(Chapter 3: Descent)
The O Pesadelo was a relatively modern boat, not overly impressive in it's capabilities as a boat and excellent in its scientific capabilities. It had modern sonar equipment and fish finding tools, and within an hour of leaving shore the sample nets they had dropped into the ocean had brought them some sizable crustaceans and two, count 'em, two guitar fish. The students, most of whom never gave a damn about what was going on in science class actually seemed to be interested in what they were doing, for once. Mr. Christy stood beaming as he surveyed his students, as they enjoyed the science.
"You did good Mr. Christy," Ms. Rhodes said to the older man.
"We'll thanks Ms. Rhodes," he said deadpan.
"We've worked together for years, how many times do I have to say, it's Aileen."
"Then you have to call me Val."
"Deal," she said with a wide smile, holding out her hand so the two could shake.
"So, Aileen," Mr. Christy said with some difficulty, "you having fun?"
"Yeah, this is something else, better than spending all day grading papers."
"You ain't seen nothing yet," Mr. Christy said, then raising his voice, "All right everyone, leave your packs topside and head downstairs, it's time for the wildlife identification part of the day, and this will count as part of your final!"
Hearing a wave of groans gave him the same amount of entertainment as watching a good game of football, and obediently they all filed down the flight of stairs that had previously been a mystery to the group.
Once underneath, the students were greeted with the sight of the open ocean off the coast of California, clear blue with five miles worth of visibility in every direction. The walls and center strip in the floor were made out of inch thick Plexiglas, allowing views of the ocean that weren't visible before, while there were rows of seats that would allow a perfect line of sight for anyone sitting anywhere. They could see small schools of fish and the occasional seal dart around in the ocean, while the floor teemed with random pieces of garbage, sand, rock and simple sea life. All the students gathered around their teacher as he descended the stairs and joined the group.
"All right, here's how this is going to work, you get in groups and identify as many animals as possible. We've got seven groups, five will have six people, and two will have four people each. Team captains have been chosen on mainland, based on who shelled up the cash to bring the disposable cameras. Each of you will go to a station once I read your name. Here goes, from front to back. Sarah, Nick, Clinton, Rudy, Natalie, Mike, Rhonda are the captains. Get to your seats! I'll send you your groups."
Mike couldn't have been happier, since his seat was no less than five feet from where he stood. Sure, it was the back of the boat and he'd have engine noise to contend with, but the windows were big and wide, and the floor section did offer a nice view. The boat rocked slightly, and Mike adjusted himself as best as possible so that he wouldn't be taken out of his seat. He looked around, marveling at the strength and sturdiness of the boat. Large pipes ran along the ceiling, their purposes unknown yet their hiss seemingly comforting. Behind the group and down a short hall was the engine room, separated by a thick metal door with huge metal bolts. As Mike kept watch out in the ocean for anything and looked along the glass for signs of cracking, a hand touched his shoulder, soft, female. For some odd reason, the world shifted slightly and a gray haze went before his eyes, though the recovery was quick. That was weird, he thought. He looked up to see Sarah, who had been using his shoulder to balance herself.
"Hey Mike, sorry about that," she said.
"It's no problem ma'am," Mike said in his usual manner, secretly smacking himself inside his head. You said ma'am? Jesus Christ, get a life!
"Hey Mike?" she said.
"Yes Sarah…" he responded.
"Say hi to your dad for me, it's been a while. How's he doing?"
"He's fine. I'll tell him you said hi."
She smiled her radiant smile, and Mike couldn't help but smile back. Shake it off Mikey, he thought, you're dreaming again. She got up and walked to the other end of the boat, sitting down in her empty seat. Mr. Christy walked the aisles, as the groups dispersed to their seats, looking out the windows with the students. Mike couldn't help but look over at Sarah, but she was working elsewhere.
"Hey class! Now remember everyone, by the end of the day I want you to all have identified at least ten types of fish, five crustaceans and ten different mollusks. Extra credit goes to those who can properly identify and take a picture of a reptile, a mammal and/or a bird. Now there's glass all around you, so if you don't find at least one of those things then I guarantee you will sit in the dungeon for the rest of the semester." He smiled proudly.
"Aww, come on Mr. Christy, how are we supposed to-" Nick started.
"Keep to the bald jokes Nick," Mr. Christy cut in, "it's what you're good at."
"I would," Nick stated with a grin, "but I'm kind of distracted, the glare off your head is a little bright."
Mr. Christy smiled back. "Back to work ya little bastard," he said.
He continued along his rounds checking out the groups.
