Adapt and Survive || Splinter Cell: Conviction (Book)

Chapter Four

The water was bone-chillingly cold. So much so that it sucked what little breath Sam had gotten right out of his lungs. He struggled against the thrashing current, finally finding the floor beneath him enough to push off and get his head above water. But it was only there for a moment before he was forced back under again. And then, out of nowhere, the floor dropped out from underneath Sam. He threw up his hands desperately, searching for anything to grab ahold of. His hand met a hard piece of metal and Sam clamped down on it instinctively. Once his body jerked to a stop, Sam could finally take in the extent of his predicament.

The water had come from the ballistics wing, the C4 obviously set as a trap to flood the complex and drown anyone trapped inside. It made sense. The secret bunker must have been situated next to Lake Frolikha as a means for cooling in the ballistics department. Now the lake was flooding in.

On initial impact, the force of the water had blasted through the half-wall on the edge of the ramp. Sam was lucky not to have taken the full brunt of the crashing wave. Rather, he had been knocked down by the spreading froth and swept up in its residual current.

Sam had slipped over the edge of the hole the water had created and was now grasping onto a piece of rebar that was jutting out through the gap, his body dangling just low enough beneath the waterfall that he could draw breath.

Unfortunately, he didn't have many options. He couldn't fight the torrential flood pounding down on him and the cold was sapping his strength with every second. He would have to let himself fall. But there were only a few inches of water at the bottom, a foot at best. Sam knew he couldn't land on his feet. He only had one good leg and there was no way it could take the full impact. He would have to land flat then. And hope that there was enough water to break his fall.

Sam held on for as long as he could, but the raging current was so strong that it was a mere thirty seconds before Sam's grip failed him and he went plunging into the water below.

He hit the surface hard. As Sam smashed into the now few feet of water, he could feel his broken ribs spear through his side, a scream ripping from his lips. Bubbles whipped past his face and Sam snapped his jaw shut to keep from losing any more precious oxygen.

The blurry world reeled and Sam lost any sense of direction as he was caught up in the vortex eddying at the bottom of the waterfall. There was nothing Sam could do to fight it. The current took him where it pleased and was none too kind to him along the way. He bashed into the ground repeatedly and was buffeted by the contents of the ballistics wing emptying from above. Battered and losing oxygen fast, Sam grappled onto the first thing his hands came into contact with. Once the world stopped spinning, it became apparent that Sam had grabbed onto one of the concrete pillars, was clawing onto it by his fingertips, his body billowing with the current like a flag caught on a high wind.

By now his lungs were burning. He needed to get to the surface.

So Sam started sidling upward, shuffling his hands up the ledge inch by agonizing inch, the water rising in a cruel game of cat and mouse as Sam sought the air above. The water had risen to six feet by the time he was able to break the surface. Sam gasped in a lungful of air, but the water surged over his head almost immediately. With a monumental effort, Sam climbed a few more inches and hauled himself forward as if he were doing a pull-up. His shoulder barked at him, but he leashed in the pain. He would soon drown if he couldn't pull in a proper breath. Straining against the current, Sam kept himself above the water, the roaring from the waterfall deafening a few yards away.

A faint noise caught Sam's attention and he did his best to locate its source, but he couldn't move his head around very much in his current situation. Then he heard the noise again, louder this time, coming from above him. It was the team, calling out to him. Sam swiveled his head around to look and just caught sight of their faces leaning over the wall above him before his grip slipped with the movement and he plunged back beneath the surface, only just managing to hold onto the pillar.