So I don't really know what would happen if you fell off of a cruise ship, but its not important, reality has no meaning to me. I just wanted to thank my AMAZEING Beta. no seriously, this chapter was nasty poo poo before it got all fixed up by the wonderful tiger002. So thanks for that.
It was all so confusing. What had he even done to warrant being punched in the face? Nothing! It so wasn't fair. He was always getting blamed for his brother's antics. And this time his brother hadn't even done anything wrong, yet he was still getting in trouble for it!
Cody's inner tirade was cut short when Ray's meaty fist made contact with his jaw, and his heart picked up speed when he felt himself trip and lose his balance. There was a moment when he had been suspended in mid air and everything around him seemed to freeze, even his beating heart. He saw the shocked expression of Bailey's brother, the remorse that flicked threw his hazel eyes when he realized he had gone too far. Time sped up again though, and Cody found himself plummeting towards the water. He swore he had even heard Zack's voice, but he had never heard his brother sound that worried before. Zack had always been the brave, confident one. And hearing his brother's panicked voice was almost as scary as falling. Almost.
Cody hit the water with a loud slap, landing on his back. It was just like being punched in the stomach, only a thousand times worse. It was more like being punched in the stomach by the Incredible Hulk. All of the air was forced out of his lungs. Every last breath gone. He gaped silently, trying to scream or take a breath but nothing happened and he was left to sink, open mouthed and dizzy into the fridgged ocean water. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was a blurry outline of a body coming closer to him. It collided into the shifting water he was slowly sinking into, but, his world went black and he saw no more.
Line break. Who knew I could be so intense!!
"CODY!" Zack screamed his blood turning cold. Bailey's Brother Ray spun around at the sudden noise. His face changing from shock at having knocked Cody off the boat, to confusion at seeing Zack, then to slightly green as sick realization hit him hard.
"Oh god..." He mumbled to himself taking a woozy step away from the railing. Ignoring Ray, Zack spun on his heel and ran towards the nearest red and white floaty ring. He couldn't remember what they where called, all he could remember was how he and Cody used to play with them in the pool all the time, much to Mr. Mosby's displeasure.
'Cody'. Zack swallowed hard and slipped the ring over his shoulder as he ran towards the railing. Crashing into it he gripped the cool metal so tightly his knuckles turned white. He could still see his brother! Just below the surface of the water. With out hesitating Zack pulled himself up onto the railing, tossed the ring into the air and dove in after his brother. He silently thanked his mother for taking him to all of those swimming lessons when they had been younger. 'I'm coming for you buddy.'
Zack plunged into the ocean and allowed the momentum of his dive to push him further and further under the water. Enveloped in an eerie silence Zack floated idly, the reaming air in his lungs making him rise slowly. Eyes wide open, despite the burning salt water, he searched the murky depths for his brother. For a few panicky seconds the eldest twin couldn't see anything, but after a few quick turns he located him, slowly sinking down into the ocean's dark abyss. Kicking with all of his strength Zack headed for Cody, his fingers clawing threw the water as he desperately reached out for his brother. By the time Zack's hand finally made contact with Cody's sleeve his lungs were burning and his vision was beginning to flicker. Wrapping his hand around Cody's forearm Zack kicked, violently propelling the two of them towards the surface. 'It looked so easy in the movies,' Zack thought as he used his last reserves of strength to keep pushing himself upward. Of course in the movies, the water wasn't freezing cold, and they never mentioned how heavy your cloths got when they were wet.
Finally breaking the surface of the water, Zack sucked in as much air as he could before the weight of his brother dragged him back under again. Pulling Cody to the top of the water Zack wrapped one arm around Cody's waist and used the other to try and keep the two of them floating. Kicking frantically Zack twisted his neck around to look for the red and white ring he had thrown into the water. Spotting it about a foot behind him, Zack reached backwards and began kicking towards it sinking beneath the water every now and then. It took a lot more time and effort than it should have, but, utterly exhausted, Zack finally reached it. Gasping tiredly He wrapped his free arm around the plastic ring and adjusted his grip on Cody who had begun to slip. Glancing over at Cody Zack laughed once.
