Alecia was screaming and howling almost louder than the water gushing in. Navy leapt to Holden’s side and added her strength to try to close the hatch. Holden strained with everything he had and he knew Navy and Ollie were doing the same, but it wasn’t enough. The water was up to his chest now and Taya, Navy, Alecia, and Jorge would soon be swimming. Ryan might already have drowned. He was floating facedown. Holden made a quick decision.
“Ollie, lift Ryan’s face out of the water.”
Ollie grunted his disgust but stopped pushing at the hatch and yanked Ryan over onto his back. Ryan was still passed out and his head wound was making the water pink. The emergency light attached to the floor was glowing eerily and food and supplies were floating around them.
“We can’t close the hatch and we can’t stay in here. I want everyone to get as close to the ladder as you can. When the shelter is flooded the current will stop and I’ll push you through one at a time. We’ll pop up in the theater. Swim for the highest tier and stand on the couches.”
He could only pray the theater wasn’t completely flooded as it was built lower than the rest of the house. There was no light coming in from the hatch where the water kept pouring in. He checked his watch. Three a.m. Daylight would be hours off.
Everyone nodded their agreement, obviously seeing they had no choice. Except for Alecia. She was screaming so loud Holden hoped the rest of the group had heard his instructions.
“Alecia,” Navy grabbed her arm. “Stop!”
Alecia finally stopped screaming, stared at her with wide eyes, and pointed at the flow that wasn’t slowing down. Holden had a sliver of hope that there wouldn’t be too much water in the theater and the flow would stop, but there was plenty of seawater rushing in.
“We’ll be fine,” Navy insisted. “When the water gets almost to the ceiling, take a breath, and then Holden will push you through.”
Holden appreciated Navy’s calm manner, and her willingness to deal with Alecia. “Yes, take a breath right before the water fills the shelter. If you feel like you need to suck in air when you’re under, blow out bubbles very slowly and it will help ease the pressure.”
“What if the theater is flooded?” Michael asked.
Holden sucked in a breath. There was no way to answer the question without freaking them all out. If the theater was flooded … most of them would drown.
They were all looking at him with terrified expressions. Even Navy looked afraid.
“We’ll be okay.” Holden chose to ignore the question. “Ollie, you hold onto Ryan. When I push you out let him go and I’ll bring him with me.”
Ollie nodded bravely.
“We’ll go in this order: Alecia, Taya, Navy, Jorge, Michael, and then Ollie.” He wished he could send Navy first but she was so tough she didn’t so much as blink at the order.
“Why do the girls get to go first?” Michael whined.
“Don’t,” Holden warned.
“They claim they want equal rights,” Michael muttered.
Holden silenced him with a glare. It wasn’t worth his time to teach the kid a lesson in manners. His mama had trained him to respect and protect women. If a woman chose to take offense to that, it was her choice, not his.
“Get close,” Holden commanded. “Try to get a hand on the ladder if you can.”
Everyone crowded in, fighting against the flow of water from the hatch, averting their faces so they didn’t get splashed too much. Ryan’s body bobbed away from them, but Ollie kept one hand on him and grasped a spot on the ladder with another hand, after making sure Taya was clutching it. It was easier to hold on to the ladder now that it was mostly under water and the flow wasn’t as strong under the water. Even with their heads turned away, there was plenty of water splashing their faces. The salt water stung Holden’s eyes, but that couldn’t be helped.
Tense seconds passed and the girls and Jorge could no longer touch the floor. Luckily the buoyancy of the seawater and holding on to the ladder rungs kept them from having to tread water.
The emergency light still shone. This situation would be much harder in complete dark and maybe the light gave them all some comfort. Holden prayed silently and focused on Navy’s beautiful face. Her lips were set in a grim line and her blue eyes shone with determination. She was a fighter. Her bravery both impressed and inspired Holden.
