last one in, holding onto Sarah’s makeup bag. He knew better than to leave it behind. Hell hath no fury like Sarah and no makeup supplies.
They left the lifeboat cover in place since it sheltered them from the rain and kept the water from filling up the boat.
They all sat in the dark of the lifeboat, listening to the rain slash against the cover over their heads. They could hear men yelling in the distance but were unable to make out any actual words.
“So, now what do we do, boy genius?” asked Sarah, her teeth starting to chatter. Kevin handed her his windbreaker which she gratefully put on.
Jonathan sighed in annoyance. “We wait. They should cast us off soon. We don’t want to be anywhere near this ship when it goes under.”
“Why?” asked Candi.
“Because it will create a huge whirlpool vortex that will suck anything nearby down with it.”
“Holy shit, dude, are you serious?” asked Kevin.
“Totally serious.”
“Does this thing have an engine?” asked Kevin as he felt around in the dark.
“No.”
“Hey! Watch the hands there, buddy,” squeaked Candi.
“Oops, sorry ‘bout that,” responded a not very apologetic-sounding Kevin. “What about oars at least? Does this thing have any oars?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Okay then, we know what we have to do Jon. We’re gonna row this mother like we’ve never rowed before.”
“Actually, it will be like I’ve never rowed before, since I haven’t,” said Jonathan frankly.
Kevin laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “Jonathan, you are hilarious.”
All of a sudden, their lifeboat jerked. The girls screamed. Everyone reached out to try and steady themselves. The girls found each other and the guys found things on the inside of the boat to hold onto.
“You girls hold onto one of us!” yelled Jonathan.
Sarah grabbed onto Jonathan, digging her manicured nails into his arm.
“Youch! Holy crap, watch the talons, woman!”
“Sorry! You told me to grab you!”
“Not with your nails, just your fingers!”
“Okay, sorry! Geez!”
The boat jerked again and then tipped partway on its side. All four of them screamed together as they were thrown towards the edge of the lifeboat.
From outside on the ship they heard someone yelling. “What the hell is going on?! Who’s releasing those boats? I didn’t authorize that yet!!”
Then the sound of a high-pitched whirring reached their ears and the boat righted itself.
“Phew! I think that was a close one!” said Jonathan.
No sooner had he spoken, then the whirring sound started up again and the boat was set completely free of its moorings. Sarah felt for a few seconds as if they were airborne, floating up ever so slightly off their seats as the boat made a quick downward journey towards the sea. They were completely at the mercy of gravity.
The boat slammed into the water with a huge bang, jarring their teeth and skulls. Immediately the boat started spinning and rocking. They were thrown against each other violently, their bags and other items in the boat hitting them in the faces, chests and heads.
“Aahh my friggin’ eye!” yelled Kevin.
“Hold on everyone!” yelled Jonathan.
“Please God, please God, please God,” was the chant that Candi took up.
“My dress is completely ruined now,” yelled Sarah. “I hope you’re happy, Jonathan!”
They all felt a slight lull in movement, and soon after a gradual lifting up of the boat. It felt like it was going up, up, and up some more, like it was on an elevator.
“Oh crap, hold on tight, everyone!” yelled Jonathan.
“What’s happening?
!” yelled Kevin.
“We’re on a wave! We’re gonna get thrown! Hang on!!”
The wave reached its peak and started its deadly descent, the small lifeboat perched at its crest.
They heard the roaring of the wave. It sounded like an out of control freight train.
“I love you, Jonathan!” yelled Candi.
“I love you too, Gumdrop!” yelled Jonathan.
And then the wave crashed. It threw the boat and slammed into it, sending it spinning out of control, tossing it out over the ocean, far away from the cruise ship. Water rushed in beneath the cover, as snaps and straps came loose. The boat was quickly filling up.
“We have to take the cover off!” yelled Jonathan, trying to be heard over the roar of the storm.
“Are you crazy?” yelled Sarah. “We’ll die! We’ll drown!”
Kevin understood immediately. “No, we’ll drown if we leave it on. The boat is filling up anyway. The best we can do is either try and drain it as it fills or turn it upside down and hang on to it somehow.”
“I think we need to try and stay inside if we can,” said Jonathan. “If we get out and turn it upside down, it will be almost impossible to turn back over. We won’t have the strength to hold on for long. Make sure we hold onto the cover because it will shelter us in the day ... assuming we make it to daylight.”
Sarah was terrified. The fact that Jonathan had actually said the words out loud made it all the more real.
Kevin took the lead. “Okay, I’m going to hold onto this cover thing. Jonathan, you go around and unsnap each part. Candi, I need you to tie us all together. Use the rope over here behind me. If one of us gets washed overboard, I want to be able to pull ‘em back in. Does everyone agree to this?”
Everyone looked around at each other, trying to pick out faces in the dark. Three of them nodded and said, “Yes.”
Sarah, the one who had not yet committed, clarified, “That also means if one of us drowns, the rest of us will drown too, right?”
Kevin shrugged and answered honestly, “Probably.”
Sarah thought about it for a second and nodded her head. “Do it.”
Candi got the rope, and between her and Sarah, they were able to feel their way and wrap it around everyone’s waist and tie it firmly to a ring attached to the side of the boat.