Sherlock and Irene ran through the hallways, searching for a way out. They came up a narrow stairwell but they were stopped by a small group pressed up against a steel gate. The steward was insistently telling everyone to go to the main stairwell and refused to open the gate.
"God damn it to Hell son of a bitch!" screamed Tommy. Irene tapped his shoulder and gestured to the bench bolted to the floor. He walked over and aggressively started pulling on it, with more men joining in as they noticed his efforts. Irene cleared a path for them as they wrenched the bench off the floor.
"Move aside! Quickly, move aside!" Tommy and the other men ran up the stairs and rammed it into the gate. It ripped loose and the crowd surged through.
The deck was in utter pandemonium as people tried to push through to get to the boats. Gunshots were being fired by the crewmen in a desperate attempt to restore order. Mycroft gave up on trying to find his brother. He spotted a young child, crying, without anyone claiming him. He was reminded of a young Sherlock. Without hesitation he scooped up the boy and walked to the officer in charge of the last boat.
"Any more women or children?!"
"Here's a child! I've got a child! Please…I'm all he has in the world."
The officer nodded curtly and allowed Mycroft and the boy on the boat. He sadly looked at the ship while the boat lowered. All he could do now was hope and pray that Sherlock made it safely on a boat.
Sherlock and Irene emerged onto the deck, amidst the commotion and disarray. There were no more lifeboats to be seen. Irene bit her lip, frowning. She should have done better to make Sherlock leave her earlier. He noticed her concern and guessed her thoughts.
"It's too late now. And I don't regret my decision. We have to stay on the ship as long as possible. Let's see…now the ship was hit near the front bottom compartments, meaning that the stern will be the last part to sink. Let's head there." He grabbed her hand and they pushed through the panicking crowd. They struggled to climb higher as the angle of the boat increased. They passed hundreds of passengers clinging onto anything to keep from slipping into the water. They finally made it onto the stern rail and held onto it as the ship tilted further.
"How ironic. This is where we first met, and where we are to meet our doom," whispered Irene. The lights on the ship flickered, and then went out completely.
From the lifeboats, Mycroft looked onto the great ship of Titanic with dread. He watched in horror as the ship's structure ripped in half, all nine decks right to the keel.
The stern half of the ship fell backward onto the water so that it was level again. The gaping hole in the ship filled with water and the stern rapidly tilted up again. It went up, and up, and up, past 30 degrees, past 40 degrees, then past 60.
"We have to move." Sherlock climbed over the stern rail and helped Irene do the same. "Never thought I'd be climbing over this again…" They watched as people fell from the boat, flailing in a desperate attempt to grab something. The stern was now sticking straight up in the air, and it was rapidly sinking.
"When I say take a deep breath," Sherlock instructed, "take a deep breath and hold it." Irene nodded grimly. The deck below them disappeared and the plunge was gathering even greater speed.
"Now!"