"You idiot." He mumbled turning Cody onto his back and shaking him lightly. Zack blinked rapidly and ignored the twin trails of warm water running down his cheeks. If anyone asked, it was just normal ocean water.
"Zack! Cody!" A familiar voice called from far away. Looking up at the cruise ship Zack smiled tiredly at the worried face of Mr. Mosby. Zack turned to look at Cody once again. The younger twin opened his mouth to say something, but his breath suddenly caught in his throat and instead of words, a strange noise forced its way out of the blond's throat.
"Cody?" He croaked, realizing that his brother wasn't breathing.
Mr. Mosby's heart pounded loudly in his ears. He felt like anyone standing too close would be able to hear its frantic beating. Glancing around, the cruise ship manager noted the small group of people that had began to collect around the railing, all coming to gawk at the unfortunate passengers that had fallen over board. Suddenly Mosby heard Zack begin to yell; even from so far away Mosby could hear the panic in the teen's voice.
"He's not breathing!" Zack screamed, yelling up at the people on the boat. His heart stopped. It literally stopped. After all the years he had spent with Zack and Cody he had grown rather attached to them. One would even say he considered them the children he had never, ever, under no circumstances wanted. He Grinded his teeth and forced his rising panic down. It would help no one if he had a panic attack.
Suddenly a dark skinned man with short, black and white peppered hair stepped forward. He was wearing all white and had a light blue sweatshirt tied loosely around his neck. Lifting up his black sun glasses he shouted, "Turn him on his stomach but keep his head above the water!" The man's voice was loud and commanding and Mosby watched as Zack struggled to follow the man's order without question. It wasn't easy and if it wasn't for the single life ring keeping the two boys afloat it would have been impossible.
An idea struck Mosby, it wasn't a very good idea and he didn't know if it would help any, but it was a hell of a lot better then sitting around doing nothing. Turning to face Bailey and an extremely muscular boy who looked ready about to throw up, Mr. Mosby said, "Grab that other life ring and that rope over there!" Both teens jumped into action immediately and Mosby turned around to look at Zack once more.
The man in white was nodding and said, "Good! Good! Now keep doing that until he spits up water!" Mosby squinted down at Zack and saw that he was smacking Cody's back in an attempted to get his younger brother to spit up whatever water was currently blocking his airways. Feeling someone tap on his shoulder Mosby turned and saw Bailey hold up the life ring triumphantly. Nodding encouragingly he grabbed the ring and looked over at the giant boy who was holding up the rope guiltily. Mosby snatched the rope from the boy's hand pushing thoughts about the boy's suspicious attitude out of his mind. He didn't have time to worry about things like that right now. Dropping the rope Mosby grabbed one end of it and wrapped it around the red and white striped floatation device three times. Then he tied the rope in a double knot that he hopped would support the weight of a teenage boy.
"Good now hit him as hard as you can until he spits up water!" The strange man from the boat yelled loudly. Zack pulled himself inside the floaty ring and set Cody on the edge of it keeping his brothers head above the water. They must have looked ridiculous sharing the small floatation device like that. Pushing the trivial thoughts from his mind Zack balled his hand into a fist and smacked his brother on the back. When nothing happened he tried again, then again. Still nothing happened. Letting out a desperate sob Zack smacked Cody on the back again, willing his brother to breath. Cody's back arched and his head plunged under water, adrenaline shot threw Zack as he pulled his brother back out of the water. Coughing violently Cody vomited water, his whole body shaking as he heaved. Zack patted his back smiling broadly; even though Cody was clearly confused and disorientated and uncomfortable, he was breathing. Zack's smile widened as he watched his brother dry heave.
'Wha-?" Cody rasped his head swiveling around to take in his surroundings. Zack laughed, he couldn't help it, he was just so relieved.
"You dummy!" He giggled unable to contain his joy. Cody frowned at him and slipped off the floaty ring he was laying on so that the only part of his body touching the thin plastic device was his arms.
"What happened? Why are we in the water?" Cody looked up at the boat.
