With the last of his strength, Liam kicked out the emergency exit window, shoved a spluttering Jahmin into the open air and scrambled up next to him. The front of the bus had been torn away, and the back section was now on its side, pitching and bucking its way downriver. The two panicked boys sprawled precariously on top, clinging to the window frame.
‘Was there anyone else alive in there?’ shouted Liam. Blood was trickling into his eyes. He must have cut his head, but he hadn’t noticed, couldn’t even feel it.
‘I dunno! I thought I heard someone, but I’m not sure.’
Liam lowered his torso back through the empty window, Jahmin grabbing one of his legs to keep him steady.
The black water surging through the bus was littered with debris and the noise was deafening. Liam thought he saw something pale fluttering a few seats back. He squinted, and made out a hand moving, and an arm wrapped tightly around the back of a seat.
He pulled himself up and shouted, ‘There’s someone in there!’
‘Bro, you can’t go in!’ Jahmin yelled, his hand still clamped around Liam’s leg.
‘Don’t!’
‘I have to.’
Liam became extraordinarily calm. Once, when his old man had come home for Christmas after months in some dusty war zone, Liam had asked him why he did it. How could he leave his family and friends and his easy, comfortable life, to help a bunch of strangers far, far away? His dad had twisted the top off a bottle of beer, sculled back a long swallow, and finally said it was what he had to do to go on living with himself. It hadn’t made much sense at the time, but it did now. This was what he had to do, or he’d regret it forever.
‘Liam!’
Liam had already shaken off Jahmin’s hand. He crawled along the top of the bus, clutching at whatever handholds he could find, his legs spread wide for balance. He skirted around one window and made his way to the next. Most of the safety glass had shattered into little cubes, and he was able to punch through it and lean down into the dark.
‘Hey! Hey!’
All he could hear was the water smashing against the side of the bus. He shouted again. The bus scraped past an outcrop of rocks and lurched alarmingly, tipping him further in. He grabbed onto a seat, pushed back, and managed to keep some kind of balance. Maybe he’d made a mistake; maybe he hadn’t seen anyone at all?
He was about to twist up and out when he spotted a figure, almost concealed among the twisted mass of seats and metal. It was Eugene. A purple bruise on his jaw stood out in stark relief to his white, terrified face.
‘Help!’ Eugene spluttered, water dashing him in the face. ‘My leg’s stuck!’
Liam stretched out his hand. With a massive effort, Eugene unhooked his arm from the back of the seat and reached for Liam’s. Their fingers touched.
Above him, Liam could hear Jahmin shouting something. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.
‘I can’t reach!’ Eugene cried.
Jahmin was now screaming the same word over and over, and the bus was gathering speed.
Liam hesitated.
‘Please!’ Eugene’s outstretched arm was shaking with effort.
Liam pulled his hand away and swung himself up into the open air.
Jahmin was still clutching the window frame, his wide-eyed gaze fixed downriver. The gorge had narrowed, the current was rushing faster and faster, and there was a terrifying booming noise. The bus was hurtling towards what looked like thin air.
Only it wasn’t. It was a waterfall.
Liam reached for Jahmin’s hand and held on tight. Together, they jumped.
