Jack and Rose emerged back out onto the tilting deck. Jack pulled her to the rail just in time to see people jumping overboard, rushing the inevitable.
"We're going to have to stay on the ship as long as possible!" Jack turned around again, pulling Rose after him. It was now even harder to run now that they were in the crowd of rushing people, but Jack was determined. They had to get to safety and soon.
…..
Fabrizio screamed as he was almost sucked back into the ship, and sighed in relief as he grabbed onto the side to prevent himself from going in. He swam away and was right at the edge of the ship when there was a loud popping sound. Fabrizio looked up just to see the giant smoke stack falling down on top of him killing him just as fast as that gunshot from that officer had killed Tommy Ryan earlier.
…..
Jack pulled Rose ahead of him on the crowded stairway. Both are now having a hard time walking.
"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…," A man was praying.
"You want to hurry up through that valley there!" Jack pushes the slow moving man out of the way.
They finally get to the upper deck and hung on to the railing as they continued to move forward.
"Jack look!" Rose pointed out a priest, hanging onto a group of people as he grabbed on to some sort of structure on the deck, saying the lord's prayer. They didn't have time to stop for long. They had to keep moving with the crowd.
"Come on," Jack grabbed her hand again and pulled her to the railing of the stern where he grabs on tightly to the rail and she hung on tightly to him. He huged her tightly to him with his free hand. "Hang on!"
Rose looked around her at the struggling and falling people. She then glanced down to sees Helga, Fabrizio's girlfriend hanging onto a railing, her feet dangling in midair. Rose had to wonder where Fabrizio and Tommy were now. Where they safe? She hoped so. For Jack's sake, she hoped so. She looked around again at her surroundings and almost laughed at the irony.
"Jack!" Rose grinned almost maniacally. "This is where we first met!"
Jack looked down at her, his eyes full of love. Touched that she remembered that at a moment like this. He kisses her forehead and hugged her tighter as the boat tilted some more.
Among the screams comes a loud booming cracking sound. Rose looked behind her and stifled a scream as the ship broke in two, sucking in a group of people into it's opening chasm.
"Jack!" She screamed as the stern went falling back down into the water.
"Hang on!" Jack tightened his grip on the railing and pressed against her so she didn't fall as well.
"We're saved!" A woman screamed out joyously as it seemed that the stern was going to steady itself on the surface of the ocean. Rose looked at Jack with hope in her eyes, but he shook his head grimly. The ship was still full of water with too much weight on it. Screams rang out again as the deck again tilted upward at a faster rate.
"We have to move!" Jack begins to climb the rail. Once he was on the other side, he reached for Rose's hand. "Come on Rose! I'll pull you over!"
"Jack…I can't…" Rose cried, fear deepening in her heart.
"Yes you can Rose. Just grab my hand and climb. I won't let go! I promise."
Rose nodded and grabbed his hand and struggled to climb the rail.
"I got ya. I won't let go," Jack pulled her up. "Come on I got ya."
Rose sighed in relief as she found herself safely on the other side with Jack, but her fear again deepened when she noticed that the ship was now straight up in the air.
"What's happening Jack?"
"I don't know, I don't know," Jack answered, the fear quite evident in his voice.
Rose looked down at Helga, who looked back up at her, clearly afraid and sad. All of her family and most likely Fabrizio was gone. Rose tentatively reached her hand out to the frightened blond, but it was too late. Helga lost her grip on the rail and she fell screaming into the churning water.
"No," Rose began to cry. She turned to look at a man in a chef's suit. He looks at her sadly then turned away.
Rose gasped when the ship began it's final descent into the ocean "Oh God, Oh God," She cried, not even feeling Jack grasping her hand tightly. Her whole attention was on the frosty ocean below them.
"This is it Rose!" Jack called to her. He noticed that she not paying attention. Her eyes are full of fear and directed at the ocean.
"Rose! Rose look at me!"
She turned her head to meet his eyes and they again filled her world, the only thing that could take her mind off her fate.
"Listen to me Rose, the ship is going to suck us down! Take a deep breath when I say! Kick for the surface and keep kicking! Do not let go of my hand!"
Rose nodded, intending to obey everything he said.
"We're going to make it Rose! Trust me!"
"I trust you!"
The rail was right upon the ocean now and Rose shivered as she felt the wintry chill. She has never felt this cold before in her life.
"Ready! Now!" Jack yelled as the ocean swallowed them up.
