Summary: Tohru receives tickets for the luxury cruise upon the Poseidon for her birthday, along with 9 other people from the Sohma family. Midway through the cruise, the ship is fatally struck by a rogue wave, and is capsized. Now Tohru must find out where everyone else is and escape the bowels of the ship before it slips under the ocean's waves. But not everyone can survive fate. . .

Poseidon
Chapter Fourteen
Deck One

They walked through the corridor, passing a sign saying "Storage Deck One".

"This must be it," Kyo muttered, more to himself than anyone else as he reached the door.

The door, like the others, was upside down. It was a solid-steel door. The handle was located in the middle of the door, like a safe. Below them, near the top-part of the door was an upside down sign; which read "Storage Deck One – Authorised Personnel Only".

"Yeah, it is," replied Matake, who had heard him "Through there is Storage Deck One, then up one floor is Storage Deck Two."

Kyo tried the door; it wouldn't budge.

"What the-?" said Kyo, looking the door up and down "Is there a way into this thing?" he asked, looking over at Matake..

Matake nodded slowly, "Yeah," he said "But it's got a PIN-code."

"Well?" asked Ren, looking over, Tamaka behind him, looking from behind his waist.

"Well what?" asked Matake, staring at Ren.

"What's the code?" asked Kyo, closing his eyes in frustration.

"I don't know," said Matake, everyone gave a frustrated sigh.

"What d'ya mean you don't know the code?" asked Kyo, forcing a calm into his voice "You're work on this ship!"

"I don't work in the engine rooms!" said Matake, shrugging "The codes vary."

"Well, try your code!" said Kyo, stepping back, revealing the little box in which a code must be typed.

"How am I to know if it's the right code?" asked Matake, looking at Kyo.

"Try and you'll see if it's the right code or not," said Kyo, through gritted teeth.

"You do realise there's a limit on how many times you can enter a wrong code, right?" asked Matake, looking around the group.

"What?" asked Tohru "So you mean, if you get it wrong a certain amount of times..."

"That's right," said Matake, nodding at Tohru "If you don't enter a correct code in three tries, the door locks itself and an alarm tells the Bridge someone's trying to get in."

"Damn high-tech security!" shouted Kyo, pounding his fist into the door.

"It's because there's valuable things in there," said Matake, "But don't worry, we can't get in trouble if that happens – the Bridge is underwater."

Tohru looked up swiftly "So what're we supposed to do if the door locks?"

"We have to find another way around it," said Matake, a stern look on his face.

"It'll be too late by then," said Tohru "We need the right code now. Matake, I think you should enter your code. You're the only one with an actual code for the ship; it may actually work."

"Are you sure?" said Matake, looking at Tohru "It could potentially be disastrous if it is a wrong code."

"What other choice do we have?" asked Shigure, looking stern himself "Go on, Matake. We won't blame you if it is a wrong code."

Matake nodded, then got to his knees. He entered his 6-digit pin code into the machine. It beeped. Nothing happened.
The group stood there in disbelief. One of the actual pin codes didn't work.

"Dammit!" shouted Haru, hitting his palm with his fist "Hey, Matake. Does that pin code belong to you, and you only?"

"Yeah, everyone has their own pin codes – so the bosses can track our movements." said Matake, looking up at Haru.

"Shit," said Haru, looking down the corridor "With over seven-hundred staff on board, that means there are over seven-hundred combinations."

"And only two chances left," said Yuki sullenly.

Suddenly, the door began to churn. Everyone looked up immediately as the door grinded, shuddering in its frame.

"It's the safety mechanism!" said Matake, rushing to the door.

"What do you mean?" asked Yuki looking at the door suspiciously.

"If a power cut comes over the ship, all safety measures are taken," said Matake, turning the round handle of the door "Basically, all locked doors, such as this one, becomes unlocked, as to not accidentally lock people in."

"What caused it to do it this time?" asked Tohru, looking anxiously at the door.

"More than likely the rising water," replied Matake, finally stopping turning the handle "Okay, let's go."

"Wait!" said Tohru, as Matake was about to pull the handle. He looked at her "W-What if the water's on the other side of that door?" she asked, looking at him.

"Then we'll see," said Haru, looking over "Matake, open it."

And Matake swung the door outward to let them in. Water, no higher than knee level poured out and over the edge of the frame.

"Crap!" shouted Matake, recoiling from the water "This room is flooded."

Kyo ran inside and looked around. The others watching with caution as he turned his head side to side, scanning the room.

"It's safe." he said, signalling them to come in "The water hasn't leaked in here. Lock the door when you come through – to stop the water catching up with us."

"We can't, remember?" said Matake, pulling the door shut behind him "I can lock it, but sealing it requires power functions again. Locking it won't stop water flooding into here."

With that, he slammed the door. Storage Deck One was a vast room, about two decks in height. It was organised like a library, which huge boxes stack atop one another, all protected with a cloth mesh fence. Each was organised into its own row, and ran the length of the room.
In quite a lot of places, the cloth mesh fence had snapped, and boxes had spilled out onto the floor, smashed and spread their contents everywhere. In some places, it was almost impossible to get passed.

"Okay," said Matake, looking around. "We need to look for another door similar to the one we just came through. That leads to a staircase which rises up to Storage Deck Two."

"Do we have to go through Storage Deck Two?" asked Tohru, looking ahead to Matake

"Yes," he replied, turning and looking back "Storage Deck One and Two both are connected, and we need to go through Storage Deck Two to get to the engine rooms. It's more of a design flaw than a convenience."

