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 ship.

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 ship 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 ship. Can't you feel it leaning to the side? There are some huge rogue waves out there. They crashed into the ship and damaged it. I just know this ship is going down, we have to prepare!"

Kevin tried to wrap his head around the idea of a cruise ship 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 ship when I see one. This ship is turning on its side; you have to agree that's not normal!"

Kevin thought about it for a second. The ship 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 ship somewhere some kind of groaning or moaning. Like the ship 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 ship 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 ship 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 ship 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 ship 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 ship is sinking."

"Go to h.e.l.l."

"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 t.i.tANIC?!" 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 gla.s.s 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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d?

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 pa.s.sed 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 h.e.l.l 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.