Read Online The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski - Free Book Online

with a heavy crack and the barricade slammed down onto the thinly carpeted floor. The steerage passengers surged through the doorway and up onto the second-class staircase. He leaned against the opposite wall and took his cigarettes from a coat pocket. He lit one and watched the corridor empty. When he’d smoked the cigarette to his fingertips he let it fall to the floor. Wearily he began to ascend the second-class stairs for the last time.

IX
    Though he could hear the sounds of passengers in flight, the upturning of tables, the slamming of doors, Wells saw no one till he reached the aft boat deck entrance. He leaned out of the doorway, holding it for support. From where he stood he could see two lifeboats. With the ship’s pronounced tilt they hung well over the water. Thick ropes, stretched tight, secured them.
    Crewmen at the railing were still attempting to load the boats. Others had formed a barricade against the newly arrived steerage passengers. Women and children were ushered through. The men were held back at gunpoint.
    There was the sharp crack of pistol fire. Chief Officer Wilde stood on the railing by a lifeboat davit, one arm entwined around the braided cord, the other brandishing a long, thick weapon. A small cloud of smoke hung thinly in the air above him, slowly dispersing. He was shouting, his words lost amongst the hoarse cries of the passengers.
    Wells edged out of the doorway. Looking down to the ship’s bow, he could see no other lifeboats. Swarms of passengers were making their way towards the stern, which now drew high above the waters. He began to follow when a second shot rang out. He looked back.
    Wilde’s face was aghast. Wrapped around his feet, at the ship’s rail, a young man lay in a spreading pool of blood. The chief officer was screaming at the crowds, his voice shrill. He waved the gun wildly. Still the passengers threw themselves against the human rampart.
    A third shot and Wells saw Wilde falter. For a moment he swung with his arm caught in the rope, the corpse of the man he’d slain seeming to grip him. He was reaching out to disengage himself when a second man fell upon him. All three dropped into the ocean in a twisting heap.
    Passengers clambered across the securing ropes towards the fully laden lifeboats. Those within were shouting at the approaching men. Imploring them to turn back.
    A number of the scrambling passengers managed to climb aboard before one of the ropes snapped. The lifeboat’s prow fell free, spilling its occupants into the icy waters below. It swung wildly before crashing into the side of the other boat, which splintered at the sudden impact. Both boats tore away from the remaining ropes to plunge below.
    The Titanic gave another sickening lurch. It seemed to twist as it rose into the night sky. Passengers tore past him, streaming towards the stairs that led to the poop deck, now level with the ship’s second funnel. From his vantage point he could see the starboard side. All the lifeboats were gone. The ship spread out beneath him. To either side, passengers were attempting to gain the poop deck. Some stood poised at various points along the railings. A few had already plunged into the polar depths in the desperate hope of gaining a lifeboat.
    The ship’s funnels were arrayed before him, angled rakishly towards the approaching waters, which washed the foredeck and swirled over the officers’ promenade. Crewmen were working on releasing the last of the collapsibles. A horde of passengers fell upon them and a frenzied mêlée broke out. The gunfire sounded like crackers. The bodies slipped in water and blood and were swept away with a final dismissive slap by the ocean.
    Wells looked away. He wrapped an arm about the stern rail and reached into his coat pocket. The cat clambered up his arm, seeking shelter in the folds of his coat near his collar.
    He glanced up at the clear black skies and the constellations winked back at him knowingly. All he’d managed