By the time we've reached the deck, the entire lower half of the ship is gone, swallowed by the atlantic.
Britt grabs my arms and spins me around to face her.
"We have to stay on the ship as long as possible, okay?" She tells me, and I nod in reply, too shocked to say anything else. "Come on" She pulls me through the people that are gathering on the side of the boat.
So many people are left here, stranded. Children, babies, without a hope in the world. The ache in my chest intensifies.
"This way." She tells me once we hit a railing, climbing over it. "Hold on." I climb up after her, jumping down when she tells me to. I can see the windows breaking, sucking people back into the ship they're trying to escape. We carry on climbing along the ship, clambering up and down various parts. I fall from one part, tumbling to the ground, when the chef from the kitchen helps me up. "I've got you." He tells me, gripping my arm.
"Britt?" I turn around and she's right behind me again, still pushing me along the ship. The further up we get, the more people there are. It's harder to move together when people are pushing and pulling against you, but somehow we manage to stay connected. We reach another staircase, Britt pushing me through first, and we're stuck behind a slow moving man.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Britt reaches around me, shoving him in the shoulder.
"You wanna walk a little faster through that valley?" she asks him. She continues to push him until we're up the stairs, and we begin moving again.
We pull up at a railing, glancing over the side. There are already so many people in the water, and more people jumping over the side, as if jumping now will save them the fate of going down with the ship. We start moving again, passing the ships priest, who is praying along with some people, all kneeling.
With the waxed wood on deck, and the amount of people populating every surface, climbing up the ship is becoming nearly impossible. I saw for myself that the ship itself was now sticking out of the water, I watched the people slide down the deck, seeing how hard it is to keep holding on.
We've finally reached the back of the ship, and with one last pull, Britt grabs on to the railing there, pulling me close to her and holding onto me with her spare hand. I know she must be terrified, but she doesn't show it.
I look to my left and see a woman with her young son, soothing him, telling him that it would all be over soon. I turn my gaze away, unable to watch him, and look to my right, where I lock eyes with a young woman about my age, who's holding on and shivering as much as I am.
I look back up at Britt, who's wearing a very careful expression, although I can see the strain lying underneath it. I realise something, and smile.
"Britt?" She looks down at me, "this is where we first met."
Her face takes on a new fierceness, and she pulls me close to her, kissing my forehead and holding me tighter.
I can't imagine what the ship looks like to the people in the sea, but we've risen up so high that people are losing their grips, sliding down the ship.
"Quinn?" I hear Britt whisper, and look up at her. "Did Santana stay on the boat?"
"Yeah, Britt, she stayed on the boat." I tell her, cuddling into her.
"Good. That's good." Her voice sounds far away, like she's thinking about something.
The ship is towering out of the sea now, and Britt tightens her hold, moving behind me and wrapping her arms around the rails. "Hold on tight." She tells me, looking over her shoulder and down the ship. When the lights flicker out this time, they stay out, and my eyes have to adjust to the dark. It's so loud, with the screaming and the sounds coming from the boat, I have a headache.
I try to tune the noise out until I hear the sound of cracking wood. That can't be good. The boat starts moving back towards the water, slowly at first, then all at once, and I realise that the ship has split in half, levelling us out. The people that were hanging on to the opposite side of the rail lose their grip almost immediately, falling to the sea, where the people who were under the boat have surely been crushed.
I feel Britt slip for a second before she rights herself.
Before we've even had time to process what's happening, the boats tilting up again, faster than the first time.
"We have to move!" Britt tells me, climbing over the rails. "Give me your hand, I'll pull you over." She grabs me and lifts, and I can't help but feel a little nostalgic. Those were some of the first words I heard her say, and they might be some of the last. "I've got you, I won't let go." She manages to get me over, and then places herself behind me, holding me in place.
I get a look down the ship for the first time, and it terrifies me. "What's happening?" I ask Britt, trying to keep my voice calm, but there's a definite edge to it.
"I don't know." She tells me, looking around. "Hold on." She tells me, keeping her arms around me. She places a small kiss to my forehead, and I watch as countless bodies fall down the ship, hitting various objects before they fall into the sea. The woman and her child have long since fallen, but the girl next who was next to me is still in her place, holding on. We lock eyes for a second before her grip slips, and she falls down the boat as well. When I look up, I see the ships chef, still holding on. He's looking at me as well. I nod slightly before I look back down. The ship's moving again.
This time, it's sinking into the sea.