Chapter 6
John ran down the corridor and down some stairs with Elizabeth right behind him, Simon was proving to be persistent but as they reached the bottom of the stairs he realised the gunshots had stopped. He stopped and looked back up the stairs prepared to run if the gun toting first class ass showed up but there was no sign of him. He didn't want to risk going up the way they came so he opted instead to head for the next set of stairs. The water in this part of the ship was only around his ankles but he didn't think for a second they were out of danger especially since part of the deck above had been flooded as well. He found some stairs, there was water trickling down them but it should be safe to go up there, if they waited any longer to find another way they might end up trapped.
He was about to send Elizabeth up when they heard shouting and turned around to find the source. A woman walked around the corner, a third class passenger from the looks of her, her blonde hair was soaked as were her clothes and she was calling names, two of them. John looked back at the stairs, the trickle of water was getting faster, a sure sign that it wouldn't be safe to go up here for much longer.
"We can't leave her here John," Elizabeth pointed out what he already knew and he ran toward the woman, keeping Elizabeth close to him.
"Please," the woman called when she saw them "You have to help me find my children."
"It's alright, we're going to help you," Elizabeth reassured her. "What are their names?"
"Eliza and Jeremy," she half cried. "Please they are only babies."
"Alright, we'll check down this way," John told the woman well aware that the water around his feet was getting higher. "Why don't you check these few rooms here?"
The woman nodded, calming herself down as she went down the corridor shouting her children's names. John did the same in the opposite direction; he kept hold of Elizabeth's hand as he moved along the corridor. He stopped when he heard more shouting, the children calling back for them and he followed the sound as fast as he could into one of the small rooms. The children were sitting on the top bunk of a bed, probably to keep out of the water which was now moving up to John's knees, the two of them looked terrified. The boy looked to be about eight and the girl couldn't be older than four.
"It's alright, we're gonna get you out of here, your mothers waiting for you outside," he told them reaching his arms up. Jeremy helped his sister to slide off the bed and into John's arms; he handed her to Elizabeth quickly and then got Jeremy down. The four of them left the room shouting for the mother who appeared from one of the other rooms.
"John," Elizabeth said, the fear in her voice made him turn around to see what she was looking at. Two doors, closed and barely holding back a corridor full of water that was already starting to seep through, he could tell it wasn't going to hold much longer and when it broke it was going to send a wave of water crashing after them. There was no time for the tearful reunion the mother wanted, instead he ushered everyone to the stairs putting the boy down and telling him to run to the top. The mother went up second just as the doors crashed open and the water came straight for them.
John pushed Elizabeth onto the stairs still carrying the little girl but he didn't have time to get onto them himself. The water hit him, pushing him away from the stairs and washing him down the corridor. He struggled to keep his head up, the force of water knocking him about as it dragged him through the corridor with it.
He had to stop himself or he was going to die here, he looked around him frantically spotting some more stairs just before his head went underwater again. When he resurfaced he reached out grabbing the corner of the wall pulling himself back toward the stairs. He heard a voice and looked around to see someone else in the water and it didn't take him long to realise it was Elizabeth. He grabbed her arm with his free hand as she passed him and she swung into the wall next to him. Hoping he hadn't dislocated her shoulder when he grabbed her he pulled her into the stair well with him.
The water level was already above their heads and they had to swim under some piping to get to the stairs where they climbed up to the gate at the top. Elizabeth tried to open the gate but it didn't move and she shook it almost violently as though she thought that might help.
"It's locked," she shouted and he could hear the fear in her voice as the water reached their feet again. Someone ran passed, a steward if the uniform was anything to go by and they both shouted to him making him stop before he ran up the next flight of stairs to the relative safety of the next deck. "Please help."
The steward looked reluctant and John couldn't entirely blame him but the man turned back grabbing his keys and fumbling with them as he tried to find the right one. He was shaking and fumbling so much that he dropped them in the water which was now reaching up to their waists. He looked down and then back at them shaking his head in fear.
"I'm sorry," he said as he turned back to the stairs disappearing up them despite their calls.
John wasted no time in reaching into the water, his hand searching blindly for the keys. He finally found them and stood back up trying to figure out which one was right. Elizabeth helped him, the two of them looking through the dozens of keys attached together until they found one they thought was right. They were only going to get one chance so John said a silent prayer as he tried to guide the key into the lock, it was too hard to do from that angle and the water was now around their necks. He dipped his head below the surface; giving himself better access to the lock and finally managing to open it. Elizabeth shoved the gates open and the two of them swam for the stairs, relieved to reach a dry deck again and opting to head toward the stern to try and find a way up.
This was John's deck; his quarters weren't far from where they were so he had a good idea where the nearest stairs were. He headed that way, the water wouldn't be far behind him and he was dismayed to see people still on this deck, men, women and children who still hadn't headed up the boat deck. It seemed to take forever to get to the stairs and when he finally reached them he saw Ronon and Teyla, both of them looking angry.
"Guys," John called and they both turned around smiling when they saw him.
"John, you're alright," Teyla said in relief. "What happened, why did they arrest you?"
"Simon," was all the explanation John gave, it was all the explanation they had time for. He looked up at the stairs, there were several other passengers gathered around them but the gates at the top was locked and the two stewards on the other side were refusing to open them. "Not letting us through?" he questioned with a nod in the direction of the gate.
"No," Ronon replied "The idiots are apparently waiting for orders to let us out."
"They're not going to get orders, they probably forgot about it completely. The deck below this one is already completely flooded, part of this one too," John told them.
"I'm guessing that's where you two just came from," Ronon stated looking at both him and Elizabeth; they were soaked from head to toe from their swim through the lower deck.
