The Twelve are deeply affect­ed by the events unfold­ing around them, as Ivar urgent­ly inter­rupts the protagonist’s work to deliv­er dis­tress­ing news: Wer­ryck, suf­fer­ing from a debil­i­tat­ing migraine, has specif­i­cal­ly request­ed their pres­ence. Werryck’s quar­ters, over­whelmed with shad­ows and sti­fling heat, resem­ble an oppres­sive atmos­phere, akin to “cheese sweat­ing in a warm room.” As the pro­tag­o­nist begins to play the bass gui­tar, a rare moment of calm wash­es over Wer­ryck, who, despite his phys­i­cal pain, shows an unex­pect­ed open­ness, a stark con­trast to his usu­al agi­ta­tion. The music seems to offer a brief reprieve from the con­stant ten­sion, giv­ing both Wer­ryck and the sit­u­a­tion itself a moment of relief.

As Wer­ryck suc­cumbs to sleep, his exhaust­ed state high­lights a sig­nif­i­cant shift in his char­ac­ter. Once a fig­ure of pow­er and con­trol, he now appears weary and dimin­ished, a sym­bol of the toll the con­stant strain has tak­en on him. The frag­ile calm is soon dis­rupt­ed when Tom Skint arrives, announc­ing their depar­ture from the ship. Despite his dis­com­fort, Wer­ryck musters the strength to rise, dri­ven by a force that com­pels him to press for­ward. The crew, sens­ing the urgency, fol­lows as they make their way through the ship’s cor­ri­dors, though Wer­ryck stum­bles, his deter­mi­na­tion evi­dent despite his phys­i­cal decline.

On deck, Skint’s com­mand for every­one to return to their quar­ters is met with apa­thy, as the crew remains large­ly unaware of the grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion. A heavy rain begins to pour, fur­ther ampli­fy­ing the sense of unease and ten­sion among the group. The appear­ance of Mar­cel, a fig­ure seem­ing­ly in charge despite his jan­i­to­r­i­al role, adds anoth­er lay­er of com­plex­i­ty to the grow­ing tur­moil. Skint’s attempts to impose order become increas­ing­ly inef­fec­tive as the crew begins to ignore his com­mands, vacat­ing the ship at will. The esca­lat­ing con­flict reach­es a boil­ing point when Skint attempts to assert con­trol, but the atmos­phere is charged with resis­tance, and the guards, under pres­sure, begin to lose their grip on the sit­u­a­tion.

As the con­fronta­tion inten­si­fies, the guards dis­arm, and a chaot­ic stand­off ensues, cul­mi­nat­ing in Skint fir­ing his weapon, unin­ten­tion­al­ly injur­ing an inno­cent guard and seem­ing­ly wound­ing Mar­cel. This vio­lent out­burst ignites a des­per­ate strug­gle among the crew, and in the chaos, Skint is thrown over­board after a tense encounter with the pro­tag­o­nist. This piv­otal moment marks a dra­mat­ic shift in pow­er dynam­ics, as the crew, fueled by adren­a­line and des­per­a­tion, ris­es against their for­mer author­i­ty. The col­lapse of Skint’s con­trol sig­ni­fies the begin­ning of a new chap­ter for the crew, one where they must nav­i­gate the uncer­tain waters ahead, free from the restraints of their pre­vi­ous lead­ers.

In the midst of this chaot­ic lib­er­a­tion, Wer­ryck, despite his ago­niz­ing con­di­tion, plays a cru­cial role in help­ing free the impris­oned crew mem­bers. His actions, despite his weak­ened state, serve as a reminder of the resilience and deter­mi­na­tion that remains with­in the crew. Amid the grow­ing unrest, Hazel, anoth­er key fig­ure among the crew, takes on a lead­er­ship role, attempt­ing to ral­ly every­one as they face the uncer­tain­ty of aban­don­ing the ship and head­ing toward the cruis­er in the stormy night. This chap­ter mas­ter­ful­ly bal­ances moments of cri­sis and sol­i­dar­i­ty, as the crew faces an uncer­tain future, but with a glim­mer of hope amid the chaos. The ten­sion between despair and hope pro­vides a pow­er­ful back­drop to the nar­ra­tive, illus­trat­ing the com­plex­i­ty of their strug­gle for free­dom and sur­vival.

The chap­ter con­cludes with the protagonist’s emo­tion­al tur­moil as they part from famil­iar faces, reflect­ing on the upheaval that has just tran­spired. As they process the dra­mat­ic changes in their lives, the pro­tag­o­nist is filled with a sense of loss, but also an emerg­ing sense of lib­er­a­tion. The air is thick with des­per­a­tion, yet there’s a bit­ter­sweet under­tone of hope as they step away from their for­mer lives, now left behind in the tur­bu­lent wake of their fight for sur­vival. This final scene encap­su­lates the themes of trans­for­ma­tion, free­dom, and the dif­fi­cult choic­es faced in moments of cri­sis, leav­ing read­ers with a pro­found sense of both res­o­lu­tion and uncer­tain­ty.