Unsinkable

Never An Absolution

As they burst through the First Class lounge, they could really begin to feel the steep incline of the ship. They knew they had to get back up on deck and on to a lifeboat quickly!

But as they ran through the lounge, Beth stopped in her tracks and turned to the man at the fireplace; Mr. Andrews.

He turned to her with sad eyes."I haven't built ya a good ship, Beth."

"...won't you even try to make a run for it?"

"Many people will die tonight because I didn't put enough lifeboats on board. I can't leave knowing what I did."

Beth walked forward and hugged Mr. Andrews."Thank you for always being so kind to me."

He handed her his lifebelt."Good luck to you both."

"And to you."

"C'mon, Beth." Arthur urged quietly.

Beth hurried out of the lounge, not able to spare another glance for fear she may cry. Mr. Andrews was always such a kind and gentle soul - he could never intentionally hurt anyone. Not putting enough lifeboats on Titanic was a mistake, yes, but not done with malice. He simply believed in his creation and himself.

They hurried back up a flight of stairs, as Beth pulled on her lifebelt and tied it tight. She never really mastered swimming, but Arthur claimed he had. She guessed they would find out tonight who the better liar was.

They came out on top deck and followed the mass of people headed toward the stern, as it began to rise up out of the water. It was an impressive sight - no machinery this big could ever rise into the sky, however, the not so impressive sight was all the countless people running for their lives and some even jumping overboard.

Arthur climbed over the railing and helped Beth over - people were not so kind, however, knowing they were about to plunge into the the Atlantic. They bumped and pushed and shoved, almost as if they had no manners at all.

When they jumped off the lower deck, Beth lost her footing and fell flat on her face, but thankfully her arms and knees took most of the blow.

An older Gentleman helped her back to her feet again, as a surge of people began pushing and shoving their way through.

Arthur finally found her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pushing their way through the crowd.

"I'm scared!"

"I am too!"

It was the first time he'd ever admitted to being afraid, but he couldn't lie to Beth. Hell, he couldn't even lie to himself. He'd been in a lot of tough spots before, but this one... this one topped the cake! He would never forget this night for as long as he lived.

Once they got closer to the stern of the ship, they stopped and watched as people were throwing objects into the water to use as floating devices.

That may have been a good idea, but Arthur knew the water was cold and lifeboats weren't coming back. If they did come back, it would be after the ship sank to collect the bodies.

"C'mon." He took Beth's hand and lead her up a set of stairs.

"Where are we going?"

"We can't leave, we have to stay on the ship as long as possible."

"Why?"

"The water is cold, we won't last long freezin' to death."

A slow moving priest walking in front of them, read a passage aloud from the Bible for all to hear. And while it was comforting, it was incredibly irritating! There was no time to pray or even think, they had to get to the furthest point of the ship before she began to go under.