“One, two, three?—”
They moved together.Meg’s hands supported Alex’s head as they carefully rolled him onto his side, then maneuvered him up and over Noah’s shoulder in one smooth motion.
Alex remained limp.A dead weight that made Noah stagger before he found his balance.
Meg quickly adjusted the harness, her fingers working fast.She threaded it under Alex’s arms and around his torso, pulled it snug, then tied it to the rope across Noah’s chest with a square knot.
“How does it feel?”She watched Noah’s face.
“Heavy.But manageable.”He took a few experimental steps and found his center of gravity.“I’ll need to rest periodically, but I can do this.”
Meg picked up her medical bag and Noah’s small pack with their essential supplies, then slung both over her shoulders.
Water.First aid.The headlamp batteries.A granola bar she’d forgotten about.
Everything else would have to stay.
She cast one last look around the chamber.At Jeremy’s photographs slowly being consumed by the rising water.At the place where they’d found Alex unconscious, now ankle deep.
This had been a crime scene.
Now it was becoming a tomb.
“Stay close to me.”Noah started toward the dark opening on the far side of the chamber, each step careful.“If something happens—if the passage gets unstable—you tell me immediately.”
“I will.”Meg followed, her boots splashing through shallow water now.It was cold.Shockingly so.And she felt it seeping through the leather.
Behind them, the steady splash-splash-splash of the stream continued.
They reached the mouth of the passage and stopped at the threshold.
Noah shone his headlamp into the darkness.
The tunnel was narrow.Maybe four feet wide at best.And the ceiling dropped to around six feet within the first several yards.
Noah would have to crouch, bend nearly double.And with Alex’s weight on his shoulders, every step would be a challenge.
“Last chance to tell me this is a terrible idea,” Noah said without turning around.
Meg looked back at the chamber and swept her light beam across it.Over the water spreading across the floor like spilled ink.
She glanced over to where they had seen the chest of gold.
Underwater now.
Maybe they could come back in when the chaos was over.
Assuming they made it out.
Noah ducked into the passage, his body folding.
Meg followed with shallow breaths.Her hand trailed along the wall for balance.Her other hand clutched the medical bag.
The sound of dripping water followed them—a reminder of what they were running from.
But ahead, somewhere in the maze of tunnels and shafts, was the surface.Freedom.
Daylight.The gray sky would look like heaven.
