AN: I have thrown in a little bit of a spiritual angle in this chapter. Another AN will follow at the end of the chapter talking more about why I included it but for now, enjoy!
Chapter Nineteen: Faith
As the group moved through the room Zack and Cody began to feel uneasy. There was something familiar to them about the room but neither could quite put their finger on it. Then Max put out her arm to stop them.
"You guys smell that?" she asked.
"Yeah, what is that?" Zack replied.
Max and Russell moved in a different direction from Zack and Cody as they fanned out, trying to identify the smell and it's source. As they looked around and the twins took in more of the crew commons, their unease grew more prominent by the second.
"I've seen this room before" Cody said.
"With your engineer friend?" Zack asked.
"No, that's the thing, it seems familiar, but I know we never went through here" Cody replied.
"I know, I feel that way too, but with the exception of going to the transfer room with everyone else when we needed to use the ferries to get to shore, I know I've never been below deck 10" Zack said.
"It's like something..." Cody began.
"...from a dream" Zack said, turning slowly towards a hissing sound near where the crew would pick up their trays.
The twins saw it at the same time, a broken gas pipe and a severed electrical wire right above it. Then it sparked.
"GET DOWN!" Zack screamed as an enormous explosion erupted behind them.
The blast picked up a table and slammed it into Zack who was thrown into Cody. Together with the table they were flattened to the deck. Above them, the blast wave expanded outward in all directions. Max and Russell were picked up off their feet and thrown through the air. The blast caused the deck floor above them to collapse and a deluge of debris laden water began pouring like a waterfall from the breach. The weight of the water and falling debris caused a small section in the center of the room where Zack and Cody lay to cave in and fall 15 feet into deck 10. There was a second smaller explosion and the remaining emergency lights went out.
When it was over, the only thing Zack could hear was a distinct buzzing sound in his ears. The only light came from patches of fire that dotted the room away from where the water was falling. The tiny collapsed portion of deck 11 they had fallen down with lay in a bowl shape within deck 10, still attached to the deck above at each end. Fortunately, large cracks in the collapsed section of deck allowed the water to drain away into deck 10 beyond and not pool up around them.
Okay, so we're not going to drown right now... Zack thought.
As if hearing his thoughts and scheming to mock him, the water that had been chasing them all along from below chose that moment to blast its way into deck 10. The timing couldn't have been worse. Now their bowl began flooding in earnest.
Zack immediately stood up and moved over to Cody. He saw his brother trapped by the leg by what appeared to be two large beams. He knew if he didn't free him that he would loose his twin there. That was unacceptable. He set to work trying to remove one of the beams that bound his brother's leg. Suddenly realizing he couldn't move the object, Zack began to feel panic set in. The water was getting higher.
"Zack, go! Get out of here while you still can!" Cody shouted to him.
"I'm not leaving you here!" Zack replied.
In blind desperation he dove down to the now submerged beams, straining with all his might to move one of them. He surfaced, frustrated and scared. He looked around the room for anything or anyone that could help him.
"Zack...the water will get you too...GO NOW!" Cody said.
Oh Lord...I'm going to lose Cody...right here...right now Zack thought.
"NO! I'm getting you out of here!" Zack screamed as he felt tears coming to his eyes. He had never felt more desperate and powerless in his entire life.
Cody looked down and saw the water inching towards his neck and felt fairly certain he was about to die. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. It was a distant memory, something he had heard his Grandmother teach him a long time ago.
"Zack, do you remember what Grandma taught us back when we lived with her and she used to take us to church with her? She said if we ever found ourselves in serious trouble to call on Jesus" Cody said.
Zack remembered, but he was unsure if that could really help them now. While he had enjoyed going with their Grandmother to her church as a kid and had learned a lot about God back then, after they had moved away from her and into the Tipton most of what they had learned had been forgotten. But Zack trusted his Grandmother's words and if ever there was a need for divine intervention, it was now.
"Let's try it Zack, I think God may be the only one that can save me now" Cody said.
Zack nodded and then looked up.
