18 - Under The Rising Water

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"John b! John b! Hey, guys! Help! Cleo! John b!" I shouted, banging the walls with pope

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"John b! John b! Hey, guys! Help! Cleo! John b!" I shouted, banging the walls with pope. We both clung to the ladder near the top, voices bouncing around the stone chamber. My throat already hurt from yelling, but the panic kept pushing sound out of me.

"Help! Help!" I yelled again.

"Can anyone hear us?! The waters rising, we're gonna drown! Help!" Pope shouted beside me.

"Please help!" I begged, because begging felt better than admitting I was starting to shake.

Then-
I froze.
"Pope, shh, did you hear that? Please tell me you heard that" I said

"Anyone?!" I yelled again, and a second later a loud crack echoed above us. Dust rained down through the small gap.

We both shielded our eyes.
"Get down, get down" pope ordered

"Oh my God" I muttered, scrambling downward as fast as the slick rungs would let me.

"Get out of the way!" I heard cleo yell from the other side right as Pope and I hit the ground.

More dust. More cracking.
More please don't let us die down here whispering through my head.

"John b!" I yelled, coughing.

"John b! Cleo!" Both pope and I shouted, voices raw.

The banging grew louder, stone breaking apart piece by piece. Tiny rocks hit my shoulders, rolling toward my feet-
Where I saw movement.

Rats.
So many rats.

"Oh God- nope, no rat rat rat. I hate rats" I mumble, stumbling back.

"At least it's not a snake" pope said-

And that was exactly when the entire opening collapsed inward.
I yelled and jumped back as the slab slammed onto the ground, dust exploding upward like smoke.

I coughed, hard, covering my mouth as my eyes stung.

"Hey you guys!" John b shouted from above.

"Hey guys, grab the rope. You better hurry. There might be rats or snakes down there" cleo said

I grimaced at both options but grabbed the rope anyway.











I sat in the passenger seat of the Twinkie, door open, still trying to catch my breath as John b stood in front of me looking like the world was collapsing at his feet.

"I was gonna pull the trigger. Right in the street. What the hell was I thinking? I mean, how am I any different from my dad? I was... I was gonna do it." John b said

"But you didn't, John b. That's the difference. Nobody got hurt. And you didn't hurt anybody." I said softly.

He turned and leaned against the side of the boat, face tight.

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