"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 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 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 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 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 ship they heard someone yelling. "What the h.e.l.l 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 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 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 ... 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 ship. 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 ship way off in the distance. Even this far away, they could see that the ship 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?"