Hot Zone by Ben Lovett

Are you the only one?" Ice said
    "They're all gone, all of 'em." Hawk winced.
    The men fell silent for a second as they crawled along the duct before coming to a large intersection where each man could stand.
    "We have to blow that room, and that duct." Ice said.
    "We have to head up, guys, take that duct to the right, lets go lets go." Hawk barked.
    He waited until Ice and the two soldiers were safely in the duct then pulled out two grenades and sent them flying down the duct and into the room from where they'd just crawled.
    In the room, the two Turks never had a chance. With the smoke unbearable they had little air and even less visibility. They never saw the grenades roll out of the vent and come to rest at their feet.
    A flash of white was the last thing they saw. The room exploded, a fireball shot through the duct, Hawk saw it coming and had a split second to dive into the duct behind Ice before it erupted into the intersection.
    The four men crawled like lizards, wriggling their way down one duct, then another. They were heading for the rear of the main living quarters, hoping to god that there would be a way out. The smoke was beginning to fill the ducts behind them. It was obvious to Ice that the ship was now on fire and out of control. The problem with that was if they didn't reach water before the fire made it to the oil tanks they were finished.
    Finally, after what seemed an eternity they reached the main ventilation shaft that housed a small utility ladder, leading up about fifty feet. Tired, beaten and choking they struggled up the small ladder, wrung by wrung until finally: fresh air. The first beaten Soldier burst through the hatch and found himself on the roof of the living quarters. For a moment the air tasted fresh until the scent of burning oil wafted up around the building. As all four men emerged more than a hundred feet above water level they had a decision to make. Try and survive the jump or make their way to the deck and hope they got off the ship before the Turks caught up with them.
    Their question was answered for them when a volley of bullets zipped past them from below; three Turks had opened fire from the main deck of the ship. There was no choice.
    "We gotta jump guys, feet first, relax your bodies." Ice ordered.
    There was no hesitation, all four men jumped together, leaping off the roof so they would clear a small part of the deck below. No sooner had their feet left the roof it exploded in a fireball of steel and wood. The fire had reached the ships fuel tanks, used to power much of it's systems and had ripped the entire living quarters apart. Even the men on the bridge were blown through the windows by the explosion.
    The ship was going down, oil began spewing out of it's ruptured hull and begun burning on the surface of the water. Each of the four men floated to the surface, blazing debris raining down around them. "Swim guys, we gotta get out of here, swim."
    Hawk was gasping for air. "Ice, something's wrong, I, I can't...breath."
    "What?" Ice swam over to Hawk.
    "My ribs, my ribs." Hawk was struggling to stay afloat.
    "No, no, come on Hawk. Ice grabbed onto his friend and began dragging him clear of the boat. To the soldiers he pointed, saying: "That way, our getaway is that way."
    The soldiers paddled slowly in the rough waters.
    Ice had even more trouble as he labored through the waves with Hawk clutching onto him. He had been thrown off by the explosion and had hit the water sideways, breaking most of his ribs, at least one of which had punctured his lung. Ice was not going to let him go, no matter what.
    In the increasingly smaller background the oil tanker was rocked by explosion on explosion, the oil continued to burn, the fire snaking it's way around the tanker on the ocean surface. Ice could not stop thinking about the fallen SEAL's they had left behind, he was devastated by the loss and what compounded the feeling was knowing he could not bring back their bodies. It was always