Tyler approached Mike, and he felt an instant moment of dread followed by the answer he had half expected and half wanted to avoid.
"Hey Mike, I'm in your group man!" Tyler said proudly.
Mike looked to his group as it materialized a little distressed. Look's like you've got the brain group. There was Tyler, resident dumbass and redneck extraordinary, as well as your best friend Mikey. Then there was Jack, resident wiseass in the class, or at least the wannabe. The title truly went to Nick, but that was a silent understanding that everyone knew. Tina, ditzy cheerleader to the extreme, and rumored to be more things than even she probably knew about. That left Ana Maria and Aaron. They were nice and reasonably smart enough people, but they were self-appointed drama king and queen, making being in their presence more of a soap opera than anything else. Some people were lucky, he thought. Nick got Katie Underwood, one of the sweetest and cutest girls in school, even though she was asthmatic and a bit of a nerd. Nick was having a field day, between looking at the cute Katie and the admitted slut Tanesha Graves, as he got the perfect chance to take pictures looking down her shirt when she was turned the other way. Clinton got Lori, so they'd be making out while everyone else did the work. Rudy got Trisha, Jean and Linda, three of the prettiest girls in school, as well as Scott and Tim Voorhees (the twins) who were both certified geniuses. Then there were those who were having infinitely more fun. Darwin, hired as the chaperone for the day, sat between Mike and Rhonda's groups, playing a Gameboy.
"All right group," Mike said trying to sound as official as possible, "if you see anything shout it out and I'll take a picture of it."
"What about identifying it? That's part of the grade too!" Tyler said irritably.
"I got it all up here, entire manifest of all fishes and other fauna located in the Southern California waters," he took the break in his sentence to get a look over at Sarah. She was smiling, enjoying the project. She looked up, and their eyes met. She smiled back at Mike, whereupon he finished his sentence, "I guarantee you guys we're going to do just fi-"
His sentence was cut off by a large jolt, sending the whole boat rocking. Flames shot through the back and he could hear screams. What was that? The engines were stopped.
"Holy crap!" someone yelled, before another explosion ripped through the cabin. Flames shot through the back door, tearing it from its hinges and throwing it far, landing on top of Natalie, Richard, Malcolm and Jimmy, killing all four instantly. Flames engulfed Rhonda's group, Darwin and shot near Mike's seats. Aaron and Ana Maria were lit on fire, where they rolled on the ground screaming. Smoke filled the cabin. A pipe fell from the ceiling, one end cleaving open the head of Reese. Ms. Rhodes tried to tend to a downed student. Above her another pipe burst, this one sending out chunks of shrapnel every which way. A piece the size of a laptop flew with startling speed towards her leg, severing it at the knee. She lay down on the floor, screaming and writhing on the floor, holding her gushing stump of a leg. Mr. Christy ran over to the fire, ripping a fire extinguisher from the wall and spraying it on his students. Mike could feel fire burning his face, and he yelled out in pain.
"Holy Mary mother of gawd…" Mr. Christy managed to choke out, as he saw his students, his friend and the chaperone dead and dying. Memories of Vietnam flashed before his eyes as he saw the death around him, though they passed when the survival instinct kicked in. Several members of the boat's crew joined Mike, Mr. Christy, Tyler, Antonio and Phil in trying to fan out the flames. Once the fires abated slightly, a greater problem made itself clear. Water began to gush into the open door, enough to already tilt the cabin some. More girls screamed, the smoke, the flames, the water, it was all a blur.
The boat began to tilt slightly, but as the water began gushing in it filled more. Ms. Rhodes lay down on the floor in shock, not moving, suffering from massive blood loss. Her lost tissue mixed with the water, causing the water that filled the room to be tainted a light red. Students rushed for exits, only to be thrown to the side as the boat rotated on its y-axis. Within a minute, the boat was completely rolled over, it's bottom now the top. Water was waist high, and climbing fast.
"Jesus Christ, we're all going to drown!" someone yelled.
The water crept higher, now at everyone's chests. Mike looked around quickly, looking for anyone he knew. There were students everywhere. He could see some bodies floating, while others tried their best to avoid the corpses of their friends. The former glass bottom of the boat now acted like a skylight, letting them see the day and letting the day see them. With the water creeping higher, there was only a matter of a foot between them and the now glass ceiling. Mr. Christy began smashing the fire extinguisher he grabbed earlier into the glass, trying in vain to break it out. It wouldn't budge. The stuff was made to withstand bullet impacts, a fire extinguisher would do nothing.
"We have to get out of here!" someone yelled.
