I freeze.
Lyssa didn’t say, but I knew who she meant. The men who’ve been hunting us for days are here.
I’m screwed.
We look each other in the eye and then scramble back down the drain. We hit the bottom and throw our bags on the sled and start running back to the blockage. We have no plan. We just started running without thinking. But Lyssa stops.
I turn back, and whisper, “No, don’t stop! We have to move!”
Lyssa whispers, “No, I think I have an idea! Give me the map!”
I roll my eyes and give her the map from my pocket. She takes it and quickly scans it. Then she finds where we are and gets really excited, and whispers, “Quick, follow me!”
She instantly takes off back in the direction of the bad guys, I try to protest, but it’s no use, and so I follow, dragging the sled behind me, cursing under my breath.
She passes the ladder we just climbed and keeps going. I have no idea where we are going, but I’m getting a little upset now. We need to be going back to the hatch and trying to find another way to the harbor—not wasting time going in the wrong direction.
Besides, the tunnel goes uphill and I’m really out of shape.
We keep running for about ten or fifteen minutes and finally Lyssa stops and looks around. I nearly drop to my knees; after all, I’m not used to running. Then she bolts off to the right of the tunnel and starts heading back up the tunnel, but along the side. I feel like my lungs are on fire. I’m beginning to think Lyssa is doing this just to get back at me. I grab the sled and follow.
Finally, I see a hatch on the right. Lyssa reaches it, spins the release and pulls it open. Then she darts in. As I approach, a light appears from the opening and I almost stop out of fear. But curiosity wins out and I open the door and slip in. I see a short passageway ahead of me that leads to another door that is now open. Beyond that is a room filled with light.
Lyssa shouts from within, “Close and secure both doors! And hurry up!”
Even though all I really want to do is collapse into a wheezing mess, I manage to yank the sled through the first door and secure the first hatch. Then I turn and pull the sled through the second door and secure it as well. The room is huge and filled with electric lights, though I have no idea where the power is coming from. I see an opening that leads to a ladder. I walk to it.
I see Lyssa clear the top and disappear over the edge.
I don’t care what she says, there is no way I’m going to lug that sled up there by myself. I drop the rope, grab the ladder and start to climb. Slowly. As every muscle in my body is screaming out for rest right now.
When I reach the top, I see Lyssa through big glass window staring at something on some kind of control board. I see a door to my left, which enters the room, but it doesn’t give me the motivation to move. But when I see the chair behind Lyssa, I move as fast as I can towards the door. I stumble into the room completely out of breath and energy, then fall into the chair. I’m totally spent. I really have to start exercising more.
In between gasps, I say, “Hey, what are you doing?”
“My dad showed me how to do this. He called it a weapon of last resort. There are these control rooms all along the spillway. They were built as emergency shelters, you know, in case workers were trapped in the tunnel when the dam let loose. But each one also doubles as a control room. If the main control room was ever compromised, workers could get to one of these and release the overspill valve. Which is exactly what I’m going to do!”
I jump to my feet, shouting, “You’re going to do what?”
“Calm down, we’re safe in here. Besides, if the doors fail, behind you is an escape hatch.”
I close in on her. “Then why are you doing this?”
“Trust me.”
I grab her arms. “Stop! Explain this to me first!”
Lyssa rips her hands away from me. “I know what I’m doing!”
“I don’t doubt that, but I don’t know what you’re doing and I need to know.”
Lyssa looks at me and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to having someone to—” She pauses, before continuing, “Look, I’m releasing the water to blow through the rubble out to the bay and clear a path right through to the harbor.”
I think about what she said—it sounds feasible. “What if the blockage just gets wedged in more. Then all that pressure is going to hit that door down there, right?”
“Two doors.”
I roll my eyes. “Sorry, two doors! Are you nuts! We would definitely drown!”
Lyssa sighs. “Look, we’re forty feet from the floor. If those doors blow, it’ll take thirty seconds for the room to fill up to our level. That’ll give us plenty of time to use the escape hatch.”
