AN: This chapter depicts an underwater swimming scene. Both the original Poseidon Adventure and the remake have a scene like it. When I watch them I always find myself thinking, 'could I hold my breath long enough to swim that far?' Enjoy!
Chapter Fifteen: Dead Weight
"Did you hear that?" Max asked
They all stood still and listened. After a few moments the voice called out again.
"It sounds like its coming from the direction of our cabins!" Zack said.
They rushed through the broken glass of the double doors towards the guys cabins and the sound of the voice.
"We'd better make this quick, the ships seems like its settling in this direction which means we're more likely to encounter flooding sooner by going this way" Cody said pointing in the direction they were now heading.
The cry for help issued again, much louder now as they neared its source.
"That voice sounds familiar" Max said.
"Who would have been down here at midnight? Everyone was supposed to be at the teen dance" Zack said.
It dawned on all three of them at once as they turned the corner at a T junction and heard the cry yet again.
"Russell!" they said together.
Sure enough, as they entered the demolished rec room near Zack and Cody's cabin, they spotted Russell pushed up against a wall in the corner sandwiched inside a pile of debris. Nearby, the body of the SAS staff member assigned to watch Russell lay dead. Russell, from what little they could see of him, appeared injured. Blood seeped from a large laceration on his forehead.
"Aw man, two hours of calling for help it had to be you three" Russell said.
Zack turned to his brother and Max as they all stood in the doorway.
"Ok, you heard him, he doesn't want us to rescue him, let's go" he said.
Cody and Max seemed ready to agree and follow the departing Zack out of the room but then Cody put a hand out to stop him.
"No Zack, he may be the biggest jerk imaginable, but he's still a person and he needs our help" Cody said. Zack just looked at them and then at Russell in the background.
"I know, I just wanted to scare him a little" he said low enough so only they could hear.
"Hey, come on you guys hurry up and get me out of here!" Russell piped up from behind.
"You sure we can't just leave him here?" Zack asked.
Cody and Max just gave him a look that said 'we wish, but no'. Wordlessly they turned back around and all three of them began pulling things off the pile, Cody removing the lighter objects with his good arm while Max and Cody tackled the larger ones. Just then the lights slowly dimmed almost to nothing and the ship issued a long low groaning sound. They felt a rumble but it was much less intense than the explosions they had experienced before. Then the lights slowly came back to full strength.
"What was that all about?" Zack asked.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than every entranceway to the rec room became inundated with water blasting in from the corridor outside. It was as if someone had opened up the floodgates of a large dam.
"I had to ask!" Zack yelled over the rushing sound of the water.
They frantically began hauling the debris off Russell at a much faster rate but the water was rising very fast. It wouldn't be long before Russell, who's head was probably 4 feet off the ground, would drown within the pile. As they got closer to freeing Russell, they suddenly encountered an awkward and heavy object they couldn't budge.
"We need something to leverage this with!" Cody said.
Zack looked around and glimpsed a long piece of broken handrail outside in the corridor. Walking as hard as he could against the onrush of water, which was now up to his waist, he reached out into the corridor and managed to grasp the piece of railing with both hands. As he held tight to it, he let the force of the water try and push him back into the room. This was enough force to tear the piece of railing off the wall and both it and Zack tumbled back inside the rec room. As Zack stood and rushed back to the pile, he noticed Russell's head had gone under.
"Hurry!" Max cried out.
They jammed the piece of railing under the object and pushed down as hard as they could. It took several tries until it finally toppled off the pile and the water floated the rest of the debris away. Russell rose back above the surface…but he was unconscious.
"Grab him under his arms! We'll have to drag him out of here and try to revive him when we get to higher ground!" Zack said.