Rudy was determined to live. Gotta save the others, save yourself, he thought, this is your time to shine. The giant football player took a deep breath and swam for the bottom, or was it the top of the ship? He didn't know now. He swam along, and found a stairwell. Success! He swam to the bottom, his lungs beginning to burn, and found the door to the surface. Almost there! He pulled the handle. The door wouldn't budge! He tried again, harder and harder, forcing more and more air from his lungs. He put every muscle and every ounce of strength he had into the door, and it didn't budge. If he had seen the metal debris on the other side that was wedging the door shut, then he probably wouldn't have even bothered trying to open the door, but it seemed like better than nothing. Lungs exhausted, he pushed himself off of the bottom and towards the oxygen at the top. There truly was no escape. The air now was a bubble that afforded everyone enough room to keep their heads above water if they really tried at it. Some had given up already, long since drowned.
Sarah couldn't believe what was happening, just a moment ago she was looking at a nice guy she had known for most of her life and chatting with her friends, and then there was fire and pain. With her head above water, she looked desperately for her friends. She could see Tina.
"Tina!" she yelled, but Tina was too far away. The back half of the boat was already sloping down slightly, and those in that section were already out of air. She caught one last look at Mike. She could see that he was hurt and bleeding, but there was nothing she could do. Most of all she could see that he was afraid. Then the water went over her mouth, her nose, and then her eyes. All those who were still alive were thrashing about desperately under water, conserving what little oxygen they had left, trying to smash through the glass bottom of the boat which they now looked up at or in their death throes, thrashing around madly as water filled their lungs. Sarah accepted defeat. Nothing to do now. She looked up through the glass bottom. She could see the sky, the sun, the birds flying above. It was peaceful. Then a shadow passed over it all. Thoughts ran through her mind, of her mother, her father, her friends, Tina, Natalie, Rhonda, and then Mike. Memories went back to childhood, playing in the backyard with Mike and Lenore, carefree. Those were the good old days. A slight smile went across her face before she let out the last of her air and sucked in a lung full of salt water. Her body instinctively spasmed, thrashing, the legs kicking, the arms clawing at the throat. It was over quickly. She looked to the sky, soon overtaken by the water. She joined the other students who had already died, her corpse floating to the bottom of the boat moments before it too began to sink in a mere twenty feet of water.
Within five minutes, fifty-three people had died. Death would have been proud…
The O Pesadelo was a relatively modern boat, not overly impressive in it's capabilities as a boat and excellent in its scientific capabilities. It had modern sonar equipment and fish finding tools, and within an hour of leaving shore the sample nets they had dropped into the ocean had brought them some sizable crustaceans and two, count 'em, two guitar fish. The students, most of whom never gave a damn about what was going on in science class actually seemed to be interested in what they were doing, for once. Mr. Christy stood beaming as he surveyed his students, as they enjoyed the science.
"You did good Mr. Christy," Ms. Rhodes said to the older man.
"We'll thanks Ms. Rhodes," he said deadpan.
"We've worked together for years, how many times do I have to say, it's Aileen."
"Then you have to call me Val."
"Deal," she said with a wide smile, holding out her hand so the two could shake.
"So, Aileen," Mr. Christy said with some difficulty, "you having fun?"
"Yeah, this is something else, better than spending all day grading papers."
"You ain't seen nothing yet," Mr. Christy said, then raising his voice, "All right everyone, leave your packs topside and head downstairs, it's time for the wildlife identification part of the day, and this will count as part of your final!"
Hearing a wave of groans gave him the same amount of entertainment as watching a good game of football, and obediently they all filed down the flight of stairs that had previously been a mystery to the group.
Once underneath, the students were greeted with the sight of the open ocean off the coast of California, clear blue with five miles worth of visibility in every direction. The walls and center strip in the floor were made out of inch thick Plexiglas, allowing views of the ocean that weren't visible before, while there were rows of seats that would allow a perfect line of sight for anyone sitting anywhere. They could see small schools of fish and the occasional seal dart around in the ocean, while the floor teemed with random pieces of garbage, sand, rock and simple sea life. All the students gathered around their teacher as he descended the stairs and joined the group.
"All right, here's how this is going to work, you get in groups and identify as many animals as possible. We've got seven groups, five will have six people, and two will have four people each. Team captains have been chosen on mainland, based on who shelled up the cash to bring the disposable cameras. Each of you will go to a station once I read your name. Here goes, from front to back. Sarah, Nick, Clinton, Rudy, Natalie, Mike, Rhonda are the captains. Get to your seats! I'll send you your groups."
