Clay barrels toward the opening with me still in his arms.
The steel doors grind lower.
Almost shut.
Too small now—
“No no no—!”
Then Clay launches us forward.
We hit the flooded concrete hard and slide beneath the descending blast door barely seconds before it SLAMS shut behind us with a deafening BOOM.
Silence crashes through the tunnel.
Everyone breathing hard.
Children crying softly.
Water dripping.
Alive.
We’re alive.
For one long second nobody moves.
Then the little girl in my arms starts sobbing against my shoulder.
And that finally breaks the tension.
Russ exhales hard.
“Jesus Christ…”
Lucas leans against the wall clutching his bleeding shoulder.
Mason laughs once.
Half-hysterical.
“We actually made it.”
Not all the way.
Not yet.
Because ahead—
cold moonlight reflects across moving water.
The Dâmbovi?a River exit.
Freedom.
Clay slowly helps me back onto my feet.
His hands stay on my waist an extra second longer than necessary.
