Queen of the Ashes

Octopussy

"Where did you go last night," Rylee asked as she smeared mud over a tree to mark our path. "I was really worried about you, you just ran off." Rylee and I had been in the dining room when the boat lurched forward sending all the food flying as the overhead alarm began blaring. I yelled to her that I was going to my cabin to get Amelia and that we would meet her at the life rafts. She must not of heard me over the chaos.

"I went to find Amelia, she was sleeping in our cabin." My voice was heavy with melancholy as I recalled running through the ship, shoving my classmates out of the way as I ran deeper into the ship. Rylee's eyes widened. "She was alive when I got to the room. The door would only open a few inches, it was blocked by collapsed metal bunk. It took me so long to get there. Wading through panicked girls running for the deck. I should have ran with them, I should've assumed she would hear the alarm and head to the life rafts."

Rylee gulped. "Was alive when you got there? Was she hurt from the bunk being thrown?"

"She hurt her arm." I closed my eyes and I could see Amelia standing behind the door, sobbing, screaming for help.

"Help me, I'm still here, I think I broke my arm! What's happening?!" Her light bangs on the wall could barely be heard on the wall through the closed cabin door.

"Amelia?!" I called as I pushed the door open no more than four inches. In the corner of the room I could see her standing while holding her limp twisted arm.

"Oh thank god! Blair! I thought I was going to die!" She let tears of joy as she recognized me through the red alert lights in the hall. I tried to punch the door open more but it wouldn't budge.

"Amelia what's blocking the door?" I continued to try to push it forward with no luck.

"The furniture in the room shifted, I was thrown out of the bed and hit the floor really hard on my arm, I think the bunk is twisted against it." I flinched as the glass in the window across the hall shattered and shoved my back against the door, pushing with my legs. The door moved a few centimeters but I lost my footing on the rain slick floor.

"Shit," I spat pushing wet hair out of my face before picking myself up off the floor. I squeezed my face back into the crack of the door. "I've got to find something to pry it open with."

"Don't leave me!" Amelia choked as the boat lurched again sending me back across the hall. Loud metallic groans rang through the corridor. "Blair?" Amelia cried.

"I've gotta find something!" I called back. "You've gotta find something fast." I mumbled to myself as I frantically looked around the hallway. About six feet away I noticed a fire axe mounted to the wall. "Oh thank god." I whispered as relief washed over me.

I pulled the axe down and ran back over to the door. "You came back." Amelia croaked.

I nodded. "I'm not gonna leave you." I reassured her as I tried to pry the door open with the axe.

"Blair." I could barely hear her. I looked up to see terror in her eyes. "Look at the floor." A centimeter of water had started pooling up over the entire hallway.

"No. No!" I pulled the handle of the axe as hard as I could but it didn't budge. "You're going to have to squeeze through the bars."

"Even if I could pull myself through the bars that door isn't open enough to get out." She said flatly. The water had risen to about an inch and was soaking through my shoes. I hit the bunk bed frame with the axe. Not even a dent. This was going nowhere. We are both going to die. I didn't want to die. I looked back at my roommate and gulped down my nausea. "Blair, no." She began to weep and fell to her knees. "Please don't leave me to drown."

"I'm so sorry." My hands shook as I dropped the axe into the water. "I'm so, so sorry." And I ran back towards the deck leaving her screams for help behind me.

I opened my eyes to see Rylee staring in horror. She opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it again. "I didn't make it to the life rafts. I'm honestly shocked I made it to the shore at all. I don't remember anything after hitting the freezing water." I said after I couldn't stand the silence between us any longer.

"You did what you could." She finally said quietly. "Survivors guilt is pretty common."

I scoffed and looked around uncomfortably. "Where is Lucy?" Immediately on alert we began calling for her. "Lucy?!" I ran forward into the jungle.

"We need to mark our path!" Rylee called behind me.

"Go ahead I'm not waiting to look for her!" I didn't turn to see the look of annoyance on Rylee's face. "Lucy?" I raced ahead, towards the sound of running water. The tree line broke to a large pond with a waterfall cascading down it. It looked like a Hawaiian postcard. Lucy stood at the edge of the water looking towards the waterfall. I walked down and joined her on the shore.

"Calling me." She whispered hoarsely. It was the first time I heard her talk since the crash. "Megan are you there?" I sat down at the water's edge and and tugged on her hand to join me. She stared blankly at me for a few seconds before accepting the offer. I felt terrible for poor Lucy, she and her twin sister Megan were inseparable. The lack of closure made it worse. If Lucy and I made it, there had to be a chance for Megan, right? Lucy turned to me, eyes completely lucid, bloodshot, and blazing. "I'm not crazy. You'll all remember that in the end." She turned back to the water and passed out into my arms.

"Rylee!" I screamed. "Help!" I heard the slapping of sneakers against mud behind me.

"Oh geez! What happened?!" She flew to Lucy's other side and helped me lay her down gently.

"I'd guess exhaustion, she's been pretty catatonic all day." I stared down at Lucy with perplexed worry, what was she talking about?

"Look at her leg." Rylee pointed down to Lucy left calf. A line of small, dime sized, purple, circular marks ran diagonally up and around her leg.

"How did we not notice these before? Why didn't she say something? What could have left these marks on her?" I gasped.

"I mean we are all pretty banged up, just look at your legs." Rylee nodded towards my battered legs. None of my bruises looked like this.

"It almost looks like an octopus arm. Most octopus are poisonous to some degree, maybe she's sick from a toxin!?" I was suddenly happy I had paid attention to the marine life course we took before coming on this trip.

"So what do we do for her?" Rylee made her scrunched unhappy face. I could tell it was because she didn't solve the medical puzzle.

"Not much we can do but watch her and make sure it wasn't so deadly it paralyzes her respiratory system."

"How long until it passes?"

"I don't know." I laid next to Lucy and stared up at the sky.

"Well we found fresh water, we should make camp here, I'm going to go get the others, will you stay with her?" I nodded "You do know CPR right, for if she is, paralyzed?" I nodded again. "Good because I don't."

"You really should learn it, Ry. You never know when you'll be shipwrecked with a bunch of high school kids." I called to her as she walked back into the jungle. I heard her scoff before she disappeared from my sight.