Jamie pushes on, even though any nitwit could see that all the craft on this side have left.

The water seems eager to meet us as we reach the forward part of the deck. Waves hiss and slither like a nest of reptilian beasts, cold-blooded and dark and everywhere at once.

“Look!” Jamie points to an oblong hump, like the underbelly of a giant fish, floating thirty yards beyond where the water pools in the well deck. It’s an overturned collapsible. Two ropes tether it to the railing on the roof of the officers’ quarters. People crowd the sides of the boat, trying to climb the hull before it breaks free of its leashes.

“We’re getting on that,” Jamie says flatly.

“You mean swim?”

Two men scramble past us, almost knocking me down, but Jamie grabs my arm. “This way.” He marches to the ladder leading up to the roof.

“Wait! Where are you going?” I pull myself up the ladder after him.

The roof over the officers’ quarters sweeps before us, empty of people. Past the first smokestack, water has begun to flood the bridge. I can’t help thinking about the proud Captain Smith, whose career will surely plummet with his ship. Even if he lives, there can be no surviving this.

On the starboard side, another collapsible is barely visible, growing smaller as its occupants row it away. Ahead, the foremast has sunk so low, the crow’s nest appears to float on the water, its brass bell swinging like a lantern. To port, the tiny light that might have been our savior has grown no bigger, still just another cold and unreachable star.

Clammy beads of sweat prickle my skin. We’re alone out here in this jungle. Who will save us but ourselves?

Jamie reaches the part of the railing where the two ropes connecting to the collapsible have been knotted. A strong current stretches the ropes taut, as if the lifeboat and the Titanic were engaged in a tug-of-war. “We’ll walk across these two lines. It’ll be a cinch, two tracks to the end just like a railroad. The less time we spend in the water, the better.”

“But, Jamie, I can barely feel my feet. How am I supposed to—”

“You won’t fall in. I’ll be right behind you. Quickly, before the boat breaks free or they cut the line. You can do this.”

He helps me up to the rail. He’s done it a thousand times, but this time feels like the first.