“Crew members will hand out life jackets to every guest. Please put them on immediately and listen for further instructions. The most important thing is to remain calm.”
The tail end of his sentence was cut off by an explosion.
Jill clapped her hands to her ears as a maelstrom of light and thunder engulfed the top of the boat.
The night blazed with color. Mortar shells of light detonated on the sundeck, assaulting the sky. Rockets shot off inevery direction, creating sparkling mushroom clouds in the air or barreling into the water with banshee cries.
The boat was under attack from an unknown enemy. Shrill whistles and cannon fire booms reverberated through its hull. The noise and flashing lights disoriented the guests. The smoke pouring down the deck stairs terrified them.
People were running in every direction, screaming. They shouted names, knocked over tables as they reached for each other, crashed into furniture. The deck was instantly littered with shattered glass and broken plates. Ash began to rain down from the sky.
Jill dropped to her knees and crawled under a café table. She watched people swarm to the rails. Kicking off their shoes, they straddled the rails and disappeared over the side of the boat.
A hand clamped around her arm and yanked her out from under the table. Her dad held her by the shoulders, searching her for injury.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, but—”
“We need to get in the water and swim to those boats.” He pointed to a cluster of boats beyond the ship’s bow. “Jump overboard and follow your brother.” Misjudging her hesitation for fear, he shifted his hands to either side of her face. “You can do it, Jilly Bean. You’re strong. I’m going to get your mom in a life jacket and stick close to her. We’re not the swimmers—you guys are. Other kids from the swim team are already in the water.Go!”
Her dad pushed her over to where J.J. stood and then darted toward the life jacket locker.
“Come on!” J.J. shouted.
“I can’t! Una’s up there!” Jill saw kids she knew from swimteam, from school, and from her neighborhood climb over the rail and leap off into space. In between explosions, she heard splash after splash after splash.
J.J. grasped her hand. “She can get in one of the lifeboats! You heard Dad. We have to get off!”
Jill’s eyes flooded with tears. “You go! I’m not leaving without her!”
“Goddamn it, Jill!” she heard her brother yell, but she ran in the opposite direction without looking back.
Before she reached the stairs, someone grabbed her arm.
It was Charles. “Where’s Mrs. Smith?”
Jill started pulling Charles up the stairs. “I think she’s up here. With Una. Get your weapon out.”
At the top, Charles said, “You take this side. I’ll take the other one. Meet you at the bow.”
Jill swerved around a man with a bleeding forehead. “Rose!” the man called. “Rosie, where are you?”
A woman in a gold gown stumbled toward Jill. She made a shooing motion at her. “Go back! The lifeboat’s on fire!”
Ignoring her, Jill hurried toward the bow.
Smoke poured from the lifeboat’s canvas cover as two crew members tried to douse the flames with fire extinguishers. A third crew member used a long hook to peel off the burning material and flick it into the water.
“We’re good! Lower it down!” she heard one of them shout as she raced past.
Heat from the sundeck poured onto her head and shoulders. Every time another firework went off, she hunched her shoulders, expecting sparks to rain down on her.
The door to the interior areas was propped open. Tongues of black smoke escaped from within, probing the air. Jill’s eyes and lungs burned.
She coughed and yelled Una’s name. Coughed again.
No one was alive in there. The heat and smoke were too intense, but she shouted until it felt like a cheese grater had rubbed the tender flesh inside her throat.
