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"It must be escapable." He twisted to look around. "Anita climbed down here."
"Jumped. There's no ladder." I shone the light around the sides. "Despite the stench, I don't think it's a sewer." I moved the light ball to one side, where a corpse floated. "There are more. I tried to give CPR to one, thinking it was you."
"Corpses?" He looked up at the hatch.
"From up there, I'd guess. Failed experiments dumped into a pit filled with floodwater. Anita knew what it was and jumped in to avoid the gas. It must have been shallower than she figured. Probably bumped her head and drowned, and I'm not going to look for her."
"Savannah?"
It was Adam's voice, so distant that I almost missed it.
"The cavalry arrives." I raised my voice. "Hey! About time, guys!"
"Savannah?" Adam called louder, his tone telling me he hadn't heard my reply.
"Down here!" I yelled. "We're--"
"Adam!" Jeremy shouted.
The explosion hit like a sonic boom, the sound coming a second later, a deafening roar, as I was falling back into the water. Water sloshed around me. As my arms windmilled, something hit my head, shoving me under. I thought it was Bryce and I reached up to knock him away, but my hands brushed wood, splinters digging into my fingertips.
I fought my way up. Plaster and wood and fist-sized chunks of concrete hailed down, battering me under the water again.
Another explosion boomed.
I broke through the surface and kept going up, not realizing I was out, darkness still surrounding me.
Darkness.
I looked up. The hatch was gone. Then a huge chunk of plaster fell and light shimmered through.
"Adam?" I yelled. "Adam!"
Another crash. The house collapsing. More debris raining down. The hatch going dark again. Staying dark.
Silence.
A bomb. The final solution. Bring the house down. Destroy everything.
thirty-eight
"Adam!"
I floundered toward the wall screaming his name. My nails dug into the cement sides, scrabbling as if I could get up there, get to him, somehow get to him. Blood welled up, my fingers sliding in it.
"Savannah . . ." Bryce came up behind me.
I pounded the wall. Pounded it until my fists ached. Tears streamed down my face. My throated burned from screaming.
"Savannah . . ." He touched my shoulder.
I wheeled on him, bloody fists raised.
He started to shrink back, then stopped. "If that'll make you feel better . . ."
I snarled and turned back to the wall, feeling along it now, desperately trying to find some fingerhold, some bumps and holes I could use to pull myself up.
"We need to get out of here," Bryce said.
