Chapter Two.
The next few days flew past rather swiftly and my mind had once again become overloaded with questions of the future. What did Mark have planned for us when we arrived in America? And would we be seeing Dred and Chilli again?. I woke before the others on the fourth morning, as I had done on every other morning since, grabbed a leftover slice of bread and left the cabin. Outside, the sky was clear and bright, but still, the air was pretty chilly. I walked around the ship, curiously looking at the fascinating sights, I counted some twenty lifeboats as I went and chortled, thinking they only wasted precious deck space- how wrong I was.
I returned to the cabin that afternoon and was invited to join in a game of poker with Dred, Mark and Chilli. As time went past I realised how good at the game Mark was. Dred was a mean player who showed no mercy, even to Chilli but Mark still managed to win his money with ease and confidence. Chilli simply played around with his cards, performing card tricks and such whilst I attempted, to no avail, to match Mark and Dred's competitive play.
We took a short break at around nine o'clock and I seized my opportunity to pull Mark to the side and question him. "Did you win our tickets in a poker game Mark?" I asked whilst studying his face for a reaction.
"Yeah, I thought you'd figure it out mate, why, what's up?" he asked gleefully.
"Nothing's up, I'm just making sure you didn't have to do anything extreme to get hold of them". Mark seemed hurt by this remark but before he could reply Dred appeared at our heads and steered us back down to the cabin.
We played several more games of poker (Dred losing his ring in the process), then as we dealt out the cards for what was to be our last game of the night, a tall, balding man dressed in a black uniform burst into the room. "Put your lifejackets on!" he yelled in a gruff voice before knocking the jackets off a nearby shelf and onto the floor. Mark stared across at me and choked nervously, the fear evident in his eyes. "What the hell's this about? A safety drill perhaps?" I asked whilst glancing between Dred, Chilli and Mark. "Yeah, that's likely what it is, a drill to make sure people know what to do in case of an emergency" said Dred who pulled on his lifejacket nonetheless. I pulled my own lifejacket over my head and over my torso, feeling as though I'd gained extra weight in the process. I stood up and treaded towards the door without a backward glance at the others.
As I ascended the steps leading onto the top deck I was grabbed by Mark, who appeared frightened and worried. "What's wrong with you?" I asked as I continued up the stairs "you're not taking this drill seriously are you?". He remained strangely silent in response and continued to follow me up the steps. Upon reaching the deck, I realised how many passengers were onboard The Titanic, there were thousands!. They all stood huddled together, wrapped up in warm jackets and coats, it seemed I was correct, no-one was panicking and an orchestra could even be heard playing nearby.
Mark and I hung around on deck for a while until we felt certain that something was wrong. The crew members looked shaken, worried and whispered quietly to one another; even first class passengers were denied access to their rooms. We decided we'd go back down to the cabin to check why Dred and Chilli hadn't yet come up to investigate. As we approached the floor that we were staying on, we could hear men shouting angrily and I remember thinking that one of those voices sounded like Dred's. A large, metal gate was blocking entry in and out of the corridor, on the opposite side there stood a large group of passengers, among them was Dred and Chilli. Standing on our side was the balding crew member that'd ordered us to wear the lifejackets. "Stand away from the gate, you'll get off the ship soon, we just need to let the first class passengers off first!" he was shouting in a hurried voice.
'Let us out, there's some bloody water getting in, what the hell's the matter with you?" Dred was shouting in a furious tone.
I noticed that the man was holding a long, metal chain which was packed with an assortment of keys and I realised that I could help Dred and Chilli out of their predicament. I punched the man as hard as I possibly could and snatched the keys from his body which lay motionless on the floor. "Well done" shouted Chilli through the bars whilst Mark stared at me, shocked by what I'd just done. I made several attempts to open the gate before I stuck the correct bronze key into the lock which clicked as I turned it. Everyone burst through the barely opened gates, knocking Mark and myself to the side.
"What have we got to worry about anyway, this ship is U-N-S-I-N-K-A-B-L-E, it'll be a burst pipe or something" said Mark in pure denial as we hurried up towards deck. However, he realised he was highly incorrect when we reached the top deck, the first class passengers were being loaded onto the life boats and lowered into the dark, freezing water below. The ship seemed to be slanting at the front, engulfed by the seawater. "We've got to get off this ship" whispered Chilli fearfully and decisively.
R&R Please. If you have any comments or advice on how to improve my work, then please do not hesitate to tell me. Dazz Cambo.