HERE AND NOW
Chapter Ten

Already, it was after one o’clock AM. By now, everyone was aware that the ship really was truly sinking, and most people were on deck, waiting in the queue for a lifeboat.

The list was getting even worse now. The ship appeared to be going down by the stern. Rose hated to think how many of the decks were flooded already. They still hadn’t found Mandy, and she prayed that her friend was on deck, or somewhere else safe.

"Rose, those lifeboats will be filling up fast. We really need to get to one soon," Jack urged her.

"Not without Mandy," Rose insisted.

"How are you to know she hasn’t left already? She might already be in a lifeboat with that Tommy guy," Jack argued.

They were standing outside the gym. The interior of the ship was almost deserted now. There were very few people about, and with the list worsening seemingly by the minute, it made things very eerie.

"Mandy’s my best friend. She wouldn’t leave without at least telling me first, not in a situation like this. I won’t get off this ship until I know she’s okay. Sorry, Jack, but she’d do the same for me…"

"It’s okay. We’re wasting time fighting about it…let’s check C-Deck, see if anyone’s there."

Jack had barely got the words out when he felt a hand grab his arm.

"Mr. DeWitt-Bukater, your father sent us for you. He orders that you join him and the rest of your family on deck."

Jack turned and saw the trio of his father’s bodyguards, the bodyguards that accompanied his family everywhere they went…by hanging out with Rose for most of the time over the last few days, Jack had managed to ditch them for the most part. At their arrival here, now, Jack scowled.

"No, Switzer," Jack addressed the biggest bodyguard. "I’m staying with Rose, and I’m leaving with her, too. Tell Mr. Bukater that I no longer consider myself his son."

"Mr. Bukater said that anything you say is irrelevant and we are to take you to him, by force if necessary," replied Switzer.

"Don’t you peabrains get it? I am no longer a part of the DeWitt-Bukater family, which means that you can’t tell me what to do anymore, even if it is on my father’s orders. So go."

"We’re regretful that you won’t cooperate, but we follow Mr. Bukater’s orders without question."

Before Jack could react, he saw an object flying towards the side of his head. He heard Rose screaming. Then everything went black.

*****

Rose was panicking.

Jack was gone, knocked unconscious and then carried off by those bastard bodyguards. She’d tried to follow, until one of the guards had aimed a revolver at her, and then she’d been forced to stay where she was.

Now she was desperately trying to gather her sanity back together. Her thoughts had gone into a frenzy…she could not let Jack leave without her; if she did, she knew that would be it. They’d lose each other forever…George would no doubt carry out his threats of a lawsuit if she made any effort to contact him once they were back on land, and she knew she was powerless against that man and his pricey defense team. Even if Jack wanted to see her, how would he find her when all he’d have to go on was her name? She’d lost him. It was over.

Rose sat pathetically on the floor, leaning against the wall and crying as though the world was ending. Mandy was missing. Jack was gone. What the hell was she going to do? She couldn’t bear to get in a lifeboat by herself, so she resolved to do the one thing she could do. Find Mandy. Things would be better when she found Mandy. Somehow the mellow, carefree Cockney girl from Hackney helped keep her sane.

With refreshed determination, Rose stood and began to walk towards the stairs that would take her to C-Deck. She knew the elevators would be closed due to the sinking, but that wasn’t going to stop her.

"Mandy?" She called her friend’s name loudly, hoping that if Mandy was around the area, she would hear and call back.

Rose wished that Mandy had a cell phone. Then the search would have been over before it had started. Trying not to feel intimidated by feeling like she was the only person inside the whole ship, Rose went on. She reached the stairs and looked down. C-Deck was still dry, it looked like, but who knew where the water had reached by this point? Rose wished she knew, but she’d decided she’d go down until she couldn’t. The sensible part of Rose was screaming at her that not even Mandy would stay inside the ship when it would be listing so obviously, but the rest of Rose knew that if she went outside on deck, she wouldn’t get back in again. So, for now, she’d look inside. Just in case. If Mandy wasn’t on D-Deck, then Rose would go outside and search for her friend by the lifeboats.

The interior of C-Deck was also deserted. Rose wandered through the corridors, calling for her friend. From reading the maps that had been plastered on the walls in the Observation Room, Rose knew that some of the D-Deck was taken up by crew quarters. Maybe Tommy the lifeguard had a room down there, and that was where Mandy was. Rose knew it was unlikely, but it was the only real lead she had to go on right now.