"Why aren't we on the boat!?" He gasped slipping off the floatation device completely. Zack grabbed Cody's wrist and planted it firmly on the floaty ring.
"Don't let go of this." He snapped going underwater so he could get out of the ring. Once he was out he flipped it over so that it was encircling his brother.
"There." He stated proudly.
"Do you think you can hold yourself-"
"ZACK!" Mr. Mosby yelled cutting off the rest of Zack's sentence. Zack turned and looked up at Mosby who was holding a second floaty device.
"Catch this and we'll pull you up!" He yelled tossing a red and white stripped ring with a rope wound tightly around it into the water. Zack winced as the flotation device smacked the water a few feet in front of him pelting him and Cody with little droplets of water. Zack glanced at his brother apprehensively.
"I'll be right back. Don't let go of this." He commanded smacking the ring Cody was clinging too. Cody shivered violently, his eyes dropping slightly.
"It's cold." He mumbled tiredly. Zack shivered in response realizing for the first time just how cold the water was. Shaking off the temperature Zack lightly smacked Cody in the face.
"Yeah it is, but you gotta stay awake. Cant have you drowning after I went threw all the t-trouble to save you." He stuttered feeling the affects of the water for the first time. Cody nodded numbly his eye lids closing even further. Apparently, almost drowning was an extremely exhausting activity. Zack took one last look at his little brother and then spun around quickly heading for the floaty with the rope attached to it. All he wanted was for this to be over. They had both gotten into some pretty sticky situations before, but none as dangerous as this. Grabbing the ring, Zack turned around and swam as fast as he could towards his brother. They weren't very far apart and the swim only took him a few seconds, but being away from his quickly fading brother left his heart pounding wildly. All it took was a few seconds and Cody would be back underwater. Gulping Zack grabbed onto Cody's ring and looked back up at the boat. Scanning the crowd silently he spotted Mosby.
"Now what?!" He yelled, wondering how they where going to get the two boys back up in the boat. Mosby turned around and talked to some one for a few minutes before turning back around to face Zack.
"Can we pull one of you up first and then the other second?" Zack glanced at his brother who looked half asleep. Smacking him on the head, a little harder then necessary, made Cody jump up his blue eyes unfocused.
"Wha-"
"Do you think you can stay awake long enough to hold onto the rope when they pull you up, sleeping beauty?" Zack snapped, starting to get more than a little worried about his brother.
"My head hurts." Cody whined in a very un-cody, more like Zack way.
"Well, that's probably from almost drowning, being punched in the face and falling off the cruise ship." Zack paused and pursed his lips,
"Not, exactly in that order though..." Cody rolled his eyes. Before he could respond Zack sighed loudly,
"Can you sit on this and hang on when they pull you up?" He asked lifting up the red and white ring. Cody eyed it suspiciously,
"Sit on it-"
"Like a swing." Zack nodded finishing Cody's sentence. Cody shrugged and reached for the rope tied around the floaty. After about five minutes of struggling and telling the people on the boat to lift the floaty out of water slightly the twins where able to get Cody firmly situated on the flotation device. Panting tiredly Zack gave the people on the cruise ship a thumbs up and watched as they slowly lifted Cody up and out of the water. Cody gasped quietly and clung to the rope for dear life, looking slightly green when it began to sway from side to side slightly. After a short time multiple hands grabbed Cody by the shoulders and pulled him onto the boat. Once Cody was safe, Zack allowed himself to sink down into the water leavening only his nose and eyes exposed. Blowing out air bubbles the teen realized exactly how cold, and tired he was. The whole ordeal had only taken about thirty minutes but it had definitely been the longest thirty minuets of his life.
"Zack!" A voice yelled from above. Zack looked up at Mosby and waved enthusiastically, pushing away all of his exaustion. Mosby nodded and tossed the floaty ring overboard.
Apparently (I looked it up) if you fall of a cruise ship, chances are you wont be found before its too late, from the height you would probably die when you hit the water and the railings are all to high up to actually get PUNCHED off the boat. SO this is the plan. If we pretend none of those little facts are true...then they officiallyaren't! Woo! Screw reality! Just don't go jumping off any cruise ships in the near future.