Breakneck was surrounded
by four lakes, Ptarmigan, Grant, Crescent, and Kenai. The biggest of the four was the Kenai. It ran parallel to the main road through town and up the mountain to Camp Hope. That road, or at least the portion where Hatch and Tracy had been sitting, dropped fifteen feet. Mud was the only view from the crushed front windshield. The vehicle was nose down. The ground swallowed the front end.
Hatch was slammed about the cabin when the ground shift occurred and came to a final resting place mashed into the dashboard with her left forearm wedged between the dash and shattered windshield. She worked her arm free, ignoring the pain of sliced skin. After clearing bits of broken glass that had penetrated her jacket and her flesh, she assessed herself. Minus some minor lacerations, she had no broken bones and was, by all accounts unharmed.
A low grunt came from Tracy, his voice imperceptible over the water rushing in. Hatch could feel the frigid water battling against her water-resistant boots as she twisted to face Tracy.
"How bad?" Hatch asked.
Tracy was bent forward, holding his left leg at the knee. "Dislocated. No break. Tracy roared as he yanked his ankle free from the pedal. His lower leg dangled loosely.
The sound of rushing water was replaced by another. Wind howled through the broken SUV. Hatch's eyes widened when she saw the source. As she adjusted to the disorienting darkness, Hatch realized the wind whipping against the outside of the SUV preceded a massive wall of water. The normally placid Kenai sent a tidal wave their way. And it was closing in fast.
Hatch looked at the injured Tracy and then at their escape route through the Land Rover's rear window. She was out of what she needed most. Time.
"Brace for impact!" Hatch climbed into the backseat. She wedged herself between the seats but kept her body loose. Tense muscles and locked joints meant tears and broken bones.
The sound was deafening, like a hundred firehoses hitting at once. The Land Rover held its ground. Or better yet, the ground held the Land Rover. The raging water met the wall of earth like a boxer's punch, landing an overhand right to a heavy bag. And Hatch and Tracy were smack dab in the middle.
The reinforced frame maintained the vehicle's structural integrity. The bullet resistant windows survived. However, the shattered front windshield was all but washed away. Muddy water flooded the interior compartment.
"Where's your gun?" she yelled.
"Center console." He mashed a black button set inside a panel of lacquered wood. Nothing happened. His face reddened. "Low profile admin bullshit."
Hatch positioned herself with her back to the rear window. She lowered the middle row and squeezed in. Hatch braced the inside of her forearms against the seatbacks. "Be ready to move when I breach that window!"
Hatch delivered a mule kick. The shock wave resonated from her heel along her spine. The window remained intact.
"Those windows are designed to take a hell of a beating, but they are also designed for rapid egress. With the weight of that water, you're gonna have to kick like hell." Tracy yelled as the water worked its way past his waist. He grunted as he climbed into the backseat compartment. Tracy rested against the back of the passenger seat. Debris from the river floated across the surface.
Cold water surged into the cabin, sounding like a mini-Niagara Falls. The front of the vehicle was completely submerged. Hatch figured they had less than a minute until they would be drowned. As Hatch braced for another kick, something stung her left arm. She reached down and found another piece of glass. Hatch pulled out a shard no bigger than her thumbnail. She was about to toss it when she had an idea.
The dark, muddy water surrounding the Land Rover on all sides continued to rise. Hatch stuffed the piece of glass into her right boot heel. She shot her foot backward. A deafening crack sounded. Shattered glass gave way to a waterfall of brown river water.
She was cast in an icy darkness. Hatch held her breath and felt her way over to where Tracy had been. She swung her arm in search of him, instead finding the leather of the passenger seat where he'd been only a moment ago. Desperate, she continued to search the empty seat.
Hatch twisted herself through the seats where she'd been wedged. She swam down deeper where she found him unmoving. Hatch moved quickly, navigating her way by touch. She worked an arm under his shoulder. Using the seatback for leverage, Hatch hoisted the Talon commander into the backseat. Her lungs burned. She fought through the pain, clawing her way to the back.
Just as Hatch got herself through the rear window, the ground shifted with the sound of grating metal and tossed the Land Rover to the left. Tracy slipped free. Hatch lost contact. Her lungs hit the point of no return. She launched herself upward, springing off the door.
As Hatch broke through to the surface, she inhaled as much water as air on her first breath. Her lungs screamed in rebellion. On the second inhalation, she was replenished enough to make the dive.
The back end of the SUV was six feet below the newly formed waterline. Hatch pulled her upper body through the window she'd just extricated herself from. Tracy lay against the backseat. Hatch pulled Tracy up. She dipped to his midline and, with a burst of effort, shoved him up and out of the rear compartment. Her lungs burned worse than before. She hadn't grabbed enough oxygen. The hypoxic effects started to cloud her mind.
Hatch pulled Tracy tight to her body and stood up on the back end. She then squatted low and brought him over her right shoulder. Hatch exploded with all the force her body could muster.
She broke through to the surface with Tracy. Her left hand clawed at the dirt as she climbed to the road. Bits of asphalt broke off, and she slid down along the mud wall and back into the water.
Hatch kicked her feet until she felt the Land Rover under her again. She pushed off once more as the SUV sank deeper into the widening crevasse. The last-minute shifting of the vehicle threw off her momentum, and she slammed into the mud beneath the road.
She tore fresh hand holds into the mud and climbed with Tracy slung over her shoulder. Her head broke through the churning water. She inhaled deeply. Rejuvenated by the oxygen, she threw her arm onto the wet asphalt. She adjusted Tracy's body to keep his head above water. He had a gash on the side of his head, which bled heavily. His dead weight was stopping them from reaching the summit.
Tracy then coughed wildly. His convulsions yanked Hatch downward. She lost her contact with the road's surface and was riding a mudslide into unforgiving floodwater. Tracy pulled her down into the black water. Her head submerged again. Hatch raked her hand across the earth wall, desperate to find purchase amid the churning water. There was none.
She refused to release the man. Hatch continued to fight. As the Kenai River pulled them under water, something yanked Hatch upward.