"Wait," said Yuki, stepping forward "I thought you said you never came through here. How do you suddenly know the anatomy so well?" he asked, a glare upon his face.

"I may not know all the secrets of the Poseidon," said Matake, squaring up to Yuki "But I have to know the general layout, in case of emergencies, or I'm sent down here for whatever reason."

With that, Yuki nodded, muttering "Continue" as Matake turned back around to figure a way out. By now, everyone was shuddering in the freezing water, and decided to make their way. They had no idea where the door was, so began their search at one end.
They made their way through the room. All sticking together as they tried to overcome the various obstacles they faced – be it broken boxes, or a dead end. After about 15 minutes, they managed to get to one of the biggest boxes and found the door behind it. The water had risen slightly, as it was just past the knees. They still needed to get over the box, so they devised a plan.

"Right, Kyo, you go to the top of the box, Ren and I will help you up. Watch out for the splintered wood and such, we don't need more casualties," said Matake, looking around the group "After that, we'll begin helping people up to you, in which you'll help them over the top and to the other side. Okay?"

"Yes," replied Kyo, nodding.

And with that, they hoisted Kyo up onto the unstable box top, which had shattered and collapsed partially. They began to send people over one by one. Tohru first, then Yuki, then Haru, Shigure was just on his way up when a groan was heard over by the door on the other side of the room. A huge clang pounded their ears. Another noise filled it as well. The noise of running water. Fast water.
They hurried their efforts, as water poured around the corner, almost deluging them.

"Hurry!" shouted Matake, ushering everyone else up the box.

"Tamaka?" shouted Ren, looking around him "TAMAKA!"

Tamaka was nowhere to be seen. In front of them lay the huge box, behind them a corner with water pouring around it. Ren made to run back, but Matake grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Are you crazy?!" he shouted, as water continued to pound them "You'll be killed going back there! The water's rising too fast, we need to get out of here, now!!"

Ren shook his head violently "I'm not going anywhere without her!" and he ran back, shouting "Tamaka!!" as he went.

"Matake!" shouted Kyo from above the box "Come on! We gotta get outta here! This whole place is flooding!"

Matake jumped up onto some of the makeshift ledges on the box's disintegrating side and reached up to Kyo's hand. The water was rising fast, it was waist-deep now as Kyo and Matake made their way to the steel door. The rest of the group had already gone through and waited for them.
Tohru looked at them.

"Where's Ren and Tamaka?" she asked.

"Tamaka went missing," said Matake.

"And Ren was stupid enough to run back to try and find her," said Kyo, as he and Matake began to push the door shut.

"WAIT!" came a cry from the other side of the door.

Ren came bursting through, completely drenched, and out of breath. He clutched at his sides from the stitch he'd received from running.
Kyo and Matake then slammed the door shut. Locking it behind them.

"She-She's gone," said Ren, walking up part of the staircase and sitting on one of the stairs, head in his arms "I couldn't find her anywhere."

Tohru sat next to him, putting her hand on his shoulders "It's okay," she said softly.

"It's not," said Ren "I told my parents I'd look after her. That was their dying wish – for me to look after her, and she's gone."

"Your parents have died on the ship as well?" asked Tohru.

"Yeah, we were in our room when the ship capsized," said Ren, looking at Tohru "Luckily we were on the lowest floor for cabins; I'm not sure of the Deck number, but ours was the first room on the left... When the ship capsized... my parents were thrown across the room... and over their bed, which then broke free from the wall... and crushed them both... I was in the corridor at the time. I jumped down into the room while the ship was on its side... And they told me 'Look after Tamaka.'... And I promised them I would, and now... She's gone..."

Silence awaited the end of his sentence, as Tohru's hand had moved to over his shoulder. She had tears in her eyes as she hugged Ren.

"It'll be okay," she said, letting him go.

They sat their in a moment's silence when it was suddenly broken by a scream. The faint words "Ren! Ren! Help me!" could be heard, as Ren shot up.

"She's alive!" he shouted, running back to the door "TAMAKA! I'M COMING!" he bellowed, grasping the handle.

Matake shoved Ren out of the way "Are you crazy?!" he shouted, standing in front of the door "That room is flooding at an alarming rate! If we opened this door now, it wouldn't close because of the force of the water."

"Move." said Ren, his voice almost poisonous "I need to get my sister."

"No." replied Matake, standing his ground, sweat falling down his forehead, and off the end of his nose.

"If you don't move, I'll make you move," said Ren, clenching his fists.

"I'm not letting you take our lives to save your sister." replied Matake, still standing his ground "It's practically a death sentence for us all to go back now."

Suddenly, a piercing scream shot through the room. Swiftly followed was the sound of snapping cloth, and shattering boxes. It fell silent and water still pounded the door. Ren looked stunned, and shoved Matake out of the way.

"TAMAKA!" he bellowed, pounding the door with his fists "DON'T WORRY TAMAKA! I'M COMIN' FOR YA!"

There was no reply, just as the water continued to pound the door. Ren slowed his tirade of punches at the door. Tears gliding off his cheeks and into the water below them at waist height. They all stood there for a moment or two. It was Matake who broke the silence, as the water on the other side of the door had stopped making such a noise (a sign it was completely full of water?)

"We should really keep going," he said softly.

Ren nodded, his eyes red and puffy, and he turned to walk up the stairs with the others, looking, for one final time at the door where his sister's body lay on the other side as they climbed up to Storage Deck Two.

(A/N: Okay, dramatic chapter, I know. I decided to give Ren a bit of a background here. I'm not sure if I've mentioned anything about his family before? If I have, then tell me and I'll alter it xD
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and expect the next one (hopefully) soon!)