Chapter 20

The landmass had come rather unexpectedly, and the effect caused Will, Elizabeth and Michael to go flying to the left and into the wall of the ship. Mere seconds after the jagged rock broke through the wooden barrier, it crashed through the upper part of the ship as well with an earsplitting crunch combined with a deafening roar. The ship shook violently under all this pressure, and all too soon, massive amounts of seawater flooded in through the holes in great torrents.

Will, Elizabeth and Michael immediately scrambled to escape the relentless onslaught as they defied the seawater and attempted to get back to the steps. However, the rushing water impeded their progress and they soon had to swim to their destination. Each person gulped in copious amounts of air before diving under the water.

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled; the lightning briefly illuminated the surroundings of the decimated ship that the Turner family was swimming past furiously. Will and Elizabeth were able to break the surface, both gulping in as much oxygen as possible. Choking back seawater, Elizabeth desperately glanced around.

She cried out, "Where's Michael?!"

Will looked beneath him, down into the depths below him. He scanned whatever bits of ocean he could until at last, he spotted his son.

Will breathed in deeply once more and dove back down. He moved his arms as fast as he could in order to reach Michael, who was trying really hard to swim back up. A quick flash of lightning briefly illuminated his horrified face, which prompted Will to work even harder. As Will came closer to Michael, he could sense his lungs gradually begin to run out of air. His throat began to feel as if it were on fire, but Will did not let that deter him from achieving his goal. He finally came within arms' reach of his son and he grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him onto his back. Will motioned to Michael to hold on tight, and Michael obliged. Will then swam as fast as he could toward the surface.

He broke it, and gasped for air, grateful when it came to him in long and satisfying surges.

"Michael!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Mum!"

Elizabeth tightly embraced her son, holding him close and kissing his forehead continuously. Around them, the water kept on bombarding them and rising up to the top of the ship, which was now the steps which led out of the brig. Will, Elizabeth, and Michael rose along with the water until they had reached the iron bars of the door, which blocked their path.

The three of them grabbed helplessly at the bars, their faces gazing desperately through the openings. The seawater was still overcoming them, and a sudden rumble of the ship rattled their senses. Over the extremely loud sound of gushing water came the distant noise of cracking wood.

Will looked in the direction of the sound and saw the wooden sides of the ship's interior begin to splinter in an out-of-control fashion. Instantly, Will realized what was happening: the ship was breaking in half. He turned back to the iron door and shook it violently in an attempt to find a way to force it open. But it did not budge. Will released it in exasperation while still managing to keep his head above sea level. However, his eyes soon came across the keyhole in the door and a lightbulb went on in his head. Will turned his head to address Elizabeth.

"Wait for me right here. Both of you," he shouted.

Before either Elizabeth or Michael could reply, Will sucked in large amounts of air yet again before diving back down into the water. Will pedaled furiously with his arms as his eyes searched for what he was after, air bubbles issuing from the sides of his mouth repeatedly. Shortly after, he had arrived at the bottom, where different objects of varying weight and mass lay strewn around in an untidy heap.

Will began to probe around for the keys they had discarded earlier, knowing full well that those were their only hope for survival. Will searched the open space of the floor within a matter of seconds, but was unsuccessful in coming across the small brass objects. Despite the feeling of air pouring from his lungs, Will was able to deduce that the keys were more likely buried under something. If that was the case, then Will needed to resurface for more oxygen. He beat his arms forcefully, gradually rising back to the surface.

Will came up in an explosion of water, hungrily gasping for air. Next, Will wiped away soaked stray hairs from his eyes.

"What were you doing?" Elizabeth questioned him.

"Looking for the key. We need to unlock the door."

"Did you find it?"

"No."

Without another word, Will went back to his task. This time, he was ready when he touched the bottom. Immediately, he busied himself with turning over everything he could in his search for the keys. When he saw no sign of them in any of the places he had uncovered, Will's eyes fell upon a heavy-looking table. Sensing his air supply shortening once more, he quickly resurfaced.

After informing Elizabeth of his progress and becoming aware of the imposing rush of ocean that was slowly starting to fill the entire space, Will dived back down for what he hoped was the last time. He was able to get to the bottom much quicker now, and without giving it a second thought, began to overturn the wooden obstacle that stood in his way. Incorporating all manner of physical strength into this task, Will managed to shift aside the table, which allowed him a clear view of the keys laying underneath it. Will snatched them up instantly and floated back up to the surface as quickly as his body would allow it.

Yet again, Will broke the water's surface and deeply inhaled all the air he could. He swam over a few inches to the iron door and looked around for the keyhole. When he finally found it, Will began to insert every key on the ring until finally, he found the one that fit. Hastening against the water which was now neck-level, Will turned the key until he hard a dull click. Will had to dodge the door the next moment, as it swung heavily toward him and splashed in the tide.

"Michael first!" he shouted to Elizabeth, who nodded and handed over their son. When Michael was right beside him, Will gave him orders. "When you get out, stay on the elevated half of the ship and wait for us!"

