Chapter 16: Water Levels Rising
Emma follows behind Rose as they shove their way through the crowds, going towards the Grand Staircase.
"What's the plan?" Emma asks, nearly out of breath.
"Find Jack before the ship sinks," Rose answers.
"Brilliant." Emma mutters sarcastically.
Rose ignores the comment when she spots a familiar face that can help them. The designer of the ship is checking staterooms to ensure that everyone has evacuated.
"Mr. Andrews! Mr. Andrews! Thank God!" Rose yells, catching the man's shoulder.
"Miss Rose what are you doing?" he asks, utterly stunned by the young girl's reappearance. "Get to a lifeboat."
"Mr. Andrews where would the Master at Arms take someone who was under arrest?"
"Rose," the designer warns.
"Please, Mr. Andrews, someone I love very much is in terrible danger. We need to get him. We will do this with or without your help. It's just without will take longer."
The tired man sighs, seeing the determination in this young girl's eyes. Her brunette assistant is slightly more reluctant, but nonetheless won't let Rose go alone.
"Very well, Take the elevator to the very bottom. E deck. Go left, down the crewman's corridor and make a right."
"Left, down and right, I have it!"
"Hurry my children," he says quietly.
"Yes, sir." Rose nods.
The two girls run towards the elevator. The attendant attempts to stop them.
"Sorry miss, but the lifts are closed…"
Rose so flustered and stressed, pushes the attendant into the elevator.
"TAKE US DOWN!" Rose barks. "I'm through with being polite dammit. I may never be polite the rest of my life! Now, take us down!"
Reluctantly, the attendant does what the redhead wants. Emma closes the doors of the elevator having only just been here a few moments earlier.
"E deck," Emma says in a much politer tone that her counterpart.
The attendant running the lift recognizes Emma and the two give a slight nod of recognition since he'd helped get Peter into the elevator and them to safety. He cranks the handle down and turns to the second passenger.
"You've gotta be some kind of crazy to back down again," he comments.
"Gotta be the hero," Emma smirks.
As they descend, all aboard can hear the tricking of water until the elevator drops right into a lake of cold water, spraying everyone and soaking them to the bone. All three of them shriek at the coldness hitting their bodies. Rose claws to open the gold bars to allow both of them through. Emma takes a few deep breaths in order to allow her body to adjust to the shocking cold. The attendant tries to reverse the lever to go back up, but Rose shoves him out of the way. She manages to open the gate for the two girls to squeeze through.
"I'm going back up! I'm going back up!" the attendant hollers.
Emma manages to lock eyes with the attendant. "Thank you," she says as the attendant disappears upwards.
Rose looks around them, taking in the flooding hallways. The frigid waters of the Atlantic are trickling in at a rapid pace, filling up and reaching the girls' waists.
Emma suddenly goes underwater.
Rose lets out a screech, but then Emma reappears, soaking wet and panting.
"What the hell was that?!" Rose screeches scared that Emma had been dragged under.
"I work better when I'm used to the temperature," Emma explains. Her body is now numb, but she could do it, she had been in cold waters before.
"We need to find Jack!" Rose yells.
"And find another way out," Emma adds. "You find Jack and I'll find us another way out."
"Fine," Rose agrees.
The two begin sloshing through the water, down the hall among the lights that were now flickering to stay lit. The water level gradually got lower as they worked their way along, feeling some relief from the cold.
"Left, crew passage," Rose mutters to herself as they go. Once they find it, she begins saying "Right, right… right."
The two turn into a cross corridor with rows of doors on each side.
"Jack!" Rose calls out. "Jack!"
Meanwhile, inside Jack's been hopelessly pulling on the pipe again, straining himself until he turns red. He collapses back on the bench, realizing that he's screwed and has no chance of rescuing himself. Then he swears that he is hearing things until the voice comes to him again. He hears it through the door.
"JACK!"
"Rose!" Jack hollers in joy, hardly believing that she came to save him. "Rose, I'm in here! ROSE!" Jack bangs his handcuffs against the pipe to attract her attention
Rose begins to slosh forward towards his voice, but Emma hesitates.
"I'll go this way and see if I can find a way out," Emma says. She leans forward and hugs Rose tightly. "See you soon," she adds. Both women know full well that this may or may not be true, but it gave them some hope.
Rose nods and heads towards Jack's voice.
"Jack!" Rose says, entering the room.
"Oh, Rose!" Jack breaths. So overjoyed, Rose throws her arms around Jack.
"Jack, Jack, Jack, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she says, her tears pouring down her face.
"Cal had his butler put it in my pocket."
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry Cal had a knife on me I swear! I couldn't do anything" she gives into her passions and kisses him hard.
When they break apart Jack speaks up.
"Listen, Rose, you're going to have to find a spare key." he tries to nod towards the cabinet across the room. "It's a little silver one Rose."
Soaking wet and cold, Rose rushes over and wrenches the cabinet open. Many of the keys spill out and she begins searching through them frantically.
"These are all brass ones" she cries.
"The desk, Rose, try the desk."
Rose wrenches open the drawers and searches.
"Rose?" Jack asks.
Rose looks up.
"How did you find out that I didn't do the robbery?"
"I didn't," she says. "Sybil helped me realize what I had done and that I already knew the truth."
Jack gives her small smile and they pause for a moment.