As she had predicted, she had no luck. She ran all around C-Deck, calling Mandy’s name frantically, feeling a desperate need for her friend’s company now that Jack was gone. Rose reached the stairs that led down to D-Deck and didn’t hesitate in going down them…until she felt her feet fall into something wet and cold.

Water.

She couldn’t help screaming at the shock of not only the cold, but that the water had already reached so far. She leapt back like she’d stepped in something deadly, her stomach churning as the knowledge that she had been running around alone on a sinking ship hit her properly.

She needed to get out. Now. Mandy was, obviously, not here. Searching anymore would be a wasted effort and extremely dangerous. If Mandy had been around inside, Rose knew she would have found her. It was time to admit defeat and go out on deck.

As Rose was tearing through B-Deck, too frightened to take notice of anything aside from her goal to get out, she felt herself bump into someone. She hit the person with such force that she stumbled backwards and fell over. Only when she looked up did she feel relief for the first time in almost forty minutes. Someone she’d deemed as lost forever to her was there, and she instantly felt her fears fade.

"Jack!"

He looked terrible. He had a huge wound on the side of his head that was caked with dried blood, and he looked incredibly tired, but at least he was standing.

"Oh, my God!" gasped Rose, pulling herself up from the floor and throwing her arms around Jack, relieved. "What are you doing? How did you get back here?"

"I came around just as they were putting me into a lifeboat. I realized what was going on and jumped out right before they started lowering," Jack told her. "I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to stop them. You must think I’m pathetic."

"Your father’s the pathetic one. That man’s a monster…God, I can’t believe it. I didn’t think I’d see you ever again." Rose kissed him, unable to hold back from expressing the sheer gratitude she felt that fate had seen fit to intervene.

"You still haven’t found Mandy?" Jack guessed.

"She’s not here. She must’ve gone on deck after all…Jack, we have to get off this ship. I went down to D-Deck. It’s flooded."

"I saw the exterior of the ship from the lifeboat. Half of it’s underwater. Andrews was really right."

"What about your family? Did they get off?"

"Not yet. Mom decided she wanted to save some of her things and went back to her stateroom. Parker’s there with her, helping." Jack sighed irritably.

"Your mother’s worrying about material items now? How are they even going to fit anything else other than themselves in one of those tiny lifeboats?" Rose was flabbergasted.

"Dad bribed an officer to give them their own private one after Mom fussed about not wanting to share with strangers. It’s being held for them until they’re ready." Jack let the disgust he felt show in his voice.

"Your parents really are something else." Rose shook her head. "Thank God you’re not going to be around those assholes anymore. Let’s get to our own boat, before it’s too late."

They made their way to the exterior boat deck.

*****

As Rose and Jack found themselves back at the foot of the Grand Staircase, they saw that there were still many people in the area. Rose supposed they were choosing to wait inside where it was warm, since it was freezing outside. Everyone had put coats over their evening wear or nightclothes, and people were standing about in small groups, chatting worriedly but remaining very calm.

"Jack!" Jack heard his name and saw his sister Parker standing on the staircase. She was fully dressed in a tracksuit with a denim jacket added for extra warmth. With it being April, none of them had really packed any winter clothes that would have greatly helped that night.

"Parker, what are you still doing here?" Jack asked.

"They left without me…" Parker looked distraught. "Mom, Dad, Posey…they just went."

Parker ran to Jack and hugged him, crying. He rarely saw Parker cry; she prided herself on being the strong one of the siblings and rarely got upset or flustered.

"What do you mean? They wouldn’t…" Even Jack was beyond shocked at the notion that his parents would possibly abandon one of their own children on a sinking ship. His father had gone to so much trouble to get him back…but then, Jack knew he was considered slightly more important than the girls. Sons always were. George had always considered Jack his heir, heir to everything the DeWitt-Bukaters owned…all the businesses, carrying on the family name. Everything. But that didn’t mean the girls weren’t still important. He couldn’t imagine Ruth willingly leaving any of her children. She was cold, but she still had something of a heart somewhere, deep down. Even the idea of George doing something so horrific and callous seemed extreme and impossible.

"When I was helping Mom pack a suitcase, I went to the bathroom. I was only in there for a few minutes, but by the time I came out, Mom was gone. I ran after her, but I think she somehow got away from me and made it into a boat…Jack, why would she just leave me?" Parker was almost inconsolable.

"There’s gotta be some kind of reason. We’ll figure it out later, but now we need our own boat. Come on. You can come with me and Rose." Jack put a protective arm around his sister as they moved onwards.