The ship fell away and Jack and Rose hands remained linked together. Jack rised kicking hard for the surface, holding tightly to Rose as he pulled her up. The surface was in a roiling chaos of screaming and thrashing people. Over a thousand people were now floating where the ship had once been. Some were stunned and gasping for breath. Others were crying, praying, moaning, shouting…and screaming. Jack and Rose barely have time to gasp for air before people who were driven insane by the water, four degrees below zero begin clawing at them.
Rose barely had time to scream when a man pushed her under, trying to climb on top of her, to get out of the water.
"Jack!"
"Get off of her! Get off of her!" Jack repeatedly punched the man until the man was floating unconscious into the ocean.
"Jack!"
"Swim Rose! I need ya to swim!" Jack began swimming, grabbing hold of her life vest, pulling her along.
"It's so cold!" Rose cried, trying her best to swim on her own to make it easier for Jack.
"Swim Rose!" Jack said with determination, spotting some floating debris nearby. "Climb on it Rose," Jack leads her to the debris.
Rose nodded, grabbing on to the wood paneling and struggling on top of it.
"Jack come on!" Rose called. Jack tried to join her on the wooden debris, but it wasn't not strong enough to hold two people as it tries to tip Rose back over into the water, but Jack quickly slid back off, causing it to right itself again. He was going to have to remain in the water.
Rose was about to get off too, but Jack grabbed her shoulder first "Stay on it Rose! Stay on it."
Rose nodded, not having enough strength to argue the point and also just wanting to make him happy. "Jack."
"It'll be alright now," Jack smiled reassuringly at her as he moved in front of her and took her hand in his. "It'll be alright now."
"Return the boat!" A whistle sounded out just a few yards across from them. Jack looked to see an officer blowing a whistle and hollering for the lifeboats to come back.
"Return the boats!"
"The boats will be coming back for us Rose. Just wait a little bit longer. They had to row away for the suction and now they'll be coming back," Jack smiled with real hope and optimism in his voice. He truly believed they were going to be saved.
Rose just nodded, his optimism helping her as she laid her head down trying to forget about the biting cold and trying to stop her chattering teeth. She wondered if she'll ever be warm again.
…..
Molly stood up in the boat as she tried to rally the women together to collect some of the screaming people out in the ocean. She was getting frustrated. She glared at Ruth, who had her ears covered against all the wailing screaming of the poor souls out there in the ocean.
"For goodness sake Ruth!" Molly forced the woman's hands from her ears. "That can be Rose out there! Don't you want to go back for your own daughter?!"
"I already told you we can't go back!" Quartermaster Hitchins glared at Molly. "They'll pull us right down I'm telling ya!"
"Aw knock it off! You're scaring me. Come on girls, grab your oars. Let's go."
No one moves. They just set there staring at Molly as if she's lost her mind.
"Well come on!" Molly urged, noticing how the women wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't understand a one of ya. It's your men out there! There's plenty of room for more!"
"There'll be one less in this boat if you don't shut that hole in your face!" Hitchens yelled.
Molly stunned at being talked to in such a matter sat down. She looked over at Ruth who still had her hands over her ears, shutting it all out. Molly closed her eyes and said a little prayer. "Please keep my niece safe. Whether it be here on earth or up there with you." Then Molly just stared out in space, lost in the memories of her niece.
…..
Jack and Rose drifted under the blazing stars. The water was so glassy that Rose could see the stars reflecting back at her in the dark water. She glanced at Jack and notices how white his face was and his lips were blue. Ice was forming in his hair. She shivered at the low moaning in the darkness around them.
"It's getting quiet," Rose sighed, no sign of hope is in her voice. She was sure they were going to die out there.
"Just a few more minutes. It'll take them a while to get the boats all organized."
Rose just stared off into space. She knew the truth. There were no boats coming back. They were going to die out here. Looking behind Jack, she saw that the officer with the whistle was now still, his eyes closed. She knew he wasn't sleeping. He had died and the same fate awaited her and Jack.
But Jack couldn't give up hope. At least not for Rose. She still had a good chance of survival. She wasn't in the water for that long. She could still live a long and happy life. He was going to remain optimistic for her. He had to give her hope.
"I don't know about you, but I intend to write a very strong worded letter to the white star line about all this," Jack tried to laugh weakly, but the way it came out, it sounded like a gasp of fear. Rose looked up at him, love for him shining in her eyes.
"I love you Jack."
Jack took her hand. "Don't you do that. Don't you start saying your good-byes. Not yet. Do you understand me." His voice was strong and determined. He wasn't going to let her give up.
"I'm so cold," Rose shivered.
"You're going to get out of here. You're going to go on and have lots of babies and watch them grow. You're going to die an old old lady. Warm in her bed. Not here…not like this…not this night. Do you understand me?"
