forty three

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I gasp as I resurface.

"Come on, Ash," Topper tells me.

"I hope they got the cross," John B confesses.

We pull ourselves into the lifeboat. John B gets the engine going. Pope and Cleo are the first two we find in the water.

"Pope!" John B shouts.

"Hey! We're over here," Pope yells.

"We're over here!" Cleo shouts.

We pull the lifeboats up beside them.

"Give me your hand," I tell Pope.

"Pope!" John B shouts.

Pope grunts as I help him into the lifeboat.

"Oh my God," Sarah says.

"I got you," John B tells Cleo.

Sarah looks at her surprised. "Cleo. Holy shit."

"Long time no see, girl," Cleo tells her.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asks.

"Where's J and Kie?" I ask.

"I thought they were with you," Pope tells me.

Sarah shakes her head. "No."

"Shit," Pope remarks.

"We gotta find them, all right?" John B says.

"Last time I saw them was on the other side of the ship," Pope tells us.

We start to the other side of the boat.

"John B! Help!"

"That's Kie," John B says.

"Where are they?" Pope asks.

I spot Kie and JJ in the water. It looks like Kie is holding JJ up.

"There they are. Hey!" Cleo shouts.

We all shout at the same time, "JJ!"

"No! No! No! No! No!" John B shouts.

"Come on. Come on," Pope says.

"I got you," John B says.

"Grab him," Kie tells us.

John B pulls JJ into the lifeboat a Pope helps Kie in. We start off away from the ship. Suddenly the engine sputters.

"No. No. No. Hey," John B says.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"What's happening?" Pope questions.

"John B," Sarah says.

"We're stalling out," John B tells us.

"You serious? We're sitting ducks," Pope warns.

"We gotta go!" Topper shouts.

"We gotta go," Kie says.

"I'm trying," John B tells us. "Forward or backward? If everyone just tries to relax."

"He's pointing at us. Hurry!" Pope warns.

"We gotta go," Sarah pleads.

"I'm trying, okay?" John B tells us.

I turn back to JJ. He still isn't awake.

"Please wake up," Kie pleads.

The engine starts.

"We gotta get moving. Yeah! Go!" Pope shouts.

Kie shakes JJ. "JJ, wake up! JJ! Please! Please!"

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