فصل 95

joana

Announcements crackled through the speaker system.

“Remain calm. Proceed in an orderly manner to the top deck.”

Dr. Wendt burst into the maternity ward.

“Don’t listen to the announcements. Get the women on deck and into lifeboats. Quickly!”

“What should we take?” I asked, moving toward my suitcase.

“Nothing!” he said. “Just take your life vest, hurry!”

I corralled the women out of the ward and directed them to the stairwell. The hallway was already flooded. Where was Emilia? Icy water seeped through my boots.

“Erika!” a desperate man shrieked. “Erika, where are you?”

The boat was nose-first and tilting left, to port side. The stairs slanted at an awkward angle, making them even more difficult to climb. The lifeless body of a child lay trampled near the stairs. I tried to stop and pick him up but the surge of the crowd knocked me forward.

Thousands of piercing screams filled the stairwell. “We’re going to drown!” a woman cried. A gunshot echoed somewhere below. Further panic swelled through the mass of people on the stairs. I was moving but not sure I was even walking. People clambered over one another as they climbed. The weaker ones fell backward and were sucked underfoot, unable to pull themselves up.

The stairway became choked. The ship tilted deeper into the water. The woman was right.

We were all going to drown.