Page 31 of Waves of Fury

She hands me the wooden handle and I trade it for the first aid kit. After we count off, we suck in air before submerging ourselves. I swim out the door of the supply closet, careful to look up and down the hallway first. Kicking my legs hard, I dart past the break room that remains empty. My broom—as I’ve learned since going under—is held out in front of me, ready to be used as a weapon.

Still no Kyle.

The water remains hazy with blood when I return to the area I last saw Brian. Rather than swim through it and risk running into the shark, I swim along the wall toward the open stairwell door.

Before I reach it, the dark shadow whizzes in front of me through the door. I stop swimming and tread water, glancing over at Frannie. Her eyes are wide with panic. Before we figure out what to do next, the shark thrashes its way back through the doorway, its tail fin slamming into the doorframe on its way out. It disappears and then charges for me. I raise the broom up and attempt to stab it as it nears. It skirts past me, crashing into the wall and grazing me as it passes.

Groaning and crumbling sounds resound all around me a second before the water goes cloudy gray. Concrete scrapes along my outer arm, causing me to cry out in pain. When I twist around to look for Frannie, I can’t find her.

The wall must’ve come down.

Fuck.

Something touches my leg and I jerk away from it. It touches me again, encircling my ankle. It’s a human hand. I break free and then dive deeper to find the source. When I see Frannie, I nearly sob in relief. But only for a second.

A huge hunk of concrete crushes her leg to the floor. I let go of the broom to try to move the heavy piece off her. It won’t budge.

No!

I start frantically trying to yank it off to no avail. Panic and lack of oxygen have my vision turning dark. We’re so screwed.

Frannie grabs my jaw and forces me to look at her. Then she hands me the first aid kit. I shake my head in vehemence, but she’s already pointing toward the stairwell for me to go.

I can’t leave her.

We already lost Brian. We can’t lose her too.

“Go!” she yells underwater, expelling the last of her breath.

She hits me with her fists in an effort to get me to leave until her arms grow weak and then float around her. Open, lifeless eyes stare back at me.

I consider giving up right now.

Just suck in water and give in to my fate.

We’re never going to survive this shit. Our lives are over. Why keep fighting it?

Kellen will be so upset to have lost two of his employees.

Will he be upset to lose me too?

Yes.

Plus, he still owes me a mega tip.

I attempt one more time to push the concrete off Frannie but fail. With the last of my energy, I swim toward the stairwell. A swell of water surges through the building as I’m going through the doorway. The door slams against my lower back, making everything go black for a moment.

When I come to, I’m disoriented and unsure where I’m at. With no air left and my vision tunneled, I swim in the direction of where I think I can escape the stairs and grab some air.

I almost make it.

So close.

Then I stupidly suck in a breath, but it’s not oxygen.

It’s water and I’m fucked.

Everything goes black for good this time.

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