Mike couldn't have been happier, since his seat was no less than five feet from where he stood. Sure, it was the back of the boat and he'd have engine noise to contend with, but the windows were big and wide, and the floor section did offer a nice view. The boat rocked slightly, and Mike adjusted himself as best as possible so that he wouldn't be taken out of his seat. He looked around, marveling at the strength and sturdiness of the boat. Large pipes ran along the ceiling, their purposes unknown yet their hiss seemingly comforting. Behind the group and down a short hall was the engine room, separated by a thick metal door with huge metal bolts. As Mike kept watch out in the ocean for anything and looked along the glass for signs of cracking, a hand touched his shoulder, soft, female. For some odd reason, the world shifted slightly and a gray haze went before his eyes, though the recovery was quick. That was weird, he thought. He looked up to see Sarah, who had been using his shoulder to balance herself.
"Hey Mike, sorry about that," she said.
"It's no problem ma'am," Mike said in his usual manner, secretly smacking himself inside his head. You said ma'am? Jesus Christ, get a life!
"Hey Mike?" she said.
"Yes Sarah…" he responded.
"Say hi to your dad for me, it's been a while. How's he doing?"
"He's fine. I'll tell him you said hi."
She smiled her radiant smile, and Mike couldn't help but smile back. Shake it off Mikey, he thought, you're dreaming again. She got up and walked to the other end of the boat, sitting down in her empty seat. Mr. Christy walked the aisles, as the groups dispersed to their seats, looking out the windows with the students. Mike couldn't help but look over at Sarah, but she was working elsewhere.
"Hey class! Now remember everyone, by the end of the day I want you to all have identified at least ten types of fish, five crustaceans and ten different mollusks. Extra credit goes to those who can properly identify and take a picture of a reptile, a mammal and/or a bird. Now there's glass all around you, so if you don't find at least one of those things then I guarantee you will sit in the dungeon for the rest of the semester." He smiled proudly.
"Aww, come on Mr. Christy, how are we supposed to-" Nick started.
"Keep to the bald jokes Nick," Mr. Christy cut in, "it's what you're good at."
"I would," Nick stated with a grin, "but I'm kind of distracted, the glare off your head is a little bright."
Mr. Christy smiled back. "Back to work ya little bastard," he said.
He continued along his rounds checking out the groups.
Tyler approached Mike, and he felt an instant moment of dread followed by the answer he had half expected and half wanted to avoid.
"Hey Mike, I'm in your group man!" Tyler said proudly.
Mike looked to his group as it materialized a little distressed. Look's like you've got the brain group. There was Tyler, resident dumbass and redneck extraordinary, as well as your best friend Mikey. Then there was Jack, resident wiseass in the class, or at least the wannabe. The title truly went to Nick, but that was a silent understanding that everyone knew. Tina, ditzy cheerleader to the extreme, and rumored to be more things than even she probably knew about. That left Ana Maria and Aaron. They were nice and reasonably smart enough people, but they were self-appointed drama king and queen, making being in their presence more of a soap opera than anything else. Some people were lucky, he thought. Nick got Katie Underwood, one of the sweetest and cutest girls in school, even though she was asthmatic and a bit of a nerd. Nick was having a field day, between looking at the cute Katie and the admitted slut Tanesha Graves, as he got the perfect chance to take pictures looking down her shirt when she was turned the other way. Clinton got Lori, so they'd be making out while everyone else did the work. Rudy got Trisha, Jean and Linda, three of the prettiest girls in school, as well as Scott and Tim Voorhees (the twins) who were both certified geniuses. Then there were those who were having infinitely more fun. Darwin, hired as the chaperone for the day, sat between Mike and Rhonda's groups, playing a Gameboy.
"All right group," Mike said trying to sound as official as possible, "if you see anything shout it out and I'll take a picture of it."
"What about identifying it? That's part of the grade too!" Tyler said irritably.
"I got it all up here, entire manifest of all fishes and other fauna located in the Southern California waters," he took the break in his sentence to get a look over at Sarah. She was smiling, enjoying the project. She looked up, and their eyes met. She smiled back at Mike, whereupon he finished his sentence, "I guarantee you guys we're going to do just fi-"
His sentence was cut off by a large jolt, sending the whole boat rocking. Flames shot through the back and he could hear screams. What was that? The engines were stopped.
