Page 60 of Dance Practice, Marooned: Part 2

“Did you—did you know?” she whispers at Kellen.

Kellen’s hands are clenched at his sides. “Of course I didn’t fuckin’ know, she just told all of us,” he barks.

Aggie laughs, a sharp, cracked sound. “Doesn’t matter, does it? There’s not even anything I can fucking do, we’re stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, and I’m pregnant with a man who, and let’s be honest, will fuck anything with a heartbeat.”

She wipes her nose with the back of her hand.

Nobody speaks, so she continues. “So, what now, Kellen? What exactly are you going to do with two broken women and... what, a baby?”

Ace glances at me, eyes wide. He’s seen violence in every flavour, but this, this is another breed of fucked up.

The door to the deck crashes up and opens, loudly enough to make us all flinch, and Tati appears with Adrian slowly coming up behind her. Their eyes are wide, and glance between us, no doubt wondering what the hell all the yelling is about.

“What is going on?” Tati asks, swinging her eyes to me.

“Aggie is pregnant,” Rachel rasps, her voice almost a whisper.

Tati’s eyes widen. “What?”

“It was an accident,” Kellen throws in, as if that somehow makes any of it better.

“Are you fucking serious?” Aggie screams at him. “You know how babies are made, and you still chose to fuck me anyway.”

“It’s not like you said no,” Rachel mutters.

Aggie spins on her. “What did you say?”

“I’m just saying,” she adds, her voice clipped. “You know how they’re made too, and yet you let him fuck you with no condom. I’m not entirely sure what you thought would happen.”

“Oh, and let me guess, little miss perfect would only let him in if he was wrapped?” Aggie throws at her.

“I’m not a fucking idiot, so yes,” Rachel snaps.

Aggie just lunges.

It comes out of nowhere, just an aggressive dive in Rachel’s direction. She slams into her, and they go down together, knees slamming onto the deck, and I swear, Aggie gives it all she has. She bites, claws, kicks and screams as she takes out this broken frustration on Rachel, even though Rachel is a victim, too.

“Aggie,” Tati screams, but it doesn’t stop her.

Kellen and Ace both rush over to pull them apart, but Tati is the closest and is already reaching for them. She slips in her mad rush, her feet slipping out, and Adrian grabs for her elbow but misses. Tati tumbles sideways, windmilling into the tangle of girls just as the ship lurches. Hard. Like something rammed us from below.

I hear a series of grunts, a slap of flesh, and a ragged gasp as we all tumble to the side, trying to keep our footing.

“Stop!” someone screams. Maybe it’s me. I can’t tell.

There’s noise and confusion, Rachel’s white knuckles grabbing Aggie’s arm, Aggie cursing so loudly it’s just noise. The ship stops rocking and we all manage to find our feet once more. Ace pulls Rachel away, and she spins, wild-eyed, but Aggie doesn’t get up. She crouches there, sobbing into her own hands, hair a mess, knees bloodied.

Jesus.

My eyes dart around, and I see Tati has fallen into a large pile of trash and debris we had planned on tossing when we ever found land again.

She moves to get up, but something washes over her face, a look I have never quite seen before. It’s as if she has just realised the entire world is ending, and there is nothing she can do about it. Everything after that moves in slow motion, like a bad movie. I step closer, and then I see it. She can’t get up. She can’t get up because there is something sticking out of her stomach, just below her chest.

“Oh fuck,” Adrian whispers, voice hitching. “Oh fuck, oh fuck—”

He has seen it too.

Tatiana opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.