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In charge, my ass For about the billionth ti wasn’t Peter or Chris He’d only just turned fifteen He was having a hard enough ti the truth! It was me, it was just me-- Aaahhhh!" Dale shrieked as Aidan’s antenna razored ht down to bone "Jesus Jesus Je--"
And that hen Greg felt the earth move
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As one wall of the tunnel cracked apart and the rock gave way, Alex screaht shoulder was a fireball of red, liquid pain, the tendons and ht her skin would rip, the ar Wolf ’s forear fro, fraying, unraveling, breaking, and the two of theed above were trying to pull them up They probably couldn’t, because of the current She was barely holding on, and the pain was building, her shoulder trying to co would let up!
Unless it doesn’t The water had dropped to just below her knees but no further Must be filling almost as fast from somewhere else The rope had swayed left, and there it stayed, drawn to the dooht fixed to the end of a gigantic pendulu on--
I should let go An insane thought, but one that, under the circuic I’et us both killed
A jolt She felt the quiver down her arm and into her teeth Above, she saw Wolf ’s head jerk and then his left foot slide up the rock wall Another jolt, and now she could see, quite distinctly, that crude harness tighten as he ainst a lip of protruding rock that she could’ve sworn had been a good four inches above his Was it her iination, or had the water fallen, just a little? They’re trying to pull him up But if this was the best they could do, it wouldn’t be nearly enough Could shewould help Co the clutch of all that water As if sensing what she rip around her wrist and pulled, working to lift her just a little higher--
The earth suddenly heaved She could feel the pressure of it In the next moment, there was a crack and then a BOOM, like thunder Debris skittered over the rocks; to her right, jagged seams suddenly splayed Sos spread in a star, hurtled past in a sudden hail of stone He hit the water not twenty feet away, although she couldn’t hear the splash over the roar The boy bobbed to the surface, and then one hand appeared to claw at air His jaw unhinged, ed was lost as a gush of water flooded down the boy’s throat The claw-hand tightened to an agonized fist His bulging eyes rolled back to the whites A moment later, the boy was jerked under and away
There was a sudden lurch The tension in her screaht, Oh hell She looked back up, then gasped Wolf ’s face was a ive his head a groggy shake His ar their breaking point
He’s going to lose it Instead of the panic she expected, the realization brought a certain cal his neck to save her So the math was simple, the equation neat If she wanted to live, there really was only one way
Help hietting her boots out of
il sa jbick the water Her knees bunched; she felt the crahsand her feet inched up Not h Yes "Coether; she felt her belly tighten, her neck muscles cord with the effort You really didn’t appreciate how thick, hoerful water was until you had to fight it To Alex, it felt like gigantic hands were cupping each heavy heel, but either she inning or the water level was dropping Same diff "Co thighs tried to relax, send her legs pistoning down Gasping, aware that she was truly swaying now and free of the water, she caught herself just in ti apart in Wolf ’s grasp, the water surging only inches away and ready to grab her again, take her down for good