Then his hand finds mine again.
Strong.
Certain.
“I’ve got you!”
The relief almost knocks me apart.
The pipe suddenly curves hard left.
Everybody smashes into the wall together in a violent tangle of bodies and rushing water.
Miles curses loudly.
The little girl cries out.
Russ grabs Lucas before the current can pull him farther ahead.
Gabriel somehow stays upright through all of it.
Of course he does.
Former Sentinel survivors apparently came with terrifying balance under disaster conditions.
The pipe shakes violently around us again.
Then—
light.
Tiny at first.
Far ahead.
Oh thank God.
An exit.
“We’re close!” Eli shouts.
The current speeds up even more.
That is not comforting.
At all.
The pipe suddenly narrows.
The water pressure builds behind us.
My medical brain catches up first.
“Oh no.”
Clay looks down at me sharply.
“What?”