"Jesus, I know Cody and I haven't been to church in a long time, but if you can hear me I really need your help now. Please, help me lift this beam off Cody" he said. At the same time Cody said a similar prayer.
Then, once Zack dove back down and grabbed the beam, something amazing happened. A figure appeared in the water next to Zack. He couldn't make out the face but whoever it was radiated a sense of peace and serenity. It also gave off a feeling of intense power. Cody, who had taken a deep breath and was now completely underwater himself, also saw the figure and felt the same feelings. The figure grabbed onto the beam and together with Zack moved the beam off Cody's leg. Cody, now free, stayed under the water, staring at the figure along with Zack. Then, the figure vanished before their eyes and both twins surfaced.
"Did you see that!" Cody said, asking the obvious when they could finally speak.
"Sure did! That was incredible!" Zack replied.
"I'd say we should definitely rethink the whole going to church thing" Cody said.
"You can say that again, thank you Jesus!" replied Zack. Cody seconded this sentiment.
The water that had been steadily roaring in on top of them from above lessened considerably as the flooded section of deck 12 finally emptied itself out.
They began to climb the short distance back up into the remains of the crew commons. To Cody's astonishment his leg where the beam had pinned it was totally fine.
"Thank you again" Cody said looking up.
As they moved up the slanted deck, Zack suddenly gasped.
"Oh no, Max and Russell!" he said.
Fearing the worst, the twins used their new found faith to say a prayer for the well being of their friends. At that point they didn't know if they were alive or if the blast had killed them.
Just then Max and Russell appeared above them, their blackened faces breaking into big smiles.
"Oh thank God" Max said.
They helped the twins back into the room. Max and Zack embraced and Cody and Russell slapped each other on the back. The twins then looked Max and Russell over. Aside from their singed hair and soot covered skin and clothing, they appeared to have survived the blast unharmed.
"It knocked us back into those booths!..." Max began, pointing "...When I heard the blast I thought it was over"
"We were both knocked out by the impact, but when we came to we figured out we were okay" Russell added, sounding astonished.
As they made their way out of the commons and towards the bow, Zack and Cody told them about how Cody had gotten trapped, the prayers, and the figure appearing in the water. They listened with wide eyes.
"I have Grandparents that used to talk about God and stuff too. I never believed them...maybe I should have" Russell said.
"Well when we get out of here we will have all the time we want to learn more about it. I definitely think we were all given a second chance back there and I for one don't intend to waste it" Zack said. The others agreed.
They headed off down the corridor in search of the hidden door that would take them to the dry section of deck 12 in the transfer room. All hoped that soon their nightmare would finally be over.
After leaving Mark's body behind, London and Bob had only managed to descend one more flight of stairs before they could go no further. The stairwell ended at the sealed doors to deck 2. As Bob examined the doors he noticed they did not appear to be straining to hold back water as the ones above them had been. This led Bob to think that maybe the room beyond them had not yet flooded. He relayed this to London and then stood for a moment contemplating their next move. After a while he looked at London again.
"I guess there is only one way to find out for sure" he said.
London nodded and each of them began to loosen the clamps that held the doors shut. When the final one was loose they braced themselves for a torrent of water to come crashing in at them and pushed at the doors. To their surprise and relief, no water came in. They opened the doors fully. They had to push another wall panel out of their way to enter the room beyond but once they did they were astonished by what they saw. It was the enormous Star Tropics lounge restaurant. The dimly lit room contained the bodies of dead crew members and a few passengers as well as the restaurant's tables and chairs that had been scattered about when the ship turned over. Bob and London walked to the center of the room doing their best not to step on any of the bodies and covering up those they could with whatever they could find. Bob looked around for another way they could go but quickly realized they were at yet another dead end. The room was sealed off from the rest of deck 2 by two bulkhead doors on opposite sides of the ship, both of which issued the telltale trickle of water seeping through under intense pressure. He looked at the giant slanted glass windows that arced from one side of the ship to the other across the front of the restaurant. They seemed to be holding up okay against the intense pressure of the black ocean beyond. Occasionally they would make tiny creaking noises as the ship shifted and slowly slanted down more and more towards the bow. The air in the room was hot and stale and had begun to stink of dead bodies.
