Page 91 of Sheltering Instinct

Levi was down to the teacher and Mojo.

The school was breaking apart with every wave.

The water was up to Levi’s mid-shins.

“Send Mojo up next,” Tess called. “There's a place for him near the bridge pylon, and no one else will fit in there.”

Levi squatted to gather Mojo into his arms and moved him to wrap his neck, leaving his hands free. “I’m going to take Mojo up,” he told the teacher. “I'm coming back for you. I’m not abandoning you. I'm coming back.”

The teacher nodded vigorously, her teeth chattering.

The school banged and lurched, and now the teacher was in the fast-moving waters up to her thighs, with nothing to hold on to for balance.

Levi grabbed the rope and, hand over hand, hoisted himself up as fast as he could.

Tess, straddling the beam, reached for the handle on Mojo’s tactical vest.

Ducking his head, Levi pushed Mojo toward Tess, not letting go until Mojo scrambled toward the spot Tess had picked for him.

“No, Mojo, no. Go there.” She pointed.

Mojo seemed to get the idea. It wasn’t an easy space to get into and fit. Mojo waggled and strained, grunted and growled to get himself up underneath. As soon as he was positioned, Levi went back down to find the teacher clinging with both hands to the rope.

The three empty jugs held her chest high enough in the water that her face wasn’t in the current.

There was no schoolhouse to be seen.

“Give me your hand,” Levi yelled, reaching for her.

She was obviously terrified.

“Grab my hand!” he ordered.

She was in a state of freeze. Levi had experienced it himself. It’s a terrible feeling to think that you might die because—while your brain is processing and begging the body to cooperate with the right action—in freeze, no action is possible.

He moved farther down the rope, closer to the swelling waters.

Catching hold of her wrist, she continued to grip the end of the rope, looking wild-eyed.

With the teacher dangling from his left hand, Levi was grateful for the knots in the rope. He placed his boot on the knot and then shoved his weight into his feet. He slid his right hand up above the next knot. Again and again, he crawled higher.

The teacher was still in shock, clinging to the end of the rope, when Tess reached out and grabbed her. Tess helped maneuver the woman to a spot on the beam.

With the roar of water beneath them, his normal voice sounded like a whisper. “Tess, you never told me—will it rain?”

“Yes, it's coming.”

“And this bridge is made of concrete. It's not going to hold up. I can already see side fissures forming from the pressure of the water. We've got to get people on top of the bridge and see if we can't get help. I don't know what's up there. So I need to go see for myself and make a plan.”

Levi pried the teacher’s fingers from the rope, tied it to his waist on one end, and tied the other end to the undergirding.

Tess reached out to stop him. “No, what are you doing?”

“Tess, up is our only hope.”

“Up then.” She tipped her head back. “How do we do that?”

He looked around. “I have no idea.”

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