All three grabbed a different part of Russell and they began rushing for the nearest door. The water was rising even faster now and was nearing the top of the doorframe. They had to swim, trying to keep their heads and Russell's above water, against the oncoming torrent. Once outside the room they let the force of the water propel them down the corridor towards the stern. They picked up speed and the water whipped them around the turns at the T junction, slamming Russell first against Cody and then against Max and Zack. Once the water pushed them through the remains of the double doors it was shallow enough where they could once again move on their feet. This however meant that they now had to bear the full dead weight of Russell's body between them. It was slow going as they made their way up the slightly slanted deck towards the commons area and girls cabins. Once completely out of the water where they could finally lay Russell down on the ceiling of the deck Cody instantly bent down and began administering CPR to Russell. Because he had use of only one arm, he had Max conduct the compressions on Russell's chest while he supplied the air. They worked at it for two minutes straight which seemed to them like ten. All the while Zack eyed the waterline moving towards them from the bow as if it were the bubonic plague closing in.
"Not much time guys" Zack said.
"We're doing the best we can! Come on, breathe Russell!" Cody replied.
After a few more attempts Russell's mouth issued a small geyser of water and the boy began a fit of couching and gasping for breath.
"Thank God…good work" Zack said clapping Max and Cody on the back.
Russell rolled over on his hands and knees and finished coughing up the water.
"Can you walk?" Cody asked moving to help Russell stand.
"I think so" Russell replied shrugging off Cody's attempt to help him to his feet. The laceration on his forehead, the blood from which had been washed off quite nicely by the water, began to bleed again and Russell swayed a bit on his feet.
"We gotta stop that bleeding" Cody said.
Zack tore a piece of his shirt sleeve off and went to tie it around Russell's head. Russell moved away from him as if he didn't want the boy anywhere near him.
"I'm fine" Russell said.
"Hey! Do you want to keep bleeding out until you pass out and die from lack of blood in your body!" Cody said, annoyed at Russell's attitude towards them after they had just saved his life.
Russell said nothing but allowed Zack to move behind him and tie the piece of shirt around his head. The water reached their feet at that moment and they knew it was time to start moving again. They headed aft, Max and Zack supporting a still unsteady and somewhat uncooperative Russell, into the girls section of cabins.
"We have to find a way up" Zack said.
Cody spotted a vent near his feet as they passed.
"Hey Zack, check it out, an air vent" Cody said,
Catching on, Zack walked over to inspect the vent.
"It looks just like the ones we used to climb in back at the Tipton" Zack said.
"Where do you think it goes?" Zack asked.
"Up hopefully, to the lower decks" Cody replied.
"We're gonna need something to pry this grill off" Max said.
Russell made a noise like an exasperated snort.
"This might be great for you guys, but if you hadn't noticed, I'm a little bit bigger than all of you…there's no way I'm going to be able to fit in there" he said.
Tough luck you ungrateful jerk Zack thought and wanted to say but instead turned to face Cody to see what he would say.
"He's right, I doubt he'll fit. There is no sense in us going this way unless all of us can go...we'll find another way" Cody said.
Zack suddenly had an idea "I think we should try just one of us going…" he began and had to hold up his hand right away to quell his brother's instant protest "…so that person can go up and find a way for the others to come through…a way everyone can go" he finished.
"And by one of us you mean you right!" Cody said.
"Well yeah…" Zack replied. "I'm uninjured, I have the best chance of making it up and locating a path for the rest of you" he finished.
"But what about Max! She's not injured, why does it have to be you?" Cody said, ignoring any potential input on the matter from the girl standing right next to him.
"Cody, what's the matter with you? I'm not going to ask Max to go when I'm perfectly able to…" Zack began.
"What's the matter with me!" Cody exploded "Just a little while ago I watched an elevator fall and assumed that it killed you…mom and Barbara are dead and I just don't think you need to…" Cody replied. He was talking rapidly and his breathing was erratic. It was clear, even to Zack, that his twin was having a panic attack. Zack grabbed Cody by the good shoulder and gave him a gentle shake.
"Cody! Calm down! Look at me…look at me Cody!" Zack said getting Cody to look him in the eye.
