--HOPE--//Dunkirk x Oc//

F o u r

Drowning

     It's so cold.
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More explosions hit. More men jumped. More chaos. Everywhere. I hugged myself, just watching. My breathing was shallow, my body still shaking as I imagined how many people were dying, and how many people would die. I covered my mouth, turning over and vomiting into the water behind me. Tommy rubbed my back. The man we had saved twisted his face into disgust.

"Bloody hell." He groaned. I glared at him, wiping my mouth. Men were swimming in our direction, and we continued helping them up. The ship was sinking, only the top of it visible above water. I looked at Tommy, our eyes meeting.

"We need to get away from here. We need to go underwater." He said. I nodded.

"I know." We both put our hands on the bottom plank of the deck, pushing ourselves into the water. An icy feeling coursed through my body, and I shuddered deeply, my breath shaky. The other man, the one we saved, watched us, looking almost amused, then followed us in. We swam towards a ladder to the top of the deck, climbing up it. Shakes racked my body, my breath coming out in short spurts. Tommy helped me along, gently pushing the bottoms of my feet, I got to the top of the deck, sprawling out on it, coughing and sneezing from the cold. Tommy helped me up, and we started walking down the deck, following a huge group of wet, cold soldiers. Tommy looked over at the man we saved, who returned his gaze. I gently looped my arm around Tommy's, hoping it would help me warm up a little. He Sent me a sympathetic smile, which I returned with one of my own.

We were loaded onto a small ship, which then took us down to a bigger ship, where all of the other soldiers were. An older nurse was holding out blankets and directing people on where to go. The man in front of us went down below ship, and the nurse locked eyes with me.

"Oh, goodness! Here, love, take this." She handed me a blanket, which I took gratefully. She pointed down to a separate room, which no other soldiers could go in. "Why don't you go warm up in there, darling. We'll get you some tea in a moment." She said. I looked back at Tommy, who gave me a nod of approval, but I turned back to the nurse and kindly shook my head.

"No thank you, mrs. I would like to stay down below ship with my friend. I, um....I'm not very comfortable being treated better than everyone else." I said. Her expression turned shocked.

"O-oh! Well, okay then, dear! Go on down. My friend Beth is down there if you need anything." She said. I thanked her. As I walked down to the room with the rest of the soldiers, I heard the nurse talk to Tommy.

"Take good care of that one, love. Someone like her is hard to come by." She said softly.

"I plan on it." Tommy responded. I smiled to myself, walking down to the other soldiers. The man we had saved came up to me as Tommy came down. All three of us watched as one of the soldiers, who I later found out his name was Gibson, walked to a different space, seeming like he was exploring outside the ship. I tilted my head in confusion. We all walked around the space, me being uncomfortably close to many of the soldiers. Pieces of bread with some jelly were being handed out, and I thankfully took some, eating it happily.

"What's wrong with your friend?" The other man asked Tommy, jerking his head out to signal that he was talking about Gibson. Tommy looked at him.

"He's looking for a quick way out. In case we go down." Tommy replied. My childlike curiosity took over me, and I nudged Tommy.

"Will we go down?" I asked softly. Tommy pat my head.

"You can never know." He said. The other man looked at us.

"I never got names." He said. I looked up at him.

"Kitty. And yes, like the animal." I said.

"I'm Tommy."

"Alex."

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We had walked around for a bit, putting on the life jackets the nurse had handed us. Tommy pointed at a door.

"We should stick around here. You know, just in case." He said. I nodded in approval, not wanting to think about the meaning of "just in case". We sat around for a bit, me in between Alex and Tommy. I continued to eat my bread, staring at my feet, which I could no longer feel from the cold. There was a noise above us, sounding like something had started up, and everyone started to cheer. I smiled. It was nice to have some optimism.

       There was a giant explosion on one side of the ship, tilting the ship one way. I flew into the wall, hitting my head, letting out a soft yelp. My vision went blurry. And then we were under. That feeling of cold pushed through me, my life vest helplessly trying to get me up to surface. I felt a particularly cold spot on my head. I was bleeding. My air was slowly giving up, I felt my chest get heavy. I was screaming without even knowing it. The lights in the ship had gone out. I heard muffled yells from hundreds of soldiers. Yet, through all this, one thing was on my mind: where's Tommy? 

           Something exploded outside. I had my eyes open underwater. It was blurry, but I was able to see figures of people, swimming, freaking out. I had my own fear inside. I was going to die. I knew I was going to die. People were flailing their arms. Someone kicked me. Someone punched me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. Something else exploded. I wanted that moment of optimism back. I wanted to hear the cheering. I wanted to see Alex and Tommy smiling. I wanted to see myself smiling. I felt my eyelids get heavy. This is it. Water filled my lungs.

     But then I saw a light.

    Yes! A light! I felt someone push me towards it, and I propelled myself forward as fast as I could, watching the light get closer. Closer. My head popped above water. I took in large gulps of air. I threw up again, getting most of the water out of my lungs. I swam away from the ship as another explosion shook up the sides. I gasped in air. I heard someone next to me, I felt someone push me. Tommy was right behind me, gently moving my feet forward. I nodded quickly, and pumped my arms again, moving as fast as I could. Trying to get away from all of it. Alex was swimming next to me. But then I felt heavy. My brain. My lungs.

My eyes started to close.