*****

By the time they made it onto the boat deck, it was nearly two o’clock AM. Rose couldn’t believe it as she checked her watch, and realized how ridiculous she had been in her search for Mandy, how much time she had wasted. What had she been thinking? Still, this wasn’t the time for regrets. There was only one thing to focus on, and that was getting into a lifeboat. Time was seriously running out; Rose was amazed the ship was still afloat at all.

They arrived outside the exterior entrance to the grand lobby, and Rose saw that most of the boats were already gone. It looked like barely half a dozen remained, and those were filling up fast. And there were still countless people, what looked like dozens upon dozens gathered on the deck, all waiting for a place on one of those boats. She realized then. There weren’t enough boats for everyone. There hadn’t been to begin with. Rose felt sick as she realized that most people were going to be left stranded on the ship…maybe herself included.

Oh, God.

"Rose!"

A voice Rose had been worrying she wouldn’t hear again snapped her out of her thoughts. She whirled around and was greeted by Mandy.

"Mandy! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where were you?" Rose demanded, showing her frustration, worry, and relief all at the same time.

"Been waiting here, freezing my arse off, haven’t I? Over an hour now…wish they’d bloody hurry up. Look at this thing. Most of it’s gone under already," Mandy replied.

"How did you come out here? I looked for you all over the place…" Rose said.

"Well, I was with Tommy in his cabin--I don’t think I need to tell you what we were doing–when I heard the captain’s announcement. I told Tommy it was probably nothing, but he insisted that he needed to go and see what was goin’ on. So he did, and I decided to wait in his room for him. I waited, and waited…it got to an hour and he still hadn’t come back, so I thought, sod this, and came out here to see just what was up. When I saw they were loading the boats, I figured I’d better wait for my turn," Mandy explained. "What’re you doing with these two?"

Rose knew she meant Jack and Parker. "Well, Jack and I have decided that when we get to America we want to stick together. And Parker appears to have been left behind."

"Not by your own family? Aw…tough break, kid." Mandy sympathetically patted Parker’s shoulder.

"There’s only a few boats left," said Rose "We have to get on one of them. All of us."

"The officers made us all form queues, but then they go lettin’ people on who only just turned up…like your lot." Mandy looked accusingly at Jack.

"You saw my family? What were they like?" Jack apparently couldn’t help wanting to know. Rose could understand. As much as he might dislike them, they were still his blood.

"Ya Mum was crying. Sobbin’ her heart out. Your old man made her get in the boat, had his heavies practically carry her in. Your sister was cool as anything, was even listening to her bloody iPod as they lowered! They had about four suitcases with ‘em…God knows why. Not like your lot can’t afford to replace anything that gets lost," said Mandy.

"So maybe Mom didn’t just leave me?" Parker thought aloud hopefully. "Maybe Dad made her go. But why would he leave me behind?"

"Because he’s scum, Parker," said Jack angrily. "Look at my head. He had the bodyguards do that when I wouldn’t come willingly. It’s only by chance that I managed to get away again. He wouldn’t accept that I love Rose…he was going to try to keep us separated, and when I rebelled, he did this. To his own son. Then he leaves you behind on a sinking ship. That’s the kind of man he is."

"I want to come with you," Parker said. "You and Rose and…what’s your name?"

"Mandy." Mandy smiled.

"And Mandy. I don’t like cramping anyone’s style and I know three’s a crowd, but I’ve been unhappy with family life for a long time. But unlike you, Jack, I didn’t know it until just now. I need to get away. Even just for a while," begged Parker.

"Sure. Of course. We’d be happy to have you along with us. Right, Rose?" Jack checked.

"Absolutely." Rose wasn’t about to say no to someone who was obviously so important to Jack. And she liked Parker. The girl coming with them could work. The four of them could get a place together…if they all got jobs they’d be able to afford to rent an apartment somewhere. In a state where no one would think to look for them, in a city that was unimportant and little-known. It could happen. It would happen. So long as they got into a lifeboat.

Somehow feeling like she was expected to be the leader of the little quartet she’d somehow found herself a part of, Rose led the others as far as she could with hopes of asking an officer about the a lifeboat. If there had been a queue, it was no longer obvious where the queue began or ended; people were all grouped in an unorganized crowd while the uniformed officers used pistols to keep order.

"For God’s sake, keep order!" snapped an officer as people from within the crowd tried to push and shove their way to the front. "Anyone else pushing like that and I’ll shoot!"

As if to prove he meant it, the officer fired a shot into the air. Everyone screamed and ducked, but it worked. The crowd instantly behaved.

"It’s first come, first served, so wait your bloody turn!" the officer continued.

Rose and the others did what they were told. For the time being, it was all they could do.

Chapter Eleven
Stories