"Long story," John replied and finally let go of Elizabeth's hand to walk up the stairs. He manoeuvred his way to the front of the crowd where one of the stewards, probably the one in charge, was yelling at the passengers to get back.
"Open the gate," John ordered and the steward turned his yelling on him now, telling him to get back and wait. "Listen to me, the water is already starting to flood this deck, let us through," he explained and the steward paused for a moment as a fear swept through the group of people behind him.
"Go back down and try the other stairwells, we can't let you through until we get orders," the steward almost yelled at him and John could tell he wasn't going to get anywhere with this guy. He turned around trying to figure something out when he saw the bench nearby, he ran over and started pulling at it but it was attached to the deck.
"Ronon, give me a hand," he called and the big guy came over to help as did two other men who were stuck there as well. Elizabeth and Teyla were getting the other passengers out of the way, clearing a path to the gate. The bench finally ripped free and the four men adjusted their hold on it so they could charge the gate. On the count of three they ran forward, the bench hitting the gate and almost bouncing off it but it had done some damage. The stewards were shouting for them to stop but they charged the gate again. The impact damaged the bench as well as the gate but with a third charge the bench went through, breaking the gate enough for them to get through.
They couldn't pull the bench back so they dropped it where they were. Ronon climbed over immediately and John helped Teyla and Elizabeth to get over the bench, Ronon helping them down at the other side. He jumped over behind them once again taking Elizabeth's hand as the four of them headed up the ship.
When they reached the boat deck it was already obvious that most if not all of the boats were gone, in the time it had taken them to get away from Simon and make their way back up the ship they had all been launched. The deck was still full of people though and there were a lot more still inside the ship.
"We'll check the other side," Teyla shouted, she and Ronon disappeared around a corner in search of lifeboats while John ran up the deck.
"Wait," Elizabeth called stopping suddenly and John turned to her. She let go of his hand and ran over to someone, a man he didn't recognise. "Carson," she called as she went over to him. John was right behind her, he looked down at the deck, the slant was more than obvious now, the entire ship had tipped forward and looking further down the deck he could actually see the water.
"Elizabeth, what are you still doing here, you should have left the ship ages ago," he said to her and she gave him a small smile.
"I've been a little busy," she told him "Where's Laura?"
"On one of the lifeboats, it took some convincing but she finally agreed to get on one without me. I had to tell her I was getting on one at the other side of the ship, that one of the officer's was letting men on but it would be easier if she was already gone. I really hate lying to her. I haven't seen Rodney in a while though," Carson explained and though John hated to break up the reunion the water was creeping further up the deck.
"We really have to move, we need to stay aboard the ship as long as possible," he stated and they both turned their attention to him.
"To the stern then?" Carson questioned. The three of them made their way to the back of the ship unfortunately most people seemed to have had the same idea. The closer to the back they got the more crowded it became, everyone was moving so slowly but John had a feeling there wasn't enough time. He pushed through the crowd, his hand holding Elizabeth's tightly to pull her through and he occasionally glanced back to make sure Carson was still with them. With the back of the ship rising more and more, the deck became steeper making it hard to walk along it.
"John," he heard Ronon shout, the big man was standing at the stern of the ship, holding onto the railing with his arm around Teyla keeping her there with him. He made his way there, walking up the steep deck and pulling Elizabeth with him. He dragged her up to him and helped her walk forward; Ronon reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her up so she could grab the rail before reaching for John and Carson.
They all held onto the rail at the back of the ship, around them people were clinging to whatever they could. Some were giving up and jumping from the back maybe hoping they could swim to the lifeboats that had to be floating nearby. Over the railing John could see someone jump, they fell the considerable to distance to the water, their body hitting the propeller blade on the way down and John was fairly sure it had killed him or at least knocked him out. One the deck people were losing the struggle to hold on falling down the ship.
John held onto Elizabeth, keeping his arm around her so that she wouldn't be one of those that fell. Beside him Ronon and Teyla were holding on to the rail as well and Carson was doing the same on the other side. The knowledge that they were all going down with the ship was terrifying and only now had he allowed it to really hit him.
The ship jerked suddenly and John once again tightened his hold on Elizabeth. It did it again and John looked down the ship trying to figure out what was happening. The ship suddenly fell back and though he couldn't see it he could hear people nearby shouting that she ship was breaking in half. The weight at the back was obviously too much for the bow to handle and without warning the lights went out and they were all plunged into darkness. Only the light from the moon and the stars helped them to see and there weren't a considerable amount of stars out that night. The stern of the ship quickly fell back into the water resting there for a moment before it started rising back up.
"We have to move," Ronon called letting go of Teyla and climbing over the railing. He reached immediately for Teyla and pulled her over as well before moving to help Elizabeth do the same. The ship was almost vertical when John and Carson climbed over with a little help from Ronon, Teyla and Elizabeth. Straight below them was the water, the ship bobbing there vertically for several eerie moments before it started plunging into the water. Elizabeth was gripping his hand tightly as the water came closer and closer, this was it.
"We're gonna get sucked under with the ship," John told them all, shouting to be heard above the noise. "Hold on to each other and kick for the surface."
Ronon, Teyla and Carson linked hands, resting their joined hands on the metal railing for balance. John grabbed hold of Ronon and looked to where he was already holding onto Elizabeth. The water was just beneath them now, a roaring sound filing the air as the ship fell below it.
"Take a deep breath at the last second," Carson called his voice barely audible. "Now!"
The last part of the Titanic went under the water, the entire ship submerged and taking any passengers still on board or anywhere nearby with it. John took a deep breath just before he plunged into the dark water, the suction from the ship pulling him deeper under.
TBC