Page 86 of When the Silence Breaks

The man’s eyes widened, and he moved out of Ryder’s path. “Where’s Kepler? Maddox?”

“Behind us.” He rushed Sarah forward into the decontamination tent.

“What ... what are we doing?” she asked.

“We can’t leave until we’ve decontaminated. And we need to get out of these suits.”God, please let us find winterwear.They wouldn’t survive without it.

They stumbled into the decontamination tent. A tech in partial gear rushed toward them, already holding thick decon wipes, steam rising faintly from the chemical solution that kept it from freezing.

“Stand still,” he said. “I’ll wipe you down.”

He scrubbed Ryder’s suit in fast, practiced swipes—arms, chest, back—then moved to Sarah.

He clawed at his helmet seal.

“Wait—what are you doing?” the tech snapped.

“There’s no time.” Ryder’s voice was hoarse. “Avalanche risk. We have to move—now.”

The ground trembled beneath them. The tech hesitated, then tossed the used wipes aside and backed away. “You’re on your own.”

Ryder yanked off his mask, cold air stabbing his lungs. The oxygen hissed from the release valve. He dumped the SCBA and suit and helped Sarah get clear of hers. Then he assisted her in getting out of the boots, and she was left with nothing but the thermal socks like him.

“Through the flap,” he said, dragging her behind him.

Gear was stashed to the side. He had this one moment of relief and dragged in a breath. He couldn’t fathom that Maddox would allow them to survive, but their coats and hiking boots were here waiting, along with a backpack—survival gear? Maybe ... that had to have been Dean.

He pulled his coat on over the layers he’d worn under thehazmat suit and found the vial from his grandfather in one of the pockets. Dean had made sure Ryder had that too. He was grateful for one more breath, one more chance. Maybe they would make it out alive after all. He grabbed the survival pack and stuffed the canister inside, along with the vial from his grandfather, but kept them separate.

Dean had saved them. Given his life for them. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the man’s heroic actions. A deep, thunderous crack rocked through his bones, and the ground shook.

Thirty-Five

The earth heaved beneath her, like the ground itself was breaking loose. She pitched forward, then caught herself, spread her arms out to keep from falling, but her efforts failed. She tumbled forward and landed on her hands and knees. She might have to crawl out of here. Terror coursed through her, choking out the sudden rush of tears.

We’re going to die!

“Go! Go! Out, now!” Ryder gripped her arms and pulled her to her feet. How was he even standing?

They burst through the tent flap into the chaos, snow and ice slicing their faces as the roar of collapsing snow crashed toward them from behind, chasing them. He tugged her out of the tent in the nick of time as it crumpled behind them.

Sarah tried to keep up with Ryder. Reid’s men scrambled, running for their lives. A quick glance behind had been a mistake. Terror gripped her at the sight of the mass of snow rushing toward them, almost as if the mountain itself had come down. Fear curled tight, coiling around her gut until she thought she couldn’t move. In fact, she might not have moved if it weren’t for Ryder. He was moving for the both of them, trying to get aheadof the avalanche. His determination inspired her in the face of this hopeless race against crushing, suffocating ice-cold death.

“We can’t make it!” she shouted. Hadn’t she?

Ryder couldn’t have heard her over the roar of the avalanche, the tons of snow that had finally dropped from the cornice—the same one he’d been warning against repeatedly. It was like a rolling white wall that loomed above them, slamming down the mountain toward them, a deathly gavel enacting a judgment of its own.

“Ryder!” She couldn’t breathe as fear choked her. Paralyzed her.

“This way!” He gripped her wrists and shifted her body to the side, turning her perpendicular to the slope, then practically dragging her forward, away from the tents, the plane, the men ... everyone and everything that made up the impromptu containment operation. The place would soon be buried, along with the wartime aircraft filled with its deadly haul.

If this was one of those moments where her life should pass before her eyes, it was more of a big, white blur. It didn’t help that she was still breathless from the burn of decontamination chemicals because they’d removed their suits too quickly. But if they’d waited, they wouldn’t have made it out with the slimmest chance of survival—and that had been Ryder’s call.

Behind them, snow roared and raced, a fluid and larger-than-life tsunami that would soon overwhelm them. Only, they couldn’t float to the top or survive. Instead, they’d be buried alive and the air crushed from their bodies.

Sarah’s stomach dropped, and then her boots slipped in the churning snow. Ryder again reached for her.

This time she took his hand and wouldn’t let go. “We can’t outrun it!”