nine;

THEY RUN INTO A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE WHO HEAD TO THE TOP OF THE SHIP. Yes, the top. The ship was completely tilted, the back facing down into the water, which was submerged in water, while the front was lifting up into the air. "We need to stay on the ship as long as possible," Jack stated as the two pushed through the crowd, holding onto the railings to not slip and plummet to their death.

Struggling for a while to finally get to the top, they finally made it, and Jack pulled Janiyah so close to him it'd be impossible for her to fall down. He held on tightly to the railing of course, but it was getting increasingly difficult to stay on the ship as it continued to tilt. Janiyah watched as people jumped off the deck and into the water, some of them hitting obstacles along the way and surely dying.

"This is where we first kissed," Jack recalled.

Janiyah turned her attention to Jack, seeing the smile on his face as he remembered the memory. She grinned back at him, wondering if this would be the last time she'd see him smile. "Yeah..."

"Help!" A familiar voice cried out. Janiyah then gazed down, spotting her red-headed best friend hanging on for his life on a firm object, but his hand was slipping off. She knew she shouldn't help him, not after all he'd done. That was unforgivable, she never wanted to see him again after this.

Ray spotted her, his eyes practically pleading her to help him, to do something. "Janiyah! Help! Please."

Janiyah shook her head, but felt horrible... she grew up with him, and now she was just gonna watch him die, when she had the opportunity to save him. His eyes widened when his hand slipped even more. "I'm sorry, okay?" Ray apologized, panic clear in his voice. "I was stupid, I'm sorry."

She turned her eyes to Jack, "I need to help him."

He nodded. "Just hurry, I don't think we have much time."

The ship; it sounded like it was alive. It creaked and groaned so loudly, as if it was in pain.

Jack held onto Janiyah's hand as she lowered herself, slowly, towards Ray. Luckily, he was close by, but if he wasn't then there was nothing Janiyah could've done to help him. "Here, grab my hand," she said, reaching out for Ray. He tried to raise himself a bit higher to grab ahold of her hand, but he couldn't reach up any further. Janiyah lowered herself a bit more, still holding onto Jack, of course. "Almost..."

All of a sudden, she was pulled back to Jack, and that was the last time she saw Ray. The ship made one final snap and it began to fall, the yells of Ray falling filling everybody's ears. That horrid feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach as the ship fell, she wished to never feel it again. Jack held her against him tightly, Janiyah burying her face into his chest, closing her eyes and hoping all this would be over. Maybe it was just a dream? Maybe she'd wake up in right now and she'd be back in her room, the ship still heading towards New York as it was meant to.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Once the ship crashed down into the water, it began rising up again, this time even more vertically than before. There came a point where they couldn't hold onto the railings anymore and had to step over the rails, standing on the tip of the ship. The ship began to lower itself rapidly, sinking into the water. "When I say so, we jump," Jack said, holding onto Janiyah as tightly as before.

"What? No, we have to stay on the ship," Janiyah begged. "The water's too cold."

"The ship's sinking all the way down now," Jack stated. "We're gonna be in the water anyway."

"No, no, no, I..." she hesitated. "I can't swim, I was never taught how!" It was true, she wasn't afraid of the water, she simply never had the opportunity to be taught to swim.

"It's okay, you've got a life vest, you'll be able to float. Just hold onto me and never let go. Trust me, remember?"

She nodded, and he kissed her forehead before looking down into the ocean they were just about to jump into. The ship continued to sink down, until... "Jump!"

They jumped off, both of them grasping each other's hands. They fell into the piercing cold ocean water, being thrown around from the force the water had. At some point, Janiyah had let go of Jack's hand without noticing. Only when she found herself floating to the top did she realize it. "Jack?!" She yelled, looking among the hundreds of people floating over the water. She couldn't spot him anywhere.

The ship was long gone, now sinking under the dark waters and toward the ocean floor where it would remain forever. And they said the ship was unsinkable.

"J!" Janiyah turned to the familiar voice, it was Jack, thankfully. He swam amazingly through everyone, even though he didn't have a life jacket on. He hadn't found the time to put one on. "J, come on, follow me."

She paddled slowly, following him to wherever he was leading her to. Jack led her out of the large crowd of people struggling to survive in these freezing temperatures. Janiyah spotted what seemed to be a floating door, large enough to fit two people on it if they shared the weight equally on it so it wouldn't flip over.

Helping Janiyah onto the wooden door, she then helped him on top of it as well. He immediately lay next to her to equal their weight, and didn't dare move in case it flipped over. Janiyah breathed heavily, closing her eyes. "We're gonna die," her voice trembled, both from fear and the temperature they were at. If they were left here for too long, they'd surely die from hypothermia.

"No, we're safe now," Jack reassured her, his voice trembling as well. "There's help coming, they'll come back for us."

"Yeah, but will they make it here in time?"

Jack sighed, "I hope so."

Beyond them was a man, blowing his whistle to hopefully attract attention so they would be saved. The other boats with people on them were far away, almost out of sight. There was still hope that they'd come back and save the people.

***

Time passed. Way too much time.

Almost everybody had died suffering from hypothermia. Everyone was covered in tiny pieces of ice from the water that had frozen over them. There was a deadly silence. The man who had been blowing his whistle for some time had slowly stopped. Everyone was dead. Except for Jack and Janiyah, laying next to each other on the floating door.

They had been silent the whole time. They were exhausted, still needing time to comprehend the entire thing that had happened these past couple of hours. Ray died. He's dead. My best friend, never to be seen again...

"Jack," Janiyah called for her lover, her voice raspy and barely audible. Jack turned to her when he heard his name. "I love you."

"I love you too, J," he managed to give her a smile. He noticed she wasn't looking too well, her breaths sounded odd, but he knew she'd be able to make it... help would come soon. "Stay with me, okay?"

A small grin appeared on her face to assure him she'd be okay, though she was far from okay. Suddenly, her face became lifeless, her sharp, ragged breaths were no longer heard. "J?" He called for her, but she didn't answer, nor did she move.

He nudged her with his arm, hoping she'd wake up. "J. Janiyah! J, wake up! Stay with me, J, please," he sobbed. He received nothing in return, just a dead, lifeless Janiyah laying next to him.

(11.5.20)

author's note !
and that's the final chapter! epilogue will be posted next, and the final author's note to be posted shortly after that.