Chapter Twenty Five

Sachie

"Hurry up, will you?" I snapped, snatching up a piece of glass to help Ishizaki hack at the rope that bound his ankles.

"D—don't yell at me!" He stammered a retort. "We—we're l—lucky someone broke the b—bottle in here..." Boy, the guy was really scared.

"You're lucky, you mean," I said in retaliation. "If I'd found you still tied up from head to toe, I'd have taken Fuji and left you here."

A shaky laugh escaped his lips. "Like you're the kind of person who would leave her date to die."

I said nothing, severing the last threads of the thick rope. As much as I dislike you, I hate the idea of becoming a killer even more.
"Try to stand," Fuji urged Ishizaki, grabbing his arms. Together we heaved the trembling boy to his feet.

"Whoa!" His footing wavered. "Is it just me or is the ground tilted?"

"I just heard the boat's on fire. No one said anything about—"

A tinkling of glass sliding across the floor interrupted me. The three of us followed the progress of the pieces, eyes growing ever wider in terror. The intense heat all around us hit me with full force.

"We're sinking."

There was a loud cracking of splintering wood as we scrambled out the doorway, racing along the corridor I had come from. Only...

"Does anyone remember how we got down here?" Fuji panted when we hit a dead end. We looked at each other.

Just when you think things are going your way, another crisis comes to mess things up. "Keep going up. We have a chance if we can get above the deck," I barked before taking off again. Once more our pounding footsteps rang in the narrow hallways. A way up, a way up, we need to find a way up...

"There!" Fuji said tensely.

I squinted through the smoke that was now rapidly filling the ship. This thing must be really old.

Rushing forward, we inspected the rough wooden ladder leading to a platform way above our heads. Backed against the wall, I thought I could see pale sunlight glowing somewhere beyond the edge.

"Come on, let's go up this—"

Crash! Ishizaki leapt back with a yell. My horrified eyes alighted on the pile of wood which now lay cracked and useless at our feet, the remains of our escape route.

What century does this ship come from? Since when were the ladders so flimsy?

"Ok, um..." I tried to make my brain, sluggish from the heat, function. Surely there was another way out? But there was no time...the oxygen content in the air was insufficient for any more running, I was sure.

"Uh...Fuji," I started, kneeling at the base of the ruined ladder. "I'll give you a boost and you can swing yourself up. You're the strongest; you can help pull the rest of us..."

"No, come on, Tezumi, I'll give you a boost up--"

"Just do it!" I snarled. "You're wasting time!"

Luckily, Fuji had learned to follow instructions when I used that tone. Backing against the wall, he sprinted towards me and leapt into the air using my cupped hands as a trampoline. My worn muscles contracted, giving him a huge shove so that he was able to plan both hands onto the platform. His momentum carried him further, allowing him to swing one leg onto the concrete floor and roll out of sight.

"Fuji?" I called. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah." There was a pause. "I'm pretty sure it's a way out, Tezumi—whoa!"

Ishizaki and I were thrown backwards when the ship gave a sudden lurch, and the whole floor tilted all the more to one side.

Fuji poked his head out from the edge of the platform. "Hurry!"

"Ok. I'll help Ishizaki up. Grab his arms and help pull—"

"Tezumi—"

"Ishizaki? Come on, jump!"

The shaking boy repeated Fuji's leap, but only managed to hang on to the platform with his fingertips. I moved out of the way to prevent myself from being knocked out by his flailing legs. "Fuji! Pull him up!"

With our combined efforts, we heaved and tugged until Ishizaki too had tumbled to relative safety.

Once again Fuji peered down at me. "I'll come down and help you."

"No!" I snapped before he could jump. "There's another way out. I just noticed it. See that door over there?" I pointed to a place to my right. "There's a sign saying that it leads to a stairway. I'm sure I can get onto the deck that way."

"Then I'll come with you—"

"No!" I yelled in frustration. "Just go! This way is bound to take much longer. Can you see sunlight up there?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then you're above sea level and much safer. Take Ishizaki and find yourselves a lifeboat. Take care of him for me and I'll meet you two on the shore."

For a moment I was afraid he wouldn't give in. "All right," he said as the ship gave another violent jerk. "But you'd better be there."

"I will, now get out of here!"

He disappeared over the edge. I stood there in the dark, rooted to the spot as I listened to their receding footsteps.

I don't know why I did it. It was just that...at that time, it seemed like the right thing to do.

All was silent. A chill swept through me, sending a shiver down my spine. The freezing water that had just begun to swish around my ankles was only part of the reason.

I listened to the steady dripping of water entering into the ship, every drop bring me closer to my almost certain fate.

The darkness scared me, but I was thankful for it. If there had been just a little more light, Fuji might have been able to read the plaque on the door I had pointed out as an exit.

The plaque which I knew was engraved with the words "Broom Cupboard".