AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Police! Drop the weapon!" Finn yelled, knowing full well Sandler wouldn't comply.
Gunshots rang out, bullets pinging against the hood and shattering the windshield. Finn ducked instinctively, heart pounding, as he floored the accelerator. He aimed straight for Sandler, a desperate bid to end this here and now.
"Dammit, don't make me do this," he whispered, bracing for impact.
But then, something unexpected—a blur of motion from the side. Amelia must have doubled back, having seen the car. Undeterred by danger, she launched herself at Sandler, her body colliding with his in a tangle of limbs and fury. All this as Finn's car hurtled towards them both.
"Amelia!" Finn's pulse spiked, hands jerking the wheel to the left to avoid hitting Amelia. The car skidded on wet gravel, sending a spray of stones into the air as he fought for control.
Finn slammed the brakes, the vehicle fishtailing before it slid down a sharp incline. His world somersaulted into a dizzying plunge, the car nosing down into the icy embrace of a vast watery grave. His ears popped with the pressure as murky water gushed in through the seams of the door, hungrily swallowing the interior of his vehicle. He clawed at the seat belt release, his fingers slipping on the button, panic flaring deep within him.
"Come on, come on!" Finn gasped, pressing the button again and again. His breaths were ragged bursts, white clouds in the chilling water that rose steadily, threatening to silence him forever. But the belt wouldn't give.
Above the surface, muffled by the water that now filled the car, came the sound of gunshots—each one a dull thud against his eardrums. The windscreen starred, lines etching across the glass before it gave way, sending shards into the water like fractured pieces of ice.
"God, no!" he spat out, expecting the cold steel kiss of a bullet next. Instead, the cold touch of death was the water itself, seeping into his clothes, pulling him down. He was now completely submerged and unable to breathe.
He tugged at the seat belt once more, muscles straining, when another sound pierced the watery veil—a gunshot, louder, closer, followed by the sensation of something colliding with the sunken car.
Who's there?He thought, bubbles rising to the surface from his mouth, his last gasp of air escaping. Finn's eyes stung as he tried to see through the dirt-water gloom.
The seat belt still wouldn't release. And now he knew how he would die, cold and alone by the side of a road.
Amelia, he thought. He wished he had told her how he felt. Every other worry in his life melted away but that one. That was his greatest regret.
Finn's lungs burned with the need for oxygen, his vision blurring as he fought against the murky depths. The cold grasp of the water was unyielding, but it was a glimpse of movement within the chaos that caught his gaze—a figure, struggling, contorted in an unnatural dance with death, and yet swimming towards him.
It was Amelia “Go back!” he shouted in the water, bubbles escaping his lips as he recognized her form.
Amelia reached down with her silken white hand and pushed against seat belt release switch. Now, Finn knew the truth. The inside of the car had been twisted by the crash, parts of it jutting out like metal splinters, and the seat belt had jammed with it.
That was when he saw something in Amelia's other hand. She aimed a gun at the seat belt release and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot, warped and strange, sounded, and the seat belt was free.
Amelia help Finn out, his lungs ready to burst if he couldn't get a breath. But as he clambered through the windscreen and was now just inches from the surface, he heard a panicked noise. Turning, he now saw that Amelia was in trouble. Her foot ensnared by the wreckage that had once been their refuge on four wheels. His heart thundered in his ears, not with fear, but with resolute determination.
With all the strength that was left to him, Finn pushed back, climbing into the submerged car once more. He reached her, his fingers tracing the twisted metal that held her captive. It was as if the car itself had turned predator, its steel jaws clamped firmly around her.
In the dim underwater light, he saw Amelia's face, tight with pain and effort. Her eyes met his, a silent understanding passing between them. They had always communicated best without words, two halves of a single purposeful entity.
She tugged at her leg, unable to see from the angle how she was stuck, bubbles streaming upward from the exertion.
Finn looked down and saw the problem. He only had seconds left to live. He had to get this right. Wedging his hands into the small gap between two metal pieces that had locked around Amelia's foot, he shoved his hands forward. The sharp edges bit into his flesh, the iron taste of his own blood mingling with the brackish water. But this was no time for pain or hesitation.
He tensed every muscle in his body and clenched his teeth, and with a Herculean effort, he wrenched the metal apart. The sound of rending steel was lost to the water, but he felt the give as Amelia's foot came free.
They grabbed each other, pulling through the windscreen and then pushing their legs against the car.
Together, they kicked toward the surface, shadows of the junkyard looming over them like specters of a mechanical graveyard. Finn's chest screamed for air, every stroke fueled by adrenaline and the unspoken promise that he would not let the murky depths claim either of them.
So close, Finn thought, his mind clinging to that singular goal as the light above grew brighter, promising life and breath.
They broke the surface, gasping, the world returning in a rush of sound and cold air. Amelia coughed violently, spitting out water, her hand gripping Finn's arm with a strength that belied her ordeal.
"Are you..." Finn began, water streaming from his face.
"Alive," Amelia interrupted, her voice hoarse but steady. "Thanks to you."
They shared a look, one that spoke volumes of the ordeal they had just survived and the bond that had formed between them—a bond not even the steely jaws of death could sever.