"I can't feel my body."
Jack forced the words out as he was beginning to have trouble breathing. "Rose, listen to me. Winning that ticket was the best thing that's ever happened to me. It brought me to you. And I'm thankful Rose. I'm thankful." His voice began to tremble with the cold that was making it's way to his heart, but his eyes were unwavering. He was determined that she survived. "You must do me this honor…promise me that you will survive…that you won't give up…no matter what happens…no matter how hopeless…promise me now Rose…and never let go of that promise."
"I promise."
"Never let go."
"I promise. I will never let go Jack. I'll never let go."
Jack smiled happily at her, and he tightens his grip as he closed his eyes. He needed to rest. He'll just close his eyes just for a little while. Just for a little while.
Rose stared up at the stars and grasped Jack's cold hand in hers as she laid on her back, singing what she now considered to be their song. "Come Josephine in my flying machine…and it's up she goes…up she goes…"
She turned her head to the glare of a light. Her eyes widened with joy and hope for the first time in hours as a deep voice calls out.
"Hello! Is there anyone alive out there! Hello!"
She came to full attention to see the silhouette of a boat moving along the still bodies. They were saved!
"Jack!" She turned and shook his pale hand. "There's a boat Jack!"
Jack wasn't responding. Why wasn't he responding? "Jack! There's a boat!" She tries a little louder and harder. "Jack! There's a boat."
She stared in disbelief at his frost-rimmed face. He looked so peaceful…as if he was sleeping. But she knew better. Hot tears streamed from her face. This couldn't be happening to them! Not now! Not after all they've been through. How could life be so unkind to her? She's finally found the love of her life just to lose him not two days later.
"Jack…there's a boat Jack," She cried in vain, leaning her cheek upon his cold hand. That was when she thought she felt it…she thought she felt his hand move, but when she looked back up, his eyes were still closed and he was motionless. It was wishful thinking. But it made her realize that she still had a promise to keep.
"Come back! Come back!" Rose called for the boat, but her voice was too weak and the officers didn't hear her. Not even realizing that she was still holding Jack's hand, Rose slipped off the board and swam over to the dead officer with the whistle. She didn't even flinch at the thought as she jerked the whistle out of the officer's mouth and blew on it with all her might to catch the officer's attention.
"Come about!" The officer yelled, shining the light on Rose. She fells into unconsciousness just when the boat reached her.
One of the officers noticed the unconscious young man that she was holding on to and pulled him into the ship.
"He still has a pulse," The office felt his neck.
"Well don't just stand there. Wrap him up quickly! Get him warm!" The head officer yelled.
…..
It's dawn and the passengers had been boarded onto the rescue ship Carpathia. Caroline was standing at the rail looking down on the last remaining lifeboat containing the officers and two unconscious people that she instantly recognized. Rose and Jack. She rushed to the officers as they get on board.
"We need a doctor right away!" Officer Lowe hollers. "Especially for the young man! He needs medical attention right away!"
"Jack! Jack!" Caroline pushed her way through the crowd. She took his ice-cold hand and gasps when she notices how pale he was.
"You know him ma'am?" The officer asked.
"Of course I know him. He's my fiancée," Caroline glared at the officer, daring him to challenge her claim.
"Do you know her as well? They were together," The officer questioned.
Caroline looked at the unconscious Rose. She could almost laugh. Rose had thought she had stolen Jack away from her, but she was wrong. She was going to make sure that Rose never saw Jack again.
"I never saw her before in my life," Caroline shook her head. "But please, can we get him moved to the infirmary right now? He's awfully cold."
"Yes ma'am," The officer nodded, getting Jack on the stretcher. Caroline grinned evilly as she followed the men as they carried Jack to the infirmary, leaving Rose behind with another officer, waiting for someone to take care of her.
It was Molly who passed by and instantly recognizes a pale Rose, being prepped to be moved to the infirmary as well.
"Oh my lord Rose!" Molly collapsed on to her knees as she reached her niece.
"You know this girl ma'am?" The officer asked the well-dressed lady.
"Yes sir. She's my niece. How bad is she?" Molly asked.
"Not bad. She's been drifting in and out of consciousness and calls for someone named Jack. But she's well enough to be cared for by a family member if you want to take her to your room," The officer explained, realizing that Molly was of the first class and probably had an enclosed room of her own.
"Yes sir. Will you carry her and I'll lead the way?"
"Yes mam," the officer nodded, picking Rose up into his arms.
"I love you Jack," Rose whispers in her sleep, snuggling into the officer's arm.
"Poor darling," Molly placed a warm hand on her forehead. "Well come on. Let's get her to her room."