The water was getting closer and closer to the top of the shelter now and those holding lower on the ladder were having a tough time keeping their faces out of the water. Holden doubted Ryan would survive, and he felt guilty for being so harsh on him.
Alecia cried out in terror.
“It’s okay,” Holden managed. “Turn your face toward the ceiling. We’re almost out. I’ll yell when it’s time to take a deep breath.”
Alecia whimpered but at least didn’t dissolve into another screaming fit. Holden waited and struggled to keep his own face out of the water and not swallow too much of what was being splashed. It was rough with the water still pouring in from the opening. Just a few more seconds and he could take a deep breath and go under. He had loved being in and under the water his entire life, but what he wouldn’t give for some scuba gear right now.
He prayed everyone would get out safe and wouldn’t freak out. He’d have to wait a few seconds before the bunker was completely flooded and he wasn’t fighting the current to push Alecia out.
“Deep breath!” he yelled then took his last gulp of oxygen and went under. He blinked and could see the cloudy faces of everyone around him. He hoped they worked with him and didn’t lose it like Ryan had. Especially Michael. The kid was almost as big as Holden and hadn’t reacted very well down here.
Waiting for the flow to even out was torture. Long seconds passed as he stared into their frightened gazes and prayed desperately. Finally he felt the water flow slow down. He grabbed Alecia’s arm and nodded to her. She released the ladder and he shoved her up. As soon as her feet cleared he pushed Taya up. Navy launched herself upward, so he only got to give her an assisted push. Jorge and Michael quickly followed, using the ladder’s rungs and Holden’s help to get out. His lungs were screaming for oxygen, but everyone was moving up out of the chamber so he could only pray they were surfacing and finding oxygen, not a flooded theater room.
Holden blew out bubbles to ease the pressure in his chest. He pulled Ryan from Ollie’s grasp; Ollie used the ladder to push himself and he was gone. Holden tried to shove Ryan’s body up but it floated and lodged sideways in the opening. He pulled on Ryan’s legs and pushed on his head to straighten him, bracing himself on the ladder with his legs. The body didn’t clear the opening. Holden’s lungs were about to explode. Self-preservation hollered for him to leave Ryan and push his way out. The man was probably dead already.
Leave him! A voice in his head was screaming.
Holden couldn’t do it.
Navy’s head burst the surface of the water and she gulped in glorious oxygen. It was hard to see anything in the darkened theater, except for the glow below her from the shelter. She said a quick prayer of gratitude that the theater hadn’t been flooded.
“Alecia? Taya?” She called.
“We’re out. We found a couch to stand on,” Taya called back.
“I’m out too,” Jorge’s voice.
A body popped up next to Navy.
“Me too,” Michael said.
“Ollie?” Taya yelled.
“I’m good.”
“Holden?” Navy tried to keep the terror out of her voice. Glancing down she could see that something was blocking most of the glow from the emergency light. Something was wrong. He should be out. “I’m going back to help him.”
She didn’t wait for their answers but took a deep breath and swam furiously down to the sunken main floor of the theater. She could see Ryan’s body blocking the opening and Holden’s hands trying to manipulate him. She grabbed Ryan’s head and tugged. He didn’t budge for a few horrible seconds and she prayed Holden wouldn’t run out of oxygen.<
br />
One of Holden’s hands appeared by Ryan’s torso. Navy wrapped her hands under Ryan’s armpits and pulled. His body popped out and they both rose up. Navy wanted to release him and go back for Holden, but she feared they wouldn’t find Ryan’s body again. Was he already dead? Holden had stayed down there, possibly sacrificing himself for all of them. He was the best man she knew, on level with her daddy and brothers. Please save him, Lord, she prayed desperately.
Her head popped the surface and she pulled in a breath and screamed, “Somebody take Ryan.” She was going back for Holden.
A form rose next to her, visible from the slight glow of the emergency light. Holden’s head broke through the water. He gulped in air and then called, “Navy!”
“I’m here.”
