"Fire!" Sam screamed again, as she rounded the corner towards the deck.
Smoke billowed all around her, and Sam covered her nose with her sleeve, carefully making her way across the deck. Another wave of arrows flew onto the ship, engulfing most of the deck in flames. The fire danced all around her as she tried to find the rest of the guys. She could barely see a thing, and had to squint to see just in front of her. She finally made her way towards where the last raft was, knowing that they would likely be nearby. Up ahead, she could make out a few figures standing near the raft. As she got closer, she saw Nathan, Morgan, and Russell.
"Where's Eduardo?" She asked.
"Went to grab the last of the supplies I think." Nathan replied, trying to stomp out some of the flames coming towards the raft. The rest of the group fought to try to put the flames out. It proved to be a useless effort, as the fire was too far progressed for them to put it out.
Everything had happened so fast, that as she looked across the deck, a sudden, terrifying realization dawned on her. She realized that her baby was still downstairs fast asleep, unaware of what was going on, on the deck. That knowledge stopped her cold, and nothing else mattered to her at that point. She charged forward, towards the staircase leading downstairs. With her sleeve held up in front of her face, she made her way through the fire, dodging flames as she stepped across the deck.
Unable to see very far in front of her, she heard as Russell and Nathan called after her, trying to get her to come back. She wasn't leaving without Lily or Eduardo, and Lily was in trouble. She was probably still sleeping peacefully down below, and the fire would soon reach her. If Sam didn't get to her soon, it would likely be too late. She heard Russell behind her, coming after her, but she wasn't slowing down. But as soon as she stepped over another patch of flames, another round of arrows came flying onto the deck. Sam screamed in pain as one of the arrows came down, tearing right into the arm she held in front of her. The arrow had pierced her arm, just above her elbow. She quickly reached around with her other hand, and yanked the arrow out, shouting in pain as she did.
Russell caught up with her, and grabbed her arm. "Are you alright?"
Sam winced. "Yeah yeah I'm fine."
"Sam your arm is bleeding pretty badly." He said.
"Lily's still downstairs I have to get to her!" Sam exclaimed, fighting against Russell's grip.
Sam looked over some of the flames to see Eduardo's head appear across the deck, smoke billowing up in front of him. He appeared to be unharmed, and Sam sighed briefly in relief. As Sam looked at the fire, she realized that the fire had spread so far as to separate her and Russell from getting anywhere near the staircase. But Eduardo appeared to be close to the stairs.
"Eduardo! Lily's still downstairs!" She screamed over to him.
Eduardo's eyes widened and he dropped the supplies he'd had in his arms. "Get in the raft with the others, I'll get Lily and meet up with you."
"I'm not leaving without you two!" Sam hollered.
Eduardo smiled sadly at her. "Don't have a choice love. Get in the raft. Now." He winked at her before disappearing below deck. Sam lurched forward towards him, but Russell grabbed her and pulled her back. She fought against his grip as he pulled her into the raft. She held her injured arm, but continued to struggle against him.
"Let me go! My baby's still on board!" She screamed at him, fighting him as Nathan came over to help restrain her.
"Lower the raft!" Nathan shouted over to Morgan.
"No! What are you doing?!" Sam shouted.
"We can't stay near the ship or we'll all burn as well."
"But they're still on board!"
"Eduardo's a smart man, he'll know how to get the both of them down here on the raft. There's a rope ladder he can attach, if it hasn't burned yet, to the side of the ship. They can make their way down that way. We'll stay close by." Russell stated calmly, trying to soothe Sam. Morgan and Nathan slowly lowered the raft into the water, as Sam sat back watching the flames engulf the Sirius. Fear and dread surrounded her as she waited for her husband and daughter to emerge.
Once in the water, Nathan and Morgan rowed them towards the middle of the ship, close enough for them to touch it. The group looked up at the burning deck, watching in dismay as their ship burned to pieces right in front of them. Sam looked around, but wasn't able to see any other ships nearby. Where had the arrows come from if there wasn't a ship nearby? Sam held back a sob as she waited, biting her lip nervously as the raft bobbed up and down from the waves.
Suddenly, Sam could see Lily's head emerge from the flames, peering over the side of the ship down at them. "Mommy!"
"Lily!" Sam screamed up at her.
"Daddy told me to jump!" The little girl called down to them.
Morgan stood up, holding his arms out. "Alright sweetie, I'll catch you. Don't be afraid." Lily pulled herself up onto the side of the ship, holding her arms out to balance her as she looked down fearfully.
"Come on baby you can do it!" Sam called up to her, Russell continuing to hold her back.
Lily looked to take a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Sam held her breath as her daughter crouched down, getting ready to jump. She leapt out, pushing herself from the ship gracefully, as if she were merely diving into the ocean. She screamed all the way down, and fell right into Morgan's waiting arms. Russell released his hold on Sam, as she tore forward towards her daughter. Morgan gently handed Lily to her, and she cradled her daughter to her chest. She kissed her face all over in joy as she held her child to her.
"Mommy what happened to your arm?" Lily asked, gently touching Sam's injured arm.
Sam winced quietly and continued to hug her daughter to her. "Nothing sweetie, don't worry about it."
"Where's your daddy?" Nathan asked, still looking up towards the deck.
Tears flowed from Lily's eyes as she looked up from her mother's chest at him. "He came down to get me, and was carrying me across the deck. His foot got stuck in a hole made by the fire. He put me down and told me to jump down to the raft, he said that he'd come down after I did."
Sam's eyes widened as she looked up at the ship, the flames spilling out off the deck and onto the rest of the ship. "Eduardo…" She whispered as her daughter hugged her tightly. She cradled Lily to her, continuing to watch the deck for Eduardo.