It's a miracle! I managed to find a tiny bit of time to write! You guys may not like me after this one…but please be don't be too mad! I'll update asap!
Chapter 14: Into the Storm
A few short moments after the Lucky Catch capsized, Sarah steered the Northwestern right into the storm.
They were moving in on the edge of the colossal storm front and the waves had reached over thirty feet in height. The rushing wind swept over the deck and forced massive rogue waves to wash over it. If the deckhands had been out on deck they would have been quickly and easily swept over the side.
Suddenly, one wave slammed into the side of the wheelhouse, startling Sarah. She leapt up slightly, eyes wide with fear. The realization that this was just the edge of the storm made her begin to question her decision to go ahead and fish up north. This could literally be a suicide mission if they were not careful.
Sarah let out a shaky breath, her hands gripping the controls until her knuckles turned white, she watched for the next rogue wave to sweep over the boat.
The Northwestern flew over the crest of a forty footer. It seemed to hover in mid-air for a brief moment in time before it began its rapid descent back to the Bering Sea.
Below deck the deckhands felt the boat plunge upwards suddenly and then felt their stomachs flip over as it began to fall back down.
Sarah held her breath and gritted her teeth as the boat made a horrible jarring sound as it landed heavily in the rough seas. She felt a sharp pang of dread as she saw another monstrous wave heading towards them. The Northwestern repeated the rapid climb and descent just as another wave from the starboard side swept across the deck.
Sarah's hands shook slightly as she throttled the boat over the massive waves. Just then the radio beeped and Sarah reached up to grab it, not taking her eyes off the water in front of her.
"Yeah? Who's this?" she asked shortly, not bothering to take the time to give the proper call out.
"Sarah? Hey it's Jake on the Cornelia Marie," said Jake Harris, sounding rather worried and frustrated, "We saw on the radar that you guys are almost in the middle of that storm system. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Sarah hesitated before she replied, her mind too occupied to come up with a decent response.
"I had a hunch that the crab is going to be up North. We thought we'd take our chances."
Jake sighed and shook his head back on the Cornelia Marie. They were further south east and were in perfectly clear skies and calm seas. Josh climbed up into the wheelhouse and gave his younger brother a questioning look.
Jake shook his head again and ran a hand through his messy brown hair.
"I'm talking to Sarah Hansen," he told Josh, "They're in the middle of that storm."
Josh's eyes grew wide with astonishment as Jake turned back to the radio.
"Taking your chances is right!" he exclaimed in exasperation, "You're going to get yourselves killed. Didn't you hear what happened to Lucky Catch?"
Sarah flinched as another wave smacked the side of the wheelhouse. The Northwestern groaned in complaint as it crested another forty foot wave.
"We were there," she retorted, "We tried helping the Coast Guard look for survivors…"
"And there were none!" interrupted Jake, angrily, "Wasn't that a clear enough sign for you? Get out of there before it's too late!"
"It already is Jake," replied Sarah tensely, "We're in the center of this and we're going to ride it out and then we're going to go fishing. I'll talk to you later."
"Be safe, Sarah…and come back home."
Right after Jake ended the transmission with the Northwestern, another call came through the Cornelia Marie radio.
"Hey, Jake? Josh? Anyone there?"
"This is Jake on the Cornelia Marie, who is this?" asked Jake tersely. He was really not in the mood to chitchat with anyone else at that moment.
"It's Rick on the Maverick," said Rick Painter, voice tense with fear, "Look, I can't get a hold on Sarah on the Northwestern and they're in the middle of some massive storm up north. Have you talked to her? I'm worried about them."
Jake and Josh exchanged knowing glances. Jake sighed and turned to talk into the radio. Josh shook his head in despair and folded his arms over his chest. He looked out onto the strangely calm section of the Bering Sea they were fishing on. He could only imagine the nightmare that the Northwestern was facing at that very moment many, many miles away from them.
"Yeah, Rick I just got off the radio with her," replied Jake, forcing his voice to remain calm, "Her signal was bad and I think it was starting to go out at the end of our conversation. She said that she had a hunch about crab being up north and that they were taking their chances and riding out the storm. She sounded nervous but they're okay right now."
Rick sighed in relief and ran a hand over his face. His blue eyes were clouded with worry as he gazed out onto the flat calm sea. He was a mere five miles away from the Cornelia Marie and was also experiencing mediocre fishing yet very good weather.
"Good...I'll call her when this thing's over and make sure they made it through. I'm going to call the Coast Guard to remind them that they're up there…just in case."
Jake shook his head in defeat and glanced briefly over at his brother standing by the far window of the wheelhouse.
"Rick I'm afraid it won't matter," he muttered darkly, "They're too far away for the Coast Guard to ever reach them in time. They're on their own…"
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Sarah's eyes grew wide with horror as she saw the fifty foot wave that was barreling right towards them.
For a brief second she wondered if she could turn the boat away from it, but when she looked up again at the wave she realized that they had no time to do anything.
"Guys!" she shouted desperately on the intercom, "Brace yourselves, there's a big one coming and its coming fast!"
Below deck the deckhands were sitting at the galley table waiting out the storm. When they heard Sarah's warning, they shared panicked and terrified looks.
"Get down! Everyone find something to hang on to and hang on tight!" shouted Jake over the cries of panic and fear.
Sarah stopped breathing altogether as she glanced up from her captain's chair. The rogue wave stretched out in front of the Northwestern, towering over it by several boat heights. The air suddenly grew ominously still as the wave reared up and began to crash down on top of the boat.
The boat creaked and groaned heavily under the weight of the water. Sarah had dove for cover under the control table, but she decided against it. If this wave was going to take them out, she wanted to do what she could to save the crew. She crawled back out and peeked over the controls to look out the front of the wheelhouse.
The Northwestern was completely surrounded by water…and it was not receding.
With a pang of dismay Sarah realized that they must be under water. She scrambled to her feat and ran to grab the radio. Below her she could hear the shouts and cries of her deckhands as panic began to quickly set in. Water was pouring into the wheelhouse through the cracks in the windows and was slowly filling up the room.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Northwestern! Mayday! We're going down! Coast Guard…mayday!"
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