Page 171 of Hell and High Water

“Fuck! No lights.”

But in the glow of our tail lights I catch movements a split second before we get rear ended. Tell’s ready this time, taking the hit and keeping the wheel steady. Stomping on the gas, he takes a turn at breakneck speed, veering us onto the final stretch of road before it heads up the steep slope and up onto the level of the reservoir.

“We need to lose them!”

“How? There’s only one road,” I protest, looking back into the darkness. No sign of them.

“I have an idea…” Tell mutters, flooring it up the incline.

That’s when I see it, the first signs of water, cascading onto the road to our left. Another roar has me frantically glancing around before I realize what it is.

Rolling down the window, the sound is deafening.

Like Niagara Falls.

And this water beside us must only be a fraction of the main outpouring.

We clear the top of the rise just as two black SUVs come out of the darkness behind us, forcing Tell to turn to avoid getting hit again. He skids the truck hard, our tail end flinging up spray as the rear tires hit water.

One SUV slides, tipping over the lip of the incline and sliding down into the water. The rush of the river drags the vehicle off faster than I can even process.

“One down…”

But the other SUV is coming at us too fast.

Tell guns it, jerks the wheel to send us back the way we came. The corner of the black SUV clips us.

Tires screech.

I hear myself screaming.

Tell shouts, throwing out an arm across my chest as we donut out away from the north side of the road and the water, back toward the drop above the road we took up here.

And right over the side.

32

EVAN

An ear-splitting roar reaches us through the trees long before we reach the base of the dam.

The explosion rocked the ground a few minutes before, nearly sending us off the road.

We’re too late.

Now it’s a gamble of whether another one might go off or that the damage done will get worse with each passing minute. The risk of our getting swept off is a very real possibility.

Neither of us addresses it as Gavin guides us off the road and through the sparse trees along the Eastern side of the reservoir’s retaining wall.

The sound here is beyond deafening.

Plugging our ears, we step out onto rumbling earth, the sound as much a sensation as anything, vibrating deep into my chest.

Wide-eyed, we lock stares for a moment before we simultaneously snap back to reality.

We’re in over our heads.

A short hike gets us within sight of the damage.

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