Part 13 (1/2)

Jonathan didn't hesitate.

He jammed it in between the doors and wrenched it sideways, breaking the seal; it was enough to equalize the pressure between the two s.p.a.ces and release the door's hold. He pulled the door open just enough to squeeze through. He quickly slid it closed behind him, just as the wave crashed into the side of the s.h.i.+p.

Jonathan heard the sound of the outside railing breaking under the stress of the water pressure. He backed quickly away from the foyer doors that were now completely covered in water. He felt like he was looking at an aquarium just outside the door, as if the whole deck were underwater. He unconsciously folded his knife blade back in and put it in his pocket.

Without waiting to see what was going to happen next, he spun around, ran down the stairs, and sprinted back to the cabin. He struggled to get his key to work in the lock. As soon as he heard the click of the lock mechanism releasing, he burst through the entrance and started yelling.

”Wake up, Kevin!! Wake up!!”

Jonathan ran next door and pounded on the girls' door. ”Wake up, Candi!! Let me in!!! We have to get ready to muster!!”

He ran back to his room before the door had time to shut and saw Kevin still sleeping on the bed. He didn't think, he just ran and jumped. He landed square on Kevin's stomach with his knees.

”WAKE UP, I SAID!!! THE BOAT IS SINKING!!”

Kevin let out a huge burst of air as Jonathan's thrown weight emptied his sleeping lungs. With the bit of strength he could gather from his half-sleeping state, he threw Jonathan off of him and onto the floor.

Jonathan scrambled to get up, momentarily tangled in the covers that had dropped to the floor, breaking his fall.

”I'm serious, Kevin, GET UP NOW!!! Do you hear me?!!” He started running around the cabin like a crazy person, yelling things out, not knowing if anyone was listening but doing it anyway. ”We need to pack one backpack each. Put everything in it that could be of use. Make sure you include at least one bottle of fresh water.” Then he ran out of the room again to go pound on the girls' door.

Kevin put his hand up to his head, trying to make sense of what was going on. It was difficult to do with the headache that was pounding away in his brain. He wasn't sure if the pain was from the cold c.o.c.king he had received earlier, Jonathan's yelling, or the one hundred and fifty pounds of weight that had just dropped on his chest. Jonathan was skinny, but he was tall, and apparently his bones weighed more than Kevin had thought possible.

He could hear Jonathan out in the hallway. ”I know you're in there! Open up!! We have a HUGE problem, Candi. HUGE!! You need to get up!”

Jonathan came back into the room, frantic. He had tears starting to well up in his eyes. ”Kevin, please HELP ME! Our sisters are sleeping. The s.h.i.+p is sinking, and I CAN'T WAKE THEM UP!”

Kevin held up his hand, moving himself towards the edge of the bed.

”Slow down, little man, just relax. What the h.e.l.l are you talking about now?”

Jonathan took a deep breath and put his hands on his chest in an effort to stop his heart from beating out of it.

”I went out on the deck to see what the problem was with the s.h.i.+p. Can't you feel it leaning to the side? There are some huge rogue waves out there. They crashed into the s.h.i.+p and damaged it. I just know this s.h.i.+p is going down, we have to prepare!”

Kevin tried to wrap his head around the idea of a cruise s.h.i.+p sinking. ”Jonathan, it's not like this is the t.i.tanic or anything. Don't you think they would sound the muster alarm if there was a problem with the boat?”

Jonathan looked momentarily confused. ”Of course, I don't know why they haven't, but I know a listing s.h.i.+p when I see one. This s.h.i.+p is turning on its side; you have to agree that's not normal!”

Kevin thought about it for a second. The s.h.i.+p was tipping to one side. ”No, you're right. I can feel it leaning. So what should we do?” He was waking up out of his sleep stupor now, hearing some really eerie sounds coming from inside or outside the s.h.i.+p somewhere some kind of groaning or moaning. Like the s.h.i.+p wasn't feeling good.

”I think we should get backpacks, one each, and fill them with supplies. Fresh water, food, and rain covers or clothes. Sunscreen. Anything like that.”

Kevin looked confused. ”Anything like what? You just described supplies for a day at the beach.”

Jonathan looked Kevin right in the eye and said in a deadly serious voice, ”No, I just described supplies we will need if we are set adrift on a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Kevin got serious immediately. ”What the h.e.l.l, Jonathan ... you're serious, aren't you?”

”More serious than I've ever been about anything in my entire seventeen years and forty-one days of life.”

Kevin stood up and sighed. The kid sounded crazy, but he was also smarter than anyone he knew. What's the worst that could happen, anyway? They could miss some sleep running around like chickens with their heads cut off, which he could easily remedy by sleeping it off on the pool deck. ”Fine. I'm in. What do you want me to do?”

”Get me your backpack. Go wake the girls up. Break their door down if you have to, but don't hurt yourself. I don't have much in the way of medical supplies, and in our worst case scenario, there won't be a hospital or doctor around.”

”Sheesh, Jonathan, you really know how to stay positive, don't you?” He headed out the door with Jonathan yelling after him.

”I'm a realist, especially when a s.h.i.+p is sinking!”

Apparently, Jonathan's worst-case scenario was a little different than the one Kevin had considered. Kevin brushed it off without giving it any thought. No need to go nuts.

Kevin knocked forcefully on the girls' door. ”Open up, Sarah, Candi, seriously, you have to get up.”

A few seconds later the door cracked open. Looking out was a green eye with black streaks under it. ”This had better be good.”

”How about this: the s.h.i.+p is sinking and you need to get your a.s.ses out of bed ... is that good enough for you?”

The door flew open to reveal Candi standing there in pink flowered pajamas and fuzzy purple slippers. ”What did you just say?”

Kevin's eyebrows raised in surprise. The s.e.xy gumdrop had turned into an eight-year-old at a slumber party, except that she also had black makeup smeared all around her eyes and her hair looked like some rats had made a nest in it.

”I said, Jonathan thinks the s.h.i.+p is sinking. He wants us to get ready for the muster.”

Candi looked like she was still half asleep. ”Why aren't they sounding the alarm?”

”Jonathan doesn't know, but he said the s.h.i.+p is sinking, and until I hear different, I'm going with him. You can feel the boat leaning to the side, so it's not totally crazy. He wants you and Sarah up now. Pack your backpacks with water, food, and other supplies.”

”What supplies?”

”Like you're going to the beach, kind of supplies.”

Sarah decided at that minute to sit up in bed and join the conversation. ”Will you guys shut the h.e.l.l up, please? I'm trying to get some beauty sleep here.”

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 s.h.i.+p is sinking.”

”Go to h.e.l.l.”

”No, I'm serious, the s.h.i.+p is sinking. We have to pack supplies.”

”Says who? I don't hear any horns.”