"We'll be right behind you, sweetheart," Elizabeth reassured Michael lovingly.

"I can't leave you!" he protested.

"You won't leave us! Once you're safe, we'll be able to get out. Go!"

Will pulled Michael forward by his arm and put him in a position which would allow Will to hoist his son upward to safety.

"Get ready! One...two...three!" As Will counted, groaning and splintering sounds became even more audible around them. The instant Will finished, though, he shoved Michael up to safety on the other half of the ship's deck, which was being supported by the corpulent column of rock that had torn the ship in two. Will saw Michael scramble up over the edge and lean back over to see how his parents were doing.

Will grabbed Elizabeth's hand just as the water devoured their heads. Before it did, though, both husband and wife had been able to gulp in huge amounts of air. Before Will and Elizabeth knew it, they were slowly sinking down into the depths, oblivious to Michael's cries of panic and privy to only the ominous sound of the ship's groaning structure. Blackness was washing over them as they tightly embraced each other...

Suddenly, a strong pair of hands had grabbed them and were pulling them upward toward the light. They were only a few inches away from the surface when Will felt Elizabeth's hand being jerked from his grasp. He desperately turned his head and saw his wife floating in midair, part of her pants leg hooked on a protruding piece of wood. Will struggled to go to her aid, but the pair of hands held him back. Will turned to see who the hands belonged to and saw Jack pulling him up toward salvation.

Within moments, Jack and Will had broken the surface and caught their breath on the other half of the ship. Te moment he had been fully re-energized, Will made to dive back down. Jack caught his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to save Elizabeth!"

"Are you mad? That half of the ship could fall at any moment; it's hanging on, but barely!"

"She's my wife, Jack! I have to rescue her!"

Before Jack could say anything else, Will jumped back into the water, swimming relentlessly toward Elizabeth. The moment he reached her, Will tugged the clothing free of the wood and flung Elizabeth over his shoulder as more lightning flashed and Will started to surface.

He did so faster than ever, and handed a seemingly lifeless Elizabeth over to Jack. Jack gently laid her down as Will struggled to climb back onto the half-deck. As Will started to swing his right foot over onto the edge, however, the flooded half of the ship below him finally gave way with a loud crack and fell away down into the depths of the violent ocean below with an even more violent splash of water.

Will took a moment to regain himself before trying once more to hoist himself to safety. The moment Will was safely on level ground, he rushed over to Jack, who was bending uncertainly over Elizabeth. Will bent down as well and shakily began to find a pulse.

After that, Will did the only thing that came to mind, which was to open Elizabeth's mouth and breathe into it. Next, he pushed down upon her chest, attempting to revive her as a lump became stuck in Will's throat while tears began to moisten his eyelids. He continued in this pattern for a minute or so until relief flooded back into his system at last.

Elizabeth sputtered and choked, coughing up varying amounts of seawater from inside her mouth. She weakly sat up and opened her eyes, to find Will staring at her with every bit of love he had for her shining in his eyes.

"Will...," she whispered softly.

Will did not say a word, just enveloped her in his arms as they lightly sobbed onto each other's shoulders.

"I thought I lost you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

An abrupt clearing of a throat made Will and Elizabeth let go of each other. Jack was standing over them, a somewhat exasperated expression on his face.

"If you two are quite finished, there's a more pressing matter." He indicated their hellish surroundings. "We have to stop our one-eyed friend before he decimates the entire Caribbean."

"Where is he?"

"On my ship, admiring his handiwork. Also, there's a blue shield protecting him."

"Then we need to find a way off this ship and get back to the Pearl before it's too late," Will intoned seriously.

"How?"

Will scanned the space around them until his eyes fell upon a longboat which was still intact. "That longboat," he said. "We can lower ourselves into the ocean and sail over to the Pearl."

"Good plan," Jack agreed, "but with one minor flaw." He walked over to the railing. "Do you notice how high up this rock column has taken us? A longboat can't possibly be lowered that far."

It was true. The rock column that had smashed through the ship had caused the still-intact half of Morgan's ship to rise high into the air.

Will simply waved this off. "We'll do the best we can. Come on."

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Minutes later, all of them had seated themselves within the sole longboat left on the side of the ship. Cautiously, Jack lowered them by pulling on the length of rope. They went as far as they could before the longboat gave a sudden lurch and halted in midair. Jack faced Will.

"Now what?"

"Cut the rope," Will answered tonelessly.

When Jack just stared back at him blankly, Will forced a knife into his hands.

"Do it."

Jack stared down blankly at the knife as Will protectively wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and Michael. Jack eyed them and blinked furiously, finally shrugging.

"Hold on to something."

As each Turner grabbed hold of the longboat, Jack began to use the knife to cut into the rope. It took a few moments before the deed was accomplished, but when it was, the longboat fell away from it's previous support sharply as it hurtled down into the sea.

The longboat hit the water hard, splashing miniature waves all around the sides. Once everything had settled, Will scooped up the paddles and handed them to Jack.

"Start rowing."