"I have to go through there and find a way up for the rest of you. I'll be okay, if I don't find anything in 10 minutes I'll come back" Zack said in a calm but stern voice.
"Zack, I could go" Max piped in.
"Oh good grief, why!" Zack asked.
"Why not? Cody's right, I'm unhurt and just as able as you to crawl through there. You don't have to be the one that saves the day every time you know" Max replied.
"I just think it would be better if I went" Zack said.
"You just don't want me to go because I'm a girl right?" Max asked.
"Oh no, you're not going to go there are you?" Zack replied.
"Look, you've basically been dragging me along all this way. Let me do this for us" Max said.
"Would someone please go!" Russell stammered impatiently.
Zack and Max looked at Russell then at each other, exchanging a brief stare down before Zack motioned to the vent.
"Alright, but please be careful and come back in 10 minutes if you don't find anything" he said. Max nodded and Cody breathed a sigh of relief.
They pried off the vent cover with a shard of wood they found and max moved to climb in. Before she could go though, Zack stopped her and gave her a quick kiss.
"Good luck" he said with a small smile.
"Thanks" she said, giving her own brief smile before disappearing into the ductwork.
Cody knelt down next to Zack and watched her go.
"She'll be okay" Cody said trying to reassure Zack and suddenly feeling guilty for suggesting Max go instead of his brother. If anything happened to Max, Cody realized Zack would blame him, and that would put a rift between them that would be hard to bear. As if reading Cody's mind Zack seconded his twin's comment.
"Yeah, she will, we'll all be okay" he said.
... . . . ... ... . . . ... ... . . . ...
Bob, Mark, and London reached another dead end on deck 6, halfway between the very front of the ship and its center. They still hadn't found an access route back up to deck 7 and were becoming increasingly alarmed at their predicament.
"Now what?" London asked.
No one had an answer as they all leaned against the corridor walls to rest a bit. Bob had a look of deep concentrated as he desperately tried to think of what to do. Then he suddenly brightened up and snapped his fingers.
"That's it! A fire crew staircase!" he said.
"Huh?" London and Mark asked at the same time.
"Lots of builders of big ships and hotels install these special stairways that are only for fire response crews. They put them in so that the crews can get to any level of the ship or hotel as fast as possible. The doors to these stairways are almost always out of sight from public view, sometimes even concealed behind wall panels. It might be a long shot that we're in the same area as one, but maybe we'll get lucky" Bob said as he began searching for seams in the paneling along the corridor.
The others joined him and after about ten minutes of searching Mark spotted an odd looking section of paneling in a small alcove. It looked just like the the surrounding wall paneling except there were small seams around its perimeter and it had a tiny label next to it which read emergency crew access. They pried the panel off and discovered a steel door behind it. It was sealed shut with four handles, two at the top and two at the bottom. After turning each handle, Bob and London cautiously pushed at the door, prepared to slam it back shut if water started flooding in. When no water came blasting out at them Bob opened the door the rest of the way and and they stepped inside. The stairwell was dimly illuminated with red lights. They looked up only to find the stairwell blocked with debris. Looking down they noticed it was clear.
"We can't keep going down! The surface is that way!" Mark said pointing up.
"It seems we don't have a choice…who knows, maybe we'll find a hatch that leads outside the ship and we can swim out and then up" Bob said.
"Yeah, but the further down we go the longer it will take us to swim to the surface, we could run out of air before we make it" Mark replied.
Bob shook his head "I understand that, but at this point we are out of options. You saw that wall of debris back there where we jumped down, and now this debris blocking us from going up…going this way is our only chance" he said.
The others nodded, knowing he was right. They sealed the door behind them and started down the upturned spiral staircase. When they reached the level of deck 5 they noticed the doors on each side of the stairwell straining to hold back water. It sprayed into the stairwell from their edges.
"Deck 5 must be flooded forward and aft, so much for going to our cabins to get any of our stuff" Mark said.