"Holy crap!" someone yelled, before another explosion ripped through the cabin. Flames shot through the back door, tearing it from its hinges and throwing it far, landing on top of Natalie, Richard, Malcolm and Jimmy, killing all four instantly. Flames engulfed Rhonda's group, Darwin and shot near Mike's seats. Aaron and Ana Maria were lit on fire, where they rolled on the ground screaming. Smoke filled the cabin. A pipe fell from the ceiling, one end cleaving open the head of Reese. Ms. Rhodes tried to tend to a downed student. Above her another pipe burst, this one sending out chunks of shrapnel every which way. A piece the size of a laptop flew with startling speed towards her leg, severing it at the knee. She lay down on the floor, screaming and writhing on the floor, holding her gushing stump of a leg. Mr. Christy ran over to the fire, ripping a fire extinguisher from the wall and spraying it on his students. Mike could feel fire burning his face, and he yelled out in pain.
"Holy Mary mother of gawd…" Mr. Christy managed to choke out, as he saw his students, his friend and the chaperone dead and dying. Memories of Vietnam flashed before his eyes as he saw the death around him, though they passed when the survival instinct kicked in. Several members of the boat's crew joined Mike, Mr. Christy, Tyler, Antonio and Phil in trying to fan out the flames. Once the fires abated slightly, a greater problem made itself clear. Water began to gush into the open door, enough to already tilt the cabin some. More girls screamed, the smoke, the flames, the water, it was all a blur.
The boat began to tilt slightly, but as the water began gushing in it filled more. Ms. Rhodes lay down on the floor in shock, not moving, suffering from massive blood loss. Her lost tissue mixed with the water, causing the water that filled the room to be tainted a light red. Students rushed for exits, only to be thrown to the side as the boat rotated on its y-axis. Within a minute, the boat was completely rolled over, it's bottom now the top. Water was waist high, and climbing fast.
"Jesus Christ, we're all going to drown!" someone yelled.
The water crept higher, now at everyone's chests. Mike looked around quickly, looking for anyone he knew. There were students everywhere. He could see some bodies floating, while others tried their best to avoid the corpses of their friends. The former glass bottom of the boat now acted like a skylight, letting them see the day and letting the day see them. With the water creeping higher, there was only a matter of a foot between them and the now glass ceiling. Mr. Christy began smashing the fire extinguisher he grabbed earlier into the glass, trying in vain to break it out. It wouldn't budge. The stuff was made to withstand bullet impacts, a fire extinguisher would do nothing.
"We have to get out of here!" someone yelled.
Rudy was determined to live. Gotta save the others, save yourself, he thought, this is your time to shine. The giant football player took a deep breath and swam for the bottom, or was it the top of the ship? He didn't know now. He swam along, and found a stairwell. Success! He swam to the bottom, his lungs beginning to burn, and found the door to the surface. Almost there! He pulled the handle. The door wouldn't budge! He tried again, harder and harder, forcing more and more air from his lungs. He put every muscle and every ounce of strength he had into the door, and it didn't budge. If he had seen the metal debris on the other side that was wedging the door shut, then he probably wouldn't have even bothered trying to open the door, but it seemed like better than nothing. Lungs exhausted, he pushed himself off of the bottom and towards the oxygen at the top. There truly was no escape. The air now was a bubble that afforded everyone enough room to keep their heads above water if they really tried at it. Some had given up already, long since drowned.
Sarah couldn't believe what was happening, just a moment ago she was looking at a nice guy she had known for most of her life and chatting with her friends, and then there was fire and pain. With her head above water, she looked desperately for her friends. She could see Tina.
"Tina!" she yelled, but Tina was too far away. The back half of the boat was already sloping down slightly, and those in that section were already out of air. She caught one last look at Mike. She could see that he was hurt and bleeding, but there was nothing she could do. Most of all she could see that he was afraid. Then the water went over her mouth, her nose, and then her eyes. All those who were still alive were thrashing about desperately under water, conserving what little oxygen they had left, trying to smash through the glass bottom of the boat which they now looked up at or in their death throes, thrashing around madly as water filled their lungs. Sarah accepted defeat. Nothing to do now. She looked up through the glass bottom. She could see the sky, the sun, the birds flying above. It was peaceful. Then a shadow passed over it all. Thoughts ran through her mind, of her mother, her father, her friends, Tina, Natalie, Rhonda, and then Mike. Memories went back to childhood, playing in the backyard with Mike and Lenore, carefree. Those were the good old days. A slight smile went across her face before she let out the last of her air and sucked in a lung full of salt water. Her body instinctively spasmed, thrashing, the legs kicking, the arms clawing at the throat. It was over quickly. She looked to the sky, soon overtaken by the water. She joined the other students who had already died, her corpse floating to the bottom of the boat moments before it too began to sink in a mere twenty feet of water.
Within five minutes, fifty-three people had died. Death would have been proud…