Deep Dark Blues

Chapter 20- Drowning takes two

"No! No! No!" Reed yelped, stretching her hands to find leverage, but the void remained just as empty as it was before. There was nothing to grab... To pull herself up... She was freefalling into the dark maw of the beast.

Feeling the temperature drop, her fingers grazed the darkness before an unknown force pulled her backwards, something wrapping around her foot. She bellyflopped into the sandy slope, causing a cloud of sand to blur her vision. Her head crashed into the dune, something inside the helmet clicking.

With her throat finally clear, Reed was ready to scream and fight for her life against the unknown presence, but Ryan's voice interrupted her attempt to defend herself.

"I got you! Reed! I got you!" he breathed, pulling her across the sand and back towards the flat surface of the bridge. Her heart fluttered like a caged bird, a little canary looking into the dark maw of the beast beneath her.

Finally, with the last pull, Reed found herself laying flat on the sand. Ryan was sitting right beside her, red in the face and heaving. Reed rolled onto her stomach, fighting for every breath she took with the tightness in her chest.

So close...

It had been so close and she would have been lost...

She squeezed her eyes shut.

So close...

"The fridge?" Ryan breathed out, a hint of hope colouring his voice.

Reed didn't look at him, keeping her eyes closed to spare herself from seeing the disappointment on his face.

"No... It fell..."

She distantly heard a dull thud right beside her.

"Fuck..."

"I am sorry..." she mumbled.

"No... It's... It's fine..."

He nudged her with his foot, causing Reed to open her eyes.

"Let's go... Before that thing returns..."

Reed took his outstretched hand, fingers gripping his palm tightly while he pulled her up.

"W... What even was that?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't see... I think it was some fish..."

Reed exhaled shakily, remembering the sheer force she was pushed with. Whatever it was, it was big and strong... And she didn't want to find out anything more about it.

Her fingers grazed the defence button.

"Don't press it... At least not yet..." Ryan warned.

Reed's fingers curled into a fist, hand hovering above the pulse generator before she finally let her hand fall to the side. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

"What do we do now?"

Ryan seemed lost, looking between the direction of the Storage and the Vault. They had a decision to make, one that couldn't wait... Would they return? Or would they dare to venture even further into the abyss?

Ryan's fists tightened, his posture straightening up.

"We go to the Storage..."

Reed's eyebrows rose, mouth falling open before closing like a fish.

"Storage? I thought you-"

"We are going... That's final..." he muttered, already walking away from her.

Reed stood there, stunned by the harshness of his voice.

She could easily sense the blame in his voice, Ryan silently accusing her of sentencing them to death... And she couldn't blame him for it. That was perhaps the worst part of their predicament, that Reed couldn't hate him for getting snarky with her. She hated that despite everything she'd promised to herself, she still sympathised with him.