Part 14 (1/2)
”Holy c.r.a.p, 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 salt.w.a.ter 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 pa.s.sengers 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 s.h.i.+p'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 s.h.i.+p. 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 s.h.i.+p'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 h.e.l.l 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, pa.s.sing 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. h.e.l.l 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 s.h.i.+p when it goes under.”
”Why?” asked Candi.
”Because it will create a huge whirlpool vortex that will suck anything nearby down with it.”
”Holy s.h.i.+t, 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 c.r.a.p, 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 s.h.i.+p they heard someone yelling. ”What the h.e.l.l is going on?! Who's releasing those boats? I didn't authorize that yet!!”