Chapter 3 third quarter

For the first time in his life Johnny felt an inexplicable fear.He was paralyzed in all fours, and the weight on his chest made it difficult for him to breathe.He felt himself sinking—in fact, he would soon be at the bottom of the ocean if he didn't get out of the ship quickly. He had to find a way out, but surrounded by goods and packages, he bumped around and quickly lost his way, like someone trying to run in a nightmare and unable to.But it's not a dream - it's reality! He didn't know what to bump into, and the pain was piercing.This instead woke him up from his panic.It was useless, he thought, to scurry about in the dark.The way to go is to go straight ahead until you hit the wall of the ship, then follow the wall to find the door.

It wasn't a bad idea, but there were so many things around that it took him a long time to touch the smooth walls of the ship.After that, everything is relatively simple.He found the door and pushed it open.At this moment, he couldn't help crying out—at last he was greatly relieved.The corridor outside the cabin was not as dark as he had thought.Although the main lights were out, the emergency lighting was on, and the dim blue light in the hallway was enough for him to see. At this time, he smelled the smell of smoke, and he knew that the "Santa. Anna" was on fire.He also noticed that the corridor sloped sharply towards the stern - where the main engine room was located.Johnny guessed that the explosion had shattered the hull of the ship, and sea water was pouring into the ship.

Maybe the spaceship doesn't dare to be too dangerous, but, who knows?The spaceship was tilting more and more, and the hull was tearing loudly everywhere, and he couldn't help being afraid.The spaceship is spinning and tilting, making people dizzy.Johnny felt nauseous, a stomach-churning pain.He thought it might be seasickness.He tried his best to forget about his physical discomfort and concentrate on finding a way out. If the ship was sinking, he had to find the lifeboats quickly.Most likely everyone was running there.The crew must have been surprised to see him as an unexpected crew member.He hoped there would be room for him in the lifeboat.

But where are the lifeboats?He has only been there once, and if time permits, he can find the place slowly.But there is no time at all right now.In a hurry, he took a wrong turn in several places and had to turn around and start again.Once, he was blocked by a huge partition wall inside the ship; he remembered that he had never been in this place, the smoke around the partition wall, and the sound of the hull tearing in the distance.He hurriedly turned and ran into the dimly lit corridor. He finally found the right direction, but he was almost exhausted, coupled with panic and tension, it was almost impossible to support him.Yes, this is the right corridor - at the end of the corridor there is a short flight of ladders leading to where the lifeboats are parked.He gallops forward.We're getting close to the goal, there's no need to conserve energy anymore.

He remembered correctly, the ladder was just ahead.But the lifeboat was gone. The windows and doors in the hull were wide open, and the slings of the small crane lay empty, as if to tease him and keep him out of reach.Gusts of wind blow from the open windows and doors, bringing in patches of spray.Johnny had a bitter taste in his mouth; he would have enough of it before long. Disappointed, he went to the open window and looked out.It was late at night and the moon was shining brightly.The sea was pounding against the hull, and now and then a big wave crashed through the windows and whirled around his feet.Even if the "Santa Ana" did not leak anywhere else, the water leaking here would soon be enough to swallow the whole ship.

There was a dull explosion sound from somewhere in the distance.Then the emergency backup power was cut, and the lights inside the ship flickered and went out.He was lucky, relying on this weak light, he found the exit.But so what?He is alone, far away from the mainland, and is sinking to the bottom of the sea with this huge hovercraft. He looked overboard into the night, hoping to see a lifeboat.But the sea was empty.Possibly the lifeboat had been launched on the other side of the ship, which of course he couldn't see.Generally speaking, if the hovercraft does not sink, the crew will not leave too far.He couldn't see them now, and the only possible explanation was that they were on the other side of the Santa Ana.Of course, they knew that the situation was not good, so they raced against time to get off the lifeboat.Johnny doesn't know whether there are explosive and flammable materials on board. If there is an interrogation, the ship will explode at any time.

A big wave hit him head on, and the spray blinded him.At the same time, the water in the boat rose higher and higher.Johnny couldn't believe that such a huge hovercraft would sink so quickly.Of course, he also knew that the materials used to build the hovercraft were very light and could not withstand the impact of waves at all.He estimated that after 10 minutes, the sea water would not reach his feet. But he guessed wrong.Suddenly, the "Santa-Anna" tilted sharply to one side, like a seriously injured monster struggling for death, trying to stand up for the last time but collapsed.Johnny didn't hesitate any longer.Instinct told him that the ship was about to sink, and he had to leave as soon as possible, as far away as possible!