“Oh, thank the good Lord.”
Navy blinked back tears, relief and joy coursing through her. “Yes!” she agreed, saying a pray of gratitude as sincere as her prayers for help had been seconds before.
“Is everybody out?” Holden asked. He tugged on Ryan’s body and Navy let him go and treaded water with both hands.
“Yes,” Ollie answered him.
“Come toward our voices,” Taya insisted. “We’re standing on the couches on the top level.”
Navy swam that direction as Taya kept encouraging. “Come on. You got it. Come on.”
When she stepped onto the couch and was only in water up to her chest, more relief poured through her. Soon everybody was talking excitedly about getting out and how terrifying it had been, praising Holden for being so brave. Navy completely agreed. Even Alecia sounded positive and relieved, not freaked out.
Navy could feel Holden next to her, but he was the only one not saying anything. He was examining Ryan. Navy shuddered. Had Ryan drowned through all of that?
“Is Ryan … alive?” she asked.
“He’s got a pulse, but he’s not breathing,” Holden responded, worry evident in his voice. “Can you try to hold him while I start rescue breathing?”
She grabbed Ryan’s inert form and wished they had better lighting. The fact that the only light was coming from the shelter below concerned her. Did the lack of light coming from the theater door mean it was night outside or was something blocking the door? She wanted to check her watch for the time but was busy holding Ryan.
She could feel and hear Holden breathing into Ryan’s mouth, but she feared they would need to do chest compressions to have any hope of getting him breathing again. That he still had a pulse was encouraging.
“Could we push him against the wall and try to do chest compressions or somehow expel the water in his lungs?” she asked, trying to remember her training from college. It was sadly outdated.
“Good idea,” Holden responded.
The theater wall was right behind the couch. Navy felt other hands helping them lift Ryan’s body and pin him against the wall. She prayed for the man’s life to be preserved. She could hear Holden pushing against Ryan’s chest. Would it be enough? It would be hard for Holden to get leverage in this water. She heard a rasping sound and then felt the force of Ryan vomiting seawater. It smelled disgusting, was disgusting, but she really didn’t care.
She waited with baited breath and finally Holden said, “He’s breathing.”
The group sent up a ragged cheer.
“He’s still out, though,” Holden muttered. “Let’s float him on his back and I’ll monitor his breathing and heartbeat.”
Navy was a take-charge kind of person, probably from being the oldest of six and then succeeding and becoming an expert in a very competitive field, but having Holden take charge right now was a blessed relief.
A few seconds passed as they all peered into the darkness, only broken by the glow down below in the flooded shelter. Navy shivered and could hear someone’s teeth chattering nearby. The water wasn’t that cold, but it was definitely lower than their body temperature and chilling all of them when they weren’t moving.
“Ollie,” Holden broke the eerie silence. The theater was a protected spot in the house with no windows, but when they’d been in here before she’d been able to hear the storm raging outside. Was it still thrashing the house or had it calmed? “Will you hold Ryan, please? I’m going to swim out of here and see what the situation is in the rest of the house and if the storm has died down.”
Navy reached out and hit Holden’s side. She kept feeling until she grasped his arm. “Don’t. Wait until it’s light outside and you have some direction.”
Holden leaned in closer to her. “Are you shivering?”
“Well … yes,” she admitted, being wet and not moving had her shivering. “But we can tread water to keep warm. Maybe daybreak is only a little way off.”
“It’s three a.m.” Holden told her.
“I’m f-freezing,” Alecia said.
Navy clung to Holden’s arm, praying he wouldn’t pull away from her. Having him stuck under Ryan in that shelter had taken years off her life. She couldn’t just sit here and wait for him to return.
“Ryan has lost blood with his injury and isn’t able to tread water. I have to find a way to help him.”
Navy loved him. She shouldn’t admit that even to herself, but she did. Ryan had been nothing but a jerk to Holden and here Holden was risking his life for him, again.
