Because if she stands here another thirty seconds, this tunnel’s going to bury her alive.
Hannah climbs into the runoff pipe carefully.
I stay directly behind her.
No exceptions.
The water is freezing.
Fast-moving.
Pitch black except a flashlight beam bouncing across wet concrete.
The pipe is barely wide enough to crouch through.
Claustrophobic as hell.
Ahead, the little girl whimpers softly.
Nora immediately starts talking to her quietly to keep her calm.
Humanity surviving again.
Everywhere.
The pipe suddenly shudders violently.
Everybody freezes.
A deep grinding sound echoes behind us.
Then Gabriel curses.
“What?”
His voice goes sharp.
“RUN.”
That’s all the warning we get.
A wall of water explodes into the drainage pipe behind us.
The collapse just breached the river system.
The tunnel floods instantly.
Ice water slams into my back hard enough to nearly throw me forward.
“HOLD ON!” Russ roars somewhere ahead.
The current surges violently around our legs.
Hannah slips.
I catch her instantly, one arm locking around her waist before the water can drag her away.
The pipe shakes around us.
