She’ll be going under soon.

Liam uttered a quick, whispered prayer and craned his neck into one last cabin. Empty.

A loud groan rippled through the floor; it vibrated like the song of a giant whale — hefelt it more than heard it. His eyes were drawn to something flashing past the cabin’ssmall porthole. He saw nothing but darkness, then the fleeting quicksilver flutter of bubblesracing past.

Deck E’s below the water line.

‘Sod this,’ he muttered. ‘I’m done here.’

He stepped back out into the passageway and saw at the end a ripple of water only an inch ortwo deep, gently lapping up along the carpeted floor towards him.

‘Oh no.’

The lower end of the passage was his only way out.

You stayed too long, Liam, you fool. You stayed too long.

He realized now the girl and her mother had been his fateful warning to get out. He shouldhave left with them.

The ice-cold water met his feet, trickled into his shoes and rolled effortlessly past him. Hetook several steps forward, wading deeper into the water, feeling its freezing embrace aroundhis ankles, his shins, his knees. Up ahead, round the bend at the end of the passage, was thestairwell he should’ve been climbing five minutes ago. He pressedforward, whimpering with agony as the icy water rose round his waist and soaked through hiswhite steward’s tunic. His breath puffed past chattering teeth in clouds of vapour as hestruggled forward.

‘Ah J-Jayzzzusss an’ Holy Mary… I d-don’twant to drown!’ he hissed, his voice no longer the recently broken timbre of asixteen-year-old, but the strangled whimper of a frightened child.

It was getting too deep to wade now. Ahead of him, where the passage turned right for thestairwell, the water had reached the wall lights, causing them to spark and flicker.

The stairwell’s probably flooded.

He realized that round the corner the water had to be lapping the ceiling and at least oneflight of the stairs would be completely submerged by now. His only way out would be to holdhis breath and hope it would last long enough for him to fumble his way up that first flightto the landing.