“Well, where is the escape hatch?”
“It’s usually a manhole or something like that. But it’s on the other side of that pressure door. We can’t open it unless the other doors are decompressed.”
“Well, can’t you just depressurize them so I can make sure it’s a viable escape path?”
“Yes, but we don’t have time.”
She hits a button and an alarm starts to ring.
“What did you do?”
Lyssa says calmly. “Relax, we’re perfectly safe. The spillway emergency valve is opening. Water is now racing the thirty-eight miles toward the blockage.”
“How much time do we have?”
Lyssa shrugs. “Twenty minutes, maybe less.”
“Then depressurize the door so I can check the escape hatch.”
“No way, I—”
I scream out, “DO IT YOU CRAZY BITCH!”
Lyssa cringes, “Hey, just because a woman takes a leadership role, does not make her—”
“DO IT NOW!”
“Okay, jeez, calm down. I told you we’re safe.”
She hits a switch and I feel the room depressurize, I grab the escape hatch release and spin it. I pull open the door and there is nothing but rubble behind it.
“Oh my god! I had no idea! I mean... I don’t know how that could have happened!”
I grab her hand. “Come on!” And pull her towards the door.
Lyssa yanks free. “Where? We’re screwed!”
I grab her this time more forcefully. “Come on! We have to get to the ladder!”
“We can’! The bad guys are there!”
“Then we jump on the sled and race to the other door. It might buy us some time before find another way up.”
I grab the sides of the ladder and slide down to the bottom, and Lyssa does the same. We grab the sled and race to the door. We rip it open, both of us barely slowing down. We throw the sled on the ground and then we both run alongside it. When we are running as fast as we can, we jump on. Both of us are using our legs to push it on faster. We just about reach the ladder topside when we first start to hear the rushing water.
“Faster!”
We frantically begin driving the sled on with our feet, I see the rubble wall first and yell out, “STOP!”
I slam my feet down and yank on the brake, but we crash into the wall of rubble anyway.
Lyssa is a bit shaken and tries to grab the sled. I grab one of the backpacks for her, then make towards the door. I throw her through it and slam the door, spinning the lock just as the water hits.
Both .22’s were on the sled, but there was nothing I could do. At least I still have the revolver.
I can hear the door groaning. I grab Lyssa and we start to run. We pass the ladder I climbed and couldn’t move the manhole cover, because I know that’s a dead end. We never could have squeezed through the storm drain or budge the thing. So we run on. We hit another ladder going up and I’m tempted to skip it, because it looks exactly the same as the other ladder did from below.
But I hear the door burst behind us. “Up, let’s go!”
I send Lyssa up first and I bring up the rear. The water is close; I can feel the air rushing past my ear. I see Lyssa above me trying the manhole to no avail.
“Try to squeeze through the storm drain!”
“But you’ll never fit!”
“But maybe you can clear the crap covering the manhole!”
She scrambles out the tiny hole and then sticks her head back through. “There’s nothing there! It just won’t move!”
I climb up and hand her the pack I grabbed, and try to wiggle through the storm drain. But it’s no good. Even though I am a skinny little twit, I’m just too big.
I grab the manhole cover and push as hard as I can with my arms and legs. It doesn’t move an inch.
I scream at Lyssa, “LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO PRY IT WITH!”
I climb higher and slam my shoulder into it, I’m hoping the combined strength of my legs and arms can move it. That’s when I feel the water.
It rushes up at me like a bullet in a gun. In a flash, I’m totally submerged in water. But, miraculously, I can see the force of the water is lifting the manhole cover a bit. So I push up with all my strength and it moves enough for me to begin to slide it out of the way. Suddenly, it is ripped from my hand and moves off to the side and I feel two hands grab me by my collar and pull me to safety.
Next thing I know, I’m lying on the ground, panting and coughing up water at the same time. It takes me a few moments to look up to thank Lyssa for saving me. I can’t believe how strong she is. I have to remember to not get her too angry with me.
I turn and see Jacques standing there, looking down at me, smiling.