Literary Works & Exclusives

The wheel shook beneath William’s hands as the sedan jumped the curb.

He caught the steering wheel with both palms and missed the yellow light by less than a second.

The engine screamed in the heat.

His phone buzzed against his ear.

Static.

Then Jean’s voice.

“William! Where are you?”

“Five minutes.”

“Is she breathing?”

William’s eyes flicked toward the empty child seat in the back.

His daughter’s pink sweater was still hanging from the buckle.

“She’s breathing,” he said.

He didn't know if that was true.

He had heard Jean say Elena’s name three times before the line filled with a metallic shriek.

Now all he could hear was water.

Not rain.

Water moving with the weight of something that had been given permission to break loose.

“Tell me what happened.”

“The filtration system locked.”

William tightened his grip.

“Locked?”

“We got an update from Europe at three this morning. Routine maintenance. Nothing unusual. Ten minutes later the pressure valves started closing.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

“Open them manually.”

“We tried.”

Jean coughed.

“The controls won't accept manual input.”

William hit the horn and drove around a delivery truck blocking half the road.

“Jean.”

“The screens said the tanks were empty.”

A pause.

“They weren't empty.”

The metallic scream came again.

William heard something break.

“They were full,” Jean said. “Pressure kept climbing.”

“Where's Elena?”

“At the east station.”

William's foot went harder on the accelerator.

“The explosion tore through the pump bay. She's trapped.”

The line crackled.

“William, the doors

“What doors?”

“The emergency doors locked from the outside.”

William stared through the windshield.

For a moment the city seemed to move without sound.

A digital billboard at the next intersection was frozen on a blue screen.

ERROR.

A bus sat crooked across two lanes.

Three men stood beside it, looking down at their phones.

No one was moving.

“Jean.”

“I can’t get to her.”

“I'm almost there.”

“The system thinks there’s a leak.”

“So?”

“So it sealed the building.”

William looked at the clock.

“Five minutes.”

“