Part 14 (2/2)

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 G.o.d, please G.o.d, please G.o.d,” 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 c.r.a.p, 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 s.h.i.+p. 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 ... a.s.suming 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.

”What if the boat sinks?” yelled Sarah, knowing that the rope was attached to the boat with four knots.

”Even if it fills with water, it probably won't go more than a foot below the surface,” yelled Jonathan in reply.

”How is that possible?” she asked.

As he continued scrambling around the boat, hunched over in the dark, undoing snaps and straps, he answered, ”I checked out these lifeboats online before we got on the s.h.i.+p. They're made of fibergla.s.s on the outside, but on the inside they have foam-filled flotation chambers built into the hull. The foam can't sink, so it might go beneath the surface of the water a little, but it won't sink entirely. If we start having a problem with it, like a hole or something, we can flip it over and sit on top of it.”

Sarah smiled tentatively. ”I guess that makes me feel a little bit better.”

”You're welcome,” Jonathan said as he finished the job.

”Ready?” asked Kevin.

”Ready!”

Together the boys pulled the heavy tarp off the top of the boat and pushed it to the center. All four of them worked together to get it somewhat folded up, piling it up near the middle of the boat. It was thick and bulky, making it hard to maneuver.

Now that the cover was off, they were able to see around them a bit. The boat was being tossed all over the sea's surface. The rain was coming down very heavily, but the moon was visible through the clouds from time to time, making it possible to see that they were in a very dark and very lonely place. They could barely make out the lights of the cruise s.h.i.+p way off in the distance. Even this far away, they could see that the s.h.i.+p was listing to the side. It was weird seeing such a big thing looking so ... well ... wrong.

They started scooping up handfuls of water, throwing them overboard as fast as they could; but no matter how fast they scooped, it seemed the rain kept coming in to fill up the bottom of the boat. The skies showed no signs of clearing. There were clumps of black clouds as far as they could see.

After nearly an hour of scooping, they were all exhausted. Sarah stopped scooping altogether, followed shortly by Candi.

”I just ... can't ... anymore. I'm exhausted,” said Sarah.

”You have to keep trying,” said Jonathan, focused on scooping and tossing; scooping and tossing.

Candi's gaze was fixed on a spot just over Jonathan's shoulder. Sarah looked over and caught the expression on her face. Sarah could see she was terrified.

”What? What's wrong? Other than the obvious of course.”

Candi couldn't answer; she could only point.

Everyone turned to look and Sarah felt the blood drain from her face.

It was a huge building-size rogue wave. It looked like a tsunami, and it was heading right for them.

”Oh, s.h.i.+t!” yelled Jonathan.

”Oh, s.h.i.+t is right!” agreed Kevin. ”What should we do?”

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