The wind howled like a chorus of lost souls, angrily colliding with the deck of the ship.
Noel, known as White Tiger for his fierce loyalty and cunning, gripped the drenched rope with grim determination, muscles straining against the roaring storm.
"Let no word come from your mouth, just keep quiet and pull the rope!" he shouted over the cacophony of crashing waves.
All around him, the sky darkened, a swirling mass of tempestuous energy.
The whole crew was united in a desperate struggle, their hearts pounding as they attempted to haul Marcus up from the depths of the churning sea waters.
The more they fought against the storm's savage might, the worse the chaos became. Noel's eyes darted anxiously to the horizon; each wave that lashed against the ship sent a frigid spray cascading all over them.
What will l do.
If he dies am a Deadman too.
Oh no..., l can lose the woman l love....
As the hour stretched, panic threatened to claw at their resolve.
Noel kept his voice steady, issuing orders at intervals and to help maintain focus.
"Hold on, Marcus! We'll get you out!"
But the truth was, they were all terrified—terrified of losing him to the waters in drerealm.
If they do...that means he will not only be dead in the game but also ln real life.
Just as exhaustion began to take its toll, the storm suddenly quelled, as if an invisible hand had stilled the fury of the sea.
Noel grasped at the rope, one final tug, and with a collective gasp of relief and relief, they pulled Marcus aboard.
He was pale and shivering, his lips a dusky blue. The moment he tried to stand, his legs buckled beneath him, and he collapsed onto the deck.
"No!
You can't die...
I won't allow you to die.." Noel cried, rushing to his side.
His heart pounded in his chest as he lifted Marcus's limp form, his teeth chattering in the cold.
He quickly stripped away Marcus's soaked garments and wrapped him in thick, warm blankets, hoping to revive him.
"Please wake up... please wake up," whispered Abraham, his brows knit with worry.
With Noel walking to and fro without settling in one place, made Abraham even more nervous.
"White Tiger! Stop moving! You're making me more nervous than I am already," Abraham murmured, exasperated.
Noel halted, his eyes glued to Marcus's face. He grasped Marcus's hand tightly, his voice cracking,
"Please wake up... don't make me lose the woman I love!"
"I've to prove my worthy by protecting you.
You know that, too... don't you?.
The dim cabin where the crew had gathered was charged with a palpable tension. As the seconds ticked by, the absurdity of their predicament seemed to hang in the air, especially for white tiger, and soon fractured laughter erupted as Abraham pointed out,
"White Tiger... I didn't know you could beg!"
Laughter eased the anxiety, a flickering light in the still-darkness of uncertainty.
"As long as it's Mathias's sister, I can kiss your foot, not to talk of begging!"
Noel joined in, the momentary reprieve grounding him once more.
Meanwhile, the storm had abruptly transformed the world outside, and Bosco poked his head through the cabin door.
"Guys, come! Come and see this."
Curiosity led them to follow. When they stepped back outside, shock washed over their faces.
"Shit! This can't be!" Agatha shrieked in disbelief, gazing at their surroundings. They found themselves back at the east of three tiny islands—exactly where they had begun their journey.
"The storm... pushed us back here," Cathy whispered, bewildered. Bosco glanced at them with a serious expression,
"That wasn't a real storm.
We all saw it; it was a real storm." Tina nudged
"Yes, but not a normal one," white tiger replied, his eyes darting around.
"The storm was meant to provoke us into blasphemy. But since we didn't, it stopped."
Silence fell again as the reality of their situation sank in.
"How many days are left?"
Nicko piped up suddenly, racing to the captain's cabin where the calendar was kept. He unfurled the calendar hesitantly and raised it like a flag of despair.
"We have two days left," he said, the words a bitter reminder of their ticking clock.
"What are we going to do…" Abraham whispered, the weight of hopelessness palpable in the air. As panic began to settle among the crew, Bosco's mind was already racing.
"Yes! Yes!
It takes twenty-four hours to reach Cape of Good Hope if the sea is calm."
The group stared back at him in disbelief, shock settling in like an icy fog.
"What!! That's not possible!" White Tiger exclaimed. Yet Bosco's eyes glittered with the flickering light of hope.
"It's possible if we use the right route."
"Let's think of ourselves like we're in a maze. We have to break out of that maze," he suggested.
"If we move east, away from the storm's remnants, we can find our way back."
"Fine! Let's give it a try," noel the white tiger finally relented, and it was decided; they turned the ship to set their course eastward, a new path in a bizarre gamble against fate.
****
*****
On the other ship, however, Henry, filled with anger and frustration, began to blame his crewmates, Steve and John.
"It's your fault we've ended up back here! You nearly made me lose my footing!" he shouted, building animosity among them.
Malta, the youngest among them, intervened,
"How can we survive if we keep trying to kill one another? Then what would be the difference between here and prison." His plea silenced the crew momentarily.
Here's worse than behind bars.
As they argued, Malta discovered a way to a lifeboat, a chance to escape the turmoil.he decided to flee and seek his fate with Marcus and the others. He turned to Steve and John, saying,
"If we want to survive, we need to leave this ship. Come with me!"
The terrain transformed outside as storm clouds rolled ominously overhead, darkening.
As Malta, Steve, and John prepared to escape, they had to first lure Henry and Lukas away from up the ship to the cabin.
But how to do it wasn't an easy task. Malta come up with a plan.
" Guys come check this out.
Unbeknownst to Henry that it's a trap. He and Lukas followed Malta to the cabin. But as soon as they entered Malta locked them inside.
Giving them room for escape.
As soon as Malta executed his plan, they began lowering the lifeboat while the others bickered, they darted away, fear fueling their movements.
Moments later, Henry and Lukas managed to break the cabin door.
They come to see what everything was all about. Only to see one life boat on the waters and far from them.
Shit!
They're gone.
Soon even God will leave us.
Henry's words made him break the taboos of blasphemy unknowingly. Immediately the sky gathered, the whirlwind blew.
"What's happening?" Lukas shouted as the first raindrops fell. Then, as if on cue, a massive tsunami rose in the distance.
"Get to the ship!" Henry screamed, panic evident in his eyes. But the towering wave surged forward with terrifying speed, the ocean's power beyond anything they had imagined.
As the storm rekindled its chaos, the world around them spun into tumult. The fate of both ships now hung in the balance.