The rumble of machinery, the men's voices, the crashing waves, and the distant blare of ship horns drowned out Rum's thoughts. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the blinding light continued to burn through his eyelids. Hissing, he tilted his head away.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Damn it! Turn off the fucking light! If you're going to kill me, what do you need it for?"
"We heard you're a crazy bastard!" someone shouted back. "Just sit there and wait! You're going to die anyway. No need to rush!"
Rum's face soured. "Fuck you!"
"Fuck you too!" the same man yelled before returning to his conversation with his colleagues.
Rum lowered his head, trying to escape the glare. Even with his eyes tightly shut, the harsh white light still penetrated his eyelids.
He listened, straining to make sense of their muffled conversation over the machines and the sea, until a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his shoulders.
He froze.
