The Explorer's Apprentice

69:The Ax

I do not own these lovely people

Marley Faulkner

“No key!” Marley breathes. Her hands shake. “There’s no key!” She’s practically torn apart the entire desk in search of something that was never even there.

“Alright Rose, listen,” Jack says, leaning as far over to her as he possibly can. His voice is soft and reassuring, and his eyes are calm. “You’re going to have to go and get some help.”

Marley stares at him, eyes wide. And leave you? Isn't there another way? Marley doesn’t think she could stand even thirty seconds without him, especially with the knowledge that he’s alone in a sinking room, with death practically knocking on the cold door. She starts to shake her head. Starts to protest, "maybe we could--I dunno, maybe the key's around here maybe I just have to keep lo--"

“It’ll be alright,” he soothes, as if having read her mind. His eyes are gentle and promising, but she can feel their plea burning into her skin. Look around. There is no other way. Pull yourself together, Rose, he’s counting on you.

With a trembling heart, Marley moves the floating debris from around her and steps towards him. The water is up to her waste now. She places her numb hands onto both sides of his face and kisses him fiercely. “I’ll be right back,” she whispers, pulling away. She rubs her thumb along his cheek. 

He nods, and she turns to go.

Moments later, once she exits the room, she hears Jack’s voice ring out from behind her. “I’ll just wait here!”

Marley smiles.

………………………………………………………………………

The light in the hallway is so limited, and the only bulbs that continue to glow are the small emergency lights in every corner. She makes her way down the slim hall hastily—much more concerned with being quick than with being careful, and she holds onto the walls beside her to help her along.

Eerie creaking sounds, emitted deep within the sunken belly of Titanic, echo across the corridor like the moans of a thousand lost, ghostly souls.

Marley takes in a deep breath, rounds a corner, then nearly screams with pure delight as she reaches a familiar, slim staircase. Her cold hands grip the railing and she hops up gingerly. She can feel the livid water release her as she ascends.

“Hello, is there anyone here?” She trips up the last step, relieved to be on dry land if only for a little while. She runs, her feet, after minutes of being restricted by water, never feeling as free as they do now. “Hello!” Her heals boom across the abandoned hall. “Is there anyone up here? We need help, hello!”

The only response Marley hears is the heavy drumming of her own heart. No one. No one is here. They’ve all gone. “Oh, Dammit!” Marley could scream.  She turns around and begins making her way down the opposite hall.

From there she meets a fork, and she looks frantically from one corridor to the next—searching for any other life. Luggage litters the ground like trash, but their owners are nowhere to be seen.

Apart from the sounds of rushing water, Titanic is quiet.

“Can anybody hear me? Please!” Marley sprints down the middle hallway, her hair flying behind her. “Hello!!”

Buh-boom. Buh-boom. Her heart beats so loud that it makes her head ache. It seems to echo off of the very corridors. Buh-boom-clop. Buh-Boom-clop….