"You actually would have wanted to?" Bob asked.
"Well, no…I guess our stuff really wouldn't have been worth the time" Mark replied.
Passing the door, Bob wondered what had become of all the other SAS students, including Zack, Cody, Barbara, and Max. Having the same thought Mark said "I wonder if they are still alive"
"I hope so" Bob said.
They descended further, past the doors to deck 4 which were also issuing a spray of water from their edges, indicated that deck was completely flooded as well.
"I guess we better be glad these doors are hanging in there, otherwise this stairwell would be flooded too" Bob said.
"Daddy's company builds good quality ships" London said, piping up for the first time in a while and sounding more like she was trying to reassure herself rather than state a fact.
"It'd have to be good quality for it to hold up as well as it is" Bob said.
As if to mock London and Bob's comments, just beyond the door to deck 4 they got to a section of the staircase where several of the stairs were missing. They had apparently separated from their fittings against the wall and now lay atop the remaining staircase further down below.
"We're gonna have to hold onto the sides of the shaft and step on those torn pieces of metal there where the stairs used to be. How's everyone's balance?" Bob said.
London commented that her frequent use of the gym gave her excellent balance. Mark, however, wasn't so sure of his ability to make the descent with only one good arm. Nevertheless, they all stepped out onto the pieces of torn stairs in turn and, clinging to the wall for support, slowly traversed the damaged section. It was slow going with Mark slipping a few times, but they made steady progress. Bob, who brought up the rear behind Mark, watched London jump down to the undamaged portion of the stairs when she had gotten close enough. She was safe, but Poseidon had other ideas for Mark and Bob and shuddered into another almost forgotten about series of explosions.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Mark slipped again and Bob had no choice but to grab him by his bad arm. Mark howled in pain as Bob fought to hang on to him and the wall. In the end Bob lost the battle and Mark slipped from his grasp. Mark fell 15 feet to where London lay sprawled out on the stairs. Having been knocked off her feet, she was in no position to even attempt to catch Mark. The boy landed with a small thud and when London got to her feet she shrieked in horror. A large jagged piece of collapsed stair had driven itself right through Mark just below his heart. Mark was still conscious but blood leaked from his mouth and his eyes were wide. Bob finished his descent quickly and rushed over to the scene.
"Oh man, you're gonna be alright Mark" Bob said, knowing instantly that he was wrong.
Bob looked around for a way to get Mark off the piece of jagged stair but he could already see that Mark was loosing strength. Bob looked down and knew the metal must have passed through a major artery by the amount of blood coming out of the wound. He looked up and met Mark's gaze with his own as London, tears falling freely, stroked Mark's hair.
"I'm sorry Mark…I'm so sorry, I couldn't hang on. I failed you. I…" Bob began, becoming too choked up to speak any longer.
"Ship failed me…you…gave me a chance…not your fault" Mark gasped out between breaths in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
Bob just shook his head as he tried to be strong and hold it together for his friend.
"Tell my mom…brave…tried to get out…love her" Mark said and then added "get London out"
Bob nodded a yes and squeezed Mark's hand "I will" he said.
London and Bob then watched as Mark's breathing slowed, his eyes closed, and he died.
Bob didn't hold back then. In tears he stood up, moved away from the body, stumbled back against the wall of the shaft, slid down, pulled his knees up to his chest, and put his head down. London, openly crying herself, came over and sat next to him. The heiress was so distraught she couldn't think of anything comforting to say or do. For both of them, it wasn't just the shock of suddenly loosing one of their close friends, but also the enormity of the entire situation they were in. They just sat there crying out their fear, pain, and grief together. It was only when a sudden shower of water hit them from above that they gathered their wits about themselves and realized it was once again time to move. The explosions had weakened the seal on one of the doors above them and it was now letting much more water through. London helped Bob to his feet and, still in a profound state of shock, the two of them started off down the stairs again.