"So now what?" London asked in a small voice as she took this all in as well.
"I don't know London...I'm out of ideas...I guess we could try to break one of these windows and try to swim to the surface" Bob replied.
"Do you think we could make it?" London asked.
"At this depth, probably not, but it's the only option we have" Bob said.
London began to cry softly, realizing that they were most likely going to die after all.
Bob moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look London, we'll keep that plan as a last resort, in case the ship takes a dive or those doors bust and we have no other choice but to try for it. In the meantime we can stay here and wait. For now we're in a room that should stay relatively dry for a while yet. Plus, there is air to breathe...such as it is. So at least for now we have time...time for a solution to present itself...we just have to be optimistic...maybe a rescue team will find us" Bob said.
He knew the chances of a rescue team finding them way down in this room were next to zero but he had to give London something to grasp onto. To his relief she did seem to calm down a bit with his words. Bob felt profoundly guilty though, guilty that he had not found a better way for them to go, that the choices he made had led to the loss of Mark and landed himself and London in this room, far from where they needed to be which was close to the surface. Feeling defeated, he let out a large sigh and lowered himself into a chair he had turned over to sit in.
London turned a chair over for herself and sat opposite of Bob and looked into his face. The normally not so sharp heiress could tell that Bob was feeling bad despite what he just said about being optimistic. She knew he must be feeling like he let them all down. If they were to die down here in this room together, London wanted Bob to know that she was grateful to him for even trying to get them out. She reached out in a friendly gesture and touched his arm.
"Bob, thank you for trying to get us out. I know you didn't plan for us to wind up here...and Mark's death was not you fault. I know you are blaming yourself, but you couldn't have known what was going to happen back there" she said to him.
Bob looked up into her eyes, wanting to believe her, trying to believe her, but failing miserably. Eventually he did manage a weak smile and a whispered "thank you"
The two eventually decided to start looking around the room for anything that might be of use to them in case they suddenly had to evacuate the room and try for the surface. Bob got some heavy items placed near the windows and London looked for something for them to eat and drink. After a while they returned to their chairs and snacked on what she had been able to find. As they ate some fruit and drank bottled water Bob asked London if she had any kind of faith.
"Daddy was never really big on religion, the only thing he really believes in is money. And that's what he taught me. One of Daddy's wives he had did tell me some things about God. I guess I never really thought much about it. What about you?" London asked.
"My family and I used to go to church every Sunday until I was about 12. Then our parents just dropped it like it didn't matter anymore and we stopped going. I still believe in God though, even if I have been out of touch for a while. If we get out of here I intend to start going again..." Bob began before he paused briefly, deep in thought. "...you know London, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for us to say a prayer right about now. From what I remember from Sunday school, God can hear us anywhere, even way down in the depths of this ship. It may be the only hope we have now" he finished.
"That sounds like a good idea to me" London replied.
So, in the near darkness of the inverted restaurant, the young man and the heiress prayed, knowing that it would take nothing short of a miracle to save them now. As they did, briefly behind them appeared a figure which filled the room with a comforting sensation both Bob and London felt, before vanishing again.
AN: Although this website is called Fan Fiction, I wanted to add this bit of truth to this chapter as it is something that I very much believe in. Due to a firsthand encounter I had with God I can say without shadow of a doubt that He does exist and He does hear our prayers. His name is Jesus and, like in the story, if any of you ever find yourself in a desperate situation and can't see any way out of it, call on Jesus' Name and He will bring you through it every time.
If Fan Fiction allowed me to select three categories for this story I would have also selected spiritual on account of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
I attend an Apostolic church where we believe the Bible as fact and are taught salvation according to what was preached 2,000 years ago in Acts chapter 2. If anyone would like more information I would be more than willing to send any who ask a document that outlines what I believe which is the Apostle's doctrine as they received it from Jesus himself. Just let me know!