Narrator's POV
Anthony moves along the tables and ornate columns, searching... listening... his eyes tracking rapidly. It is a sea of tables and they could be anywhere. A silver serving trolley rolls down hill, bumping into tables and pillars.
He glances behind him. The water is following him into the room, advancing in a hundred foot wide hide. The reception room is now a roiling lake and the grand staircase is submerged past the first landing. Monstrous groans echos through the ship.
Nick and Joe are crouching behind a table, somewhere in the middle. They see the water advancing towards them, swirling over the floor. They crawl ahead of it to the next row of tables.
"Stay here" Nick whispered. He moves off as Anthony moves over one row and looks along the tables. Nothing.
The ship groans and creaks. He moves down another row. A metal cart, five feet tall and full of stacks of china dishes. It starts to roll down the aisle between tables. The cart rolls towards Joe. It hits a table and the stacks of dishes topple out, exploding across the floor and showers him. Joe scrambles out of the way and Anthony spins, seeing him. He moves towards him and aims the gun at Joe.
Nick tackles Anthony from the side. They slam together onto a table, crashing over it, and toppling to the floor. They land in the water which is flowing rapidly between the tables.
Nick and Anthony grapple in the icy water. Nick jams his knee down on Anthony's hand, breaking his grip on the pistol, and kicks it away. Anthony lunges at him, but Nick knees him right in the stomach, doubling him over. He grabs Anthony and slams him into an ornate column.
"Lets go" Nick said to Joe.
Nick and Joe run, entering the gallery. Behind them the tables have become islands in a lake... and the far end of the room is flooded up to the ceiling.
Anthony looks around for his gun. He pulls it up out of the water and wades after them.
In the gallery/stairwell
They run through the gallery and Joe spots the stairs. He starts to go down and Nick grabs his hand. He leads Joe down.
They crouch together on the landing as Anthony runs to stairs. Assuming they have gone up (who wouldn't?) He climbs up them two at a time.
Joe and Nick wait for the footsteps to recede. A long creaking groan echoes through the ship again. Then they hear something... a crying child below them. They go down a few steps to look along the next deck.
E-Deck corridors
The corridor is awash, about a foot deep. Standing against the wall, about 50 feet away, is a little boy, about 3 or 4 years old. The water swirls around his legs and he is wailing.
"We can't leave him" Joe said.
Nick nods and they leave the promise of escape up the stairwell to run to the little boy. Nick scoops up the kid and they run back to the stairs but a torrent of water comes pouring down the stairs like rapids. In seconds it's too powerful for them to go against.
"Come on" Nick said.
They charge the other way down the flooding corridor. At the end of the corridor are heavy double doors. As Nick approaches them he sees water spraying through the gap between the doors right up to the ceiling. The doors groan and start to crack under the tons of pressure.
"Back!!! Go back!!!" Nick yells.
Joe and Nick run back the way they came, taking a turn into a cross-corridor. A man is coming the other way. He sees the boy in Nick's arms and cries out, grabbing him away from Nick. He starts cursing at him in Russian. He runs on with the boy.
"No! Not that way! Come back!" Joe cries out.
The doors blast open. A wall of water thunders into the corridor. The father and the child disappear instantly.
Nick and Joe run as the wave blasts around the corner, foaming from floor to ceiling. It gains on them like a locomotive. They make it to the stairway going up.
Stairwell
Nick and Joe pound up the stairs as water swirls up behind them only to reveal a steel gate that blocks the top of the stairs. Nick slams against the gate, gripping the bars.
A terrified steward standing guard on the landing above turns to run at the sight of the water thundering up the stairs.
"Wait! Wait! Help us! Unlock the gate!" Nick pleads.
The steward runs on. The water wells up around Joe and Nick, pouring through the gate and slamming them against it. In seconds it is up to their waist.
"Help us! Please" Joe cried out
The steward stops and looks back. He sees Nick and Joe at the gate, their arms ranching through... he sees the water pouring through the gate onto the landing.
"Fucking hell" the steward mumbles.
He runs back, slogging against the currents. He pulls a key ring from his belt and struggles to unlock the padlock as the water fountains up around them.
The lights short out and the landing is plunged into darkness. The water rises over the lock and he's basically doing it by feel.
"Come on! Come on!" Nick said. He was scared, terrified but he wouldn't tell Joe that. He needed to focus on keeping Joe safe. Nick and Joe are right up against the ceiling now.
Suddenly the gate gives in and swings open. They are pushing through by the force of the water. They make it to the stairs on the other side of the landing and they followed the steward to the next deck.