He cheered up, braved the severe cold, and jumped into the sea with a beautiful diving movement.However, to his great surprise, even under the water, he did not feel cold, on the contrary, he felt warm.It turned out that he had forgotten that in just a few hours of sailing, he went from severe winter to midsummer. After surfacing, he swam forward with all his strength.Although the movement is not graceful, but the speed is quite fast.There was a burst of loud noise behind him, and after a burst of rattling, there was a silence, only the moaning of the sea wind and the beating of the waves could be heard passing by him, drifting towards the deep night sky. The Santa Ana, a wreck that was in disrepair and overdue, was slowly sinking.Johnny was worried that the huge return wave caused by the sunken ship did not happen, and the sinking of the hull was very smooth.

When he knew the danger was over, he began to tread the water and surveyed his surroundings.The first thing he saw was that the lifeboat was not half a mile away.He waved his arms wildly and shouted, but to no avail.The boat had left him, and even if someone looked back, he would never be seen in the night.What's more, no one would have thought that there would be survivors on the boat who fell into the water and were not rescued. Now, Johnny is alone, alone.The moon is setting in the west, and the starry sky in the southern country is bright and strange.He could swim here for hours.He had already discovered that sea water was more buoyant than the stream he had learned to swim in.But even if he could stay in the sea for a while, the result would be the same.It was impossible for anyone to spot him, and as soon as the lifeboat disappeared, his last hope disappeared with it.

Something bumped into him, and he was so surprised that he couldn't help crying out.It turned out to be a fragment of the hull.Now, Johnny noticed that there were things floating here and there on the water around him.This discovery cheered him up a little.If he could build a raft, his chances of survival would be much better.Maybe he can still float to the mainland, just like those primitive aborigines sailed across the sea and the Pacific Ocean on rafts more than 100 years ago. He began to swim towards the slowly rotating remains of the hull.The sea seemed to calm down all of a sudden.Gasoline emerging from the wreck relieved the strength of the waves, and the sea was no longer violent, but slowly undulating.At first the rough water and the high waves frightened him, but now he found that he could follow the undulations of the waves without any danger.Despite his current adversity, he was thrilled to discover that he could ride the waves effortlessly.

At this time, Johnny was swimming among various boxes, pieces of wood, empty bottles and cargo drifted from the wreck.The above things are of no use to him.He wanted to find a larger float so he could sit on it and let it float.When he was almost desperate, he suddenly found a dark rectangular object undulating in the waves about 50 feet away from him. When he swam close, he found that it was a large box for loading.This surprised him.He struggled to climb to the top of the box and found that the box could still bear his weight.But this "raft" is very unstable and may tip over at any time.Later, Johnny simply lay flat on top of the box to balance the box.Although the sea water is only 3 inches from the top of the tank, it can safely drift with the current.In the bright moonlight, Johnny could make out the words printed on the wooden box: "Please store in a cool and dry place". Dry, there is no such thing as dryness at sea; as for the low temperature it was true, he was getting colder and colder.The sea breeze blew through his soaked clothes, making him cold and uncomfortable. However, he could only endure it and wait for the sun to come out.He looked at his watch, which had stopped - which of course did not surprise him.The time displayed by the hour hand on the watch is meaningless to him.It occurred to him then that he must have crossed several time zones since he sneaked aboard the ill-fated Santa Ana.Currently, his watch is at least 6 hours ahead. He was shivering and sneezing on the raft, but all he could do was wait, watching the moon sink and listening to the lapping of the water.Now, although he was a little apprehensive, he was no longer afraid, and he was beginning to feel grateful that he had narrowly escaped death many times.Although there is no fresh water and food around, it can endure at least a few days.As for what would happen in a few days, he couldn't care less about it. The moon is gradually sinking to the west.At this time, he found that there were countless light spots floating on the sea, and the sea surface seemed to be on fire. The light spots flickered, went off and on, like neon billboards, forming a bright channel behind his raft.Johnny dipped his hands into the water, and flames seemed to run through his fingers.This situation surprised him. Surrounded by such marvelous scenery, Johnny for a moment forgot his danger.Before, he had also heard that there were glowing creatures in the sea, but he never dreamed that there would be so many gathered together, it was really countless.For the first time in his life, he saw the magical and mysterious face of nature.Three-quarters of the sea in front of him shone brightly, and his fate was in the hands of the wonderful and unpredictable nature. The moon had dipped to the horizon and seemed to linger there for a while before disappearing suddenly.Stars twinkled overhead—stars from ancient constellations, but brighter than man-made ones—that had been sent into the sky during the 50 years of human exploration into space.However, the stars in the sea were brighter than the stars in the sky, and Johnny's little raft seemed to be rippling on the sea. After the moon sank below the horizon, it was a long time before dawn.Then, Johnny noticed a gleam of light in the eastern sky, gradually spreading on the horizon.Johnny stared eagerly.When the golden edge of the red sun jumped out of the sea, his heart also jumped.In a short while, the stars in the sky and the stars in the sea disappeared at once, as if they had never existed, and the day came! Before Johnny had time to appreciate the beauty of the dawn, he noticed dozens of large triangular fish swimming towards him from the west in the distance.This made his hair stand on end, and the hope of life brought by the dawn disappeared all at once.