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 anyway, some primal instinct refusing to let me stay quiet even as my voice began to crack.

"Help! Help!" I yelled again.

"Can anyone hear us?! The water's 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, the cold water climbing steadily higher against my legs with every passing second.

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, my hands slipping twice against the damp wood.

"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, over and over, like a prayer I didn't quite believe in but needed anyway.

"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, my skin crawling at the sight of all those small, quick shapes skittering along the base of the wall.

"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, choking and gray and impossible to see through.

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

"Hey you guys!" John B shouted from above, and relief crashed through me so fast and total I nearly sobbed at the sound of his voice.

"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, my hands shaking as I wrapped it tight around my palm and let them pull me up into the open air.







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