“I’ll be fine,” Holden reassured her. “Once I clear the theater door I should pop up in the hallway.”
The main living area had extremely high ceilings, but the hallways and bedrooms were more the height of a normal house. The theater had more clearance because it was sunken down.
“What if you don’t? The hallways could be completely flooded.”
Holden waited a beat and the tense silence ratcheted at her nerves. She couldn’t lose him. “If I don’t come out of the water in the hallway I’ll come back in and wait for daylight.”
“Promise?” Navy asked.
“Promise.” There was a hint of laughter in Holden’s voice.
“Don’t you make light of my worries,” Navy demanded.
Holden’s hands found her waist and he pulled her against him. “I’m not trying to. It’s really cute how concerned you are.”
“Just because you were a hockey player doesn’t make you invincible.” The warmth of his body close to hers was making it hard to stay mad.
“I was also a high school state champion in breaststroke and a lifeguard every summer for four years. I promise I’ll be fine.”
“And you promise you’ll hold on to the doorframe, and if you don’t find an air pocket in the hallway you’re coming right back to me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Navy felt her way up to his face and framed it with her hands. His hands lifted her closer to his strong body. She kissed him long and hard. The warmth of his lips and the sparks of their connection almost negated the fear and cold that were threatening to overwhelm her.
She pulled back and Holden said, “Wow, what was that for?”
“Rescuing all of us.”
She could hear some murmurs of agreement around her. She’d almost forgotten they weren’t alone in the dark room.
“You’ll get an even longer kiss when you come back to me.”
“Looking forward to it.” He squeezed her waist then released her and plunged into the water.
Navy cried out as she lost contact with him. She squeezed her eyes shut and did the only thing she could do—prayed.
Chapter Ten
Holden forced himself to pull away from Navy, take a deep breath, and dive under the water. They had gotten Ryan breathing again, but he didn’t think the guy would survive unless they somehow got him dry, warm, and tended to his head. Holden used the location of the rear theater wall and the light still glowing dimly from the bunker below to aim for the door. He reached the wall and felt along it for a few feet. Nothing.
Rising to the surface, he took a couple of breaths. The group along the back wall didn’t say anything and he didn’t know if they knew he was
still here or not. He was certain he was in the right position. He went down and kept working his way to the right. Finally he felt the space of the doorframe and pulled himself through. Obeying Navy, he held on to the doorframe and worked his way up on the hallway side. His head didn’t break the surface. He thought the hallways were eight feet so he’d probably have to let go to see if the water was all the way to the top.
Releasing the frame he kept his hand skimming along the way so he could get back quick if he needed, thinking Navy would cuss him out for letting go of that doorframe. His head popped out of the water and he gulped in air. Yes!
The main area would be to the right. He kept one hand on the wall and paddled with the other, kicking hard with his legs. He felt the absence of the wall as he passed the workout room, which had a higher door clearance than the sunken theater. Then he saw a very dim light ahead. Moving faster now, he prayed for help from above. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if the storm was still pummeling the house and pushing water in. His hope was the storm had calmed and he could somehow get a door or window open to drain the water. This house had been built so tightly he was certain it would have withstood the hurricane, except for that crazy anchor penetrating the window.
He kept feeling his way until the wall rounded to his right. Squinting, he could see the faint outlines of the exterior windows and the pool and patio beyond. The moon was behind the clouds but it gave enough of a glow to see outlines, especially with his eyes so accustomed to the dark. Holden was most excited that the waves weren’t coming up over the plateau and beating against the house anymore. The wind and rain were still pelting the windows, but the worst of the storm seemed to have passed.
He turned and swam back along the wall, though he found himself instinctively not wanting to plunge back into darkness and the trapped feeling in the theater. He ignored that selfish instinct and swam quicker, past the workout door, and when he thought he was in the right spot, he dove several times before finally finding the opening for the theater. Working his way down again he maneuvered around and popped back up on the other side.
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