The Explorer's Apprentice

74:Ignorance

I own no one but the bit of Rose that is Marley

Marley Faulkner

Slam!

The hallway is so rotten with water that is sags like wet cardboard. So it’s no surprise that when Jack hurtles his side into the soggy wall, it completely gives way. The warmth that welcomes Marley in this new corridor is as inviting as a mother’s embrace. The room is decorated with light. Everything is white—even the walls are white.

He takes her hand and they step through quickly, tripping out onto the arid floor. Dry air has never felt so refreshing to Marley.

Dozens of confused faces—last minute stranglers struggling to make their way off the boat— stare at the couple as they emerge from seemingly nowhere.  Neither of them take notice as they stride across the hall, and most of the passengers don’t comment.

Most of them, anyway.

“Hey!” Calls a sniveling, whiney voice from behind them. A man, dressed in an authoritative all-white attire that matches the walls. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Marley and Jack walk on, seemingly oblivious to the man’s presence. There’s a left and right break in the corridor, and they turn right. She can feel Jack squeeze her fingers. His hand is hot despite the chill in the air, and he laces it through her’s like stitches in a knitted sweater.

“You’ll have to pay for that, you know!”

The pair turn a corner, only to be greeted by an unwelcoming dead end. Left. We need to go left.

The man follows them swiftly. “That’s white star line property!”

Marley’s chest feels tight, and her face feels hot. The ship is sinking, and she’s being yelled at for destruction of property that’s going to be at the bottom of the ocean in an hour. Her skin boils, and she wonders if there’s a way of getting air in here. Jack’s grip on her tightens even more.

“Hey!”

“SHUT-UP!”

Marley and Jack’s in-sync voices echo throughout. The man steps back, wide eyes blinking in astonishment, and his mouth gapes open like a fish—wide yet silent.

The pair keep walking.