Richard Brown - Titanic With ZOMBIES

Lightoller looked down at the princess in his arms. “Aye. She sure is. Now it’s your turn.”

Smith had a hand on the side of the boat but made no motion to climb on.

“Come on. We’ll make room, won’t we boys?”

“Yes, captain, please,” another crewman said.

“You go on ahead. Save as many as you can.”

“Don’t be foolish,” said Lightoller. “Will you not save yourself?”

“No, I’m sorry. I saved her. That’s enough. See to it that she lives a long life.”

Lightoller nodded. “Aye, aye, sir.”

The captain let go of the boat and began swimming off. A moment later, he turned back and yelled, “Good luck, gentlemen. I’m going to follow the ship.”

They watched him swim away until he was just a speck on the dark water.

BROWN

Lifeboat six.

“We need to go back. We can’t let all those people freeze to death,” Margaret said. It had only been ten minutes since the Titanic sank and already the voices of those in the water grew faint. “There’s plenty of room for a few more.”

“If we go over there, they’ll swamp us,” Quartermaster Hichens shouted. “They’ll pull us under! Don’t you get that?”

“The only thing I get is that you are a selfish little coward,” Margaret replied, and then addressed the other passengers in the boat. “Those people out there breathe the same air as us. Somewhere they got someone who loves them, someone who is gonna miss them. Maybe that someone is in this very boat. Maybe it’s you.”

“Most of those people are already sick and dying,” said Hichens. “They can’t be saved, but they could kill all of us. Have you already forgotten the trouble we went through? I don’t expect anyone wants a repeat, madam.”

Earlier, a few passengers had become unresponsive, appearing to have died, only to wake not long after wanting to eat their blanket buddy. From the look of the other lifeboats around, this had occurred a lot, as most had their numbers brought down immensely by the hidden infected.

Fortunately for boat six, just two sick souls snuck aboard, and with the help of a few others, and an oar, Hichens had them quickly banished from the boat. He had been so proud of himself.

“How shameful,” Margaret replied. “Trying to scare people. Have you forgotten what happened after we ejected them from the boat? They sank like a stone, that’s what. They can’t swim. And if they have a lifebelt on, they still won’t be able to get into the boat unless we let them. So what are you really worried about?”

“Don’t argue with me. I’m in charge of this boat. It’s our lives now, not theirs.”

Margaret hung her head for a moment, upset no one else would stand with her.

“I know some of you got husbands, don’t ya? Well, where are they? They sure ain’t here beside you. Are you really gonna sit here and do nothing while your men die out there? I don’t understand it.”

“I swear,” Hichens huffed, “if you don’t shut your ugly trap, I’m gonna shut it for ya!”

“That’s quite enough,” a stoker said from the back of the boat. “That’s no way to talk to a lady.”

“Sonny, don’t worry about me,” Margaret said, calm as could be. “I’ve dealt with much worse than this one. In fact, I’m just itchin’ for him to give me a reason to throw his ass overboard.”

Hichens settled back, noticeably concerned with the threat.

By the time Margaret was able to convince most of the boat to go back on a rescue mission, it was probably too late anyway. The cries and calls to return had all but stopped, and the night had become dead quiet.

Not far away, Fifth Officer Lowe in command of lifeboat fourteen rounded up four other boats, tied them together, and then safely transferred his passengers to the other boats. Then Lowe and a few crewmen went back through the sea of corpses to search for survivors. Even from a distance, Margaret could hear Lowe call out repeatedly if anyone was alive, wishing she was able to help.

“It’s no use,” Hichens muttered. “Going back for a bunch of stiffs.”

As the hour passed, everyone on board boat six began to lose confidence they’d be rescued. They could drift out for days, hundreds of miles from land, with no food or water, and only the clothing on their backs and a few extra blankets to protect them from the extreme cold. But then—

“What was that?” Margaret asked. She had seen a faint glimmer of light to the southeast, and then a boom. “Could it have been a rocket?”

“Maybe a flash of lightning,” said another woman, sipping liquor from a flask.

“Nonsense,” Quartermaster Hichens said. “It was a falling star. Best not to get your hopes up, anyway. May I have a drink of that?”

The woman with the flask took a long swig and then said, “No, you may not.”

Lifeboat sixteen floated close by, and so Hichens ordered the two boats to be tied together and left to drift. All the while, Margaret kept a close eye to the southeast for another glimpse of light. Fifteen minutes later, she saw one. It was just like the first, only brighter, the boom, louder.

“That’s no falling star,” she said.

Everyone kept their eyes peeled to the southeast. There was no doubt now a steamer was coming their way, firing off rockets. Then the light from its masthead slowly appeared out of the darkness.

Fourth Officer Boxhall in boat two closest to the incoming steamer lit a green flare to get their attention.

“They’ve come to rescue us,” a young woman exclaimed.

“Or to pick up bodies,” Hichens replied.

“You want to volunteer one, go right ahead,” Margaret said. “But I’m with her. We need to stop drifting, and start rowing.”

“Be calm, woman. I’ll say what we do.”

“Ya know, I’ve had about as much of your mouth as I’m gonna take.” A dozen other women shouted their support. “We’re taking over. We need to cut these boats loose and start rowing. If nothing else, it’ll keep the blood circulating.”

“You won’t do nothin’ of the kind,” Hichens protested. But nobody was listening.

Margaret ordered a man in boat sixteen wearing only his pajamas to cut the ties holding the boats together. Quartermaster Hichens plodded across the boat to put a stop to it, but the Colorado millionaire stood in his way.

“Where you think you’re going?” Margaret asked.

“Get out of my way.”

“I told you I’d throw you overboard. Take one step closer and call my bluff.”

Hichens cursed under his breath and settled back under a blanket at the tiller, while the two boats were released from one another. Then the women took turns rowing toward the ship in the distance.

As dawn approached in the east, the stars overhead started to dim, and the outline of the steamer became visible, its single funnel leaving a trail of thick black smoke in the sky. Soon they were close enough to read the name on the bow.

Carpathia.

One by one, the lifeboats transferred their passengers safely on to the steamer. Lifeboat six patiently waited in line for their turn.

Four hours later, the rescue was complete.

After climbing the ladder on to the Carpathia , Margaret watched from the deck until the last passenger, the Titanic’s Second Officer Charles Lightoller, was brought aboard. Then she left to attend a prayer service for those who had been saved, and a funeral service for those who had perished.

Realizing many had lost everything when the Titanic went down, Margaret immediately went to work assisting survivors and asking the wealthier passengers for donations. By the time the Carpathia coasted into pier 54 in New York on Thursday evening, Margaret had raised close to ten thousand dollars to benefit the less fortunate survivors and the families of the fallen.