Jack snaps out of it first. "Keep looking," he pants.
Rose does so. "No key, there's no key!" she screeches, her heart beginning to sink, losing hope fast.
Jack takes another deep breath and tries to stay calm. "Then you're going to have to find help, Rose. Hurry!" Rose gives him a hopeless look, wondering if she'll make it back in time. "Don't worry it will be all right."
Rose nods, realizing that sulking will not solve anything. "I'll be right back!" she says, disappearing into the hall.
"I'll just wait here," Jack mumbles awkwardly.
He eventually pulls himself up onto the bench to avoid the swirling water.
Rose begins racing through the water again and down the hall.
She hopes of catching a glimpse of Emma and maybe she has a way for both of them to get help.
She begins calling for her.
"Emma! Hello! Anyone, please I need help!" Rose looks down the hallway where Emma had vanished and there's water filling rapidly. Rose's heart begins to sink. She calls out for her friend again, but there is nothing, but the sound of the ship creaking and water flowing.
She's okay! Rose tells herself. She just can't hear you.
Rose finds a staircase leading to the next deck and races up, slipping a few times from the water. She finds another empty hallway in the steerage passageways.
"Hello! Somebody! Is there anyone here! I need help."
Suddenly a hysterical man rushes past her, bumping her against the wall.
"Help me! We need help!" Rose tries to grab the man, but he pulls away too quickly, in a state of utter hysterics. Rose leans against the wall. Jack is trapped, Emma is missing, and she is without help. The lights flicker for a moment and then go out, leaving her in the dark. A few seconds later, they come back on, leaving Rose in a terrified state. Tears fill her eyes and she feels herself hyperventilating until a steward rounds the corner with his arms filled with lifebelts and he spots her. Her eyes light up and Rose is filled with a rush of hope again.
The steward himself looks pale and terrified. He is also extremely confused as to why Rose would be down here. Rose rushes to him and grabs him.
"Please help me!" Rose says breathlessly. "Please, there's a man trapped below and..."
The steward doesn't seem to be listening. He grabs her arm and begins dragging her along with him.
"Are you crazy lady?!" he says exasperatedly. "You need to go up towards the lifeboats." He grabs her with a strong hand, but Rose resists. "There's no need for panic, miss. Come along,"
"No, please. You're going the wrong way, someone needs help!" Rose shouts.
The steward still doesn't listen, and he overpowers her with his strength, dragging Rose towards the stairs for the upper decks. Helpless Rose impulsively punches the man in the face.
The man stumbles backward in shock and releases her. Rose looks on in horror as the man's nose begins to bleed.
"To hell with you" he barks and runs away. He is gone in an instant.
Tears come flowing back up onto her face. She is alone again.
Rose's eye catches a large red box on the wall. The fire hose and axe. Thinking quickly, Rose uses the nozzle to smash the glass to free the fire axe. She grabs it and heads back down.
To her own horror, the water level has risen significantly higher, reaching several of the steps. Still determined to rescue Jack she plunges down into the cold water, crouching down, and then uses the ceiling to move along since the water was now too deep for her to walk through. She clings to the fire axe that drags her down slightly but uses all her strength to fight the current and the cold in her body.
Weaving through the corridors that were darkening from the water shorting out the electricity, Rose's mind goes back to Emma. Where could she be? Was she safe?
She reaches the room and Jack's face lights up with relief. He is standing on the bench, trying to avoid the rising water level.
"Jack! Will this work?" Rose asks.
"I guess we'll find out, come one" he answers. Rose goes towards him, raising the axe up to swing. "Wait, wait, wait" he gasps. "Take a few practice swings first over there." He nods to the wooden cabinet.
Frantically Rose raises the axe up and hits the cabinet, leaving a large slit.
"That's good Rose! Now try to hit it in the exact same mark! You can do it!"
Rose lifts the axe and hits the cabinet, but in a completely different spot. Her heart pounded in her ears, there wasn't much time left, the water has reached her waist.
"Okay, that's enough practice." Jack sighs nervously. He stretches the chain of the cuffs across the pipe, straining himself to do so. "Okay, Rose swing it really hard and really fast." He braces himself, expecting the worse. "Okay go!"
Rose raises the axe and winces as she brings the axe down with a deafening CLANG!
Jack peeked to see what happened. His hands were still attached but also free.
"You did it!" he cried, relieved that he could use his hands freely again. He reaches over and kisses Rose hard.
"Come on" he pants, climbing off the bench. "Oh, shit this is cold!" He winces as the cold water hits him. "We have to get out of here."
The couple moves through the water, away from Jack's prison, Rose leading the way towards where she came.
"EMMA!" Rose hollers. "Emma, where are you?!"
"You brought Emma down here?!" Jack asks exasperatedly.
"She said she would help, she said she'd find another way out" Rose explained. "Emma!"
"Emma!" Jack joins in.
The two listen but can not hear anything. Both their hearts begin to sink, thinking the worst of their newly married friend.
Rose can feel the tears and guilt bubbling up inside her.
Jack takes in a deep breath. "She's okay," he says as convincingly as possible. "She's smart, she probably found another way out and got caught up in the crowd."
Rose sighs deeply and looks to where she had come with the axe, there was no way the two of them could escape.
"This is the way out," Rose says in disbelief.
Jack takes her hand. "We'll just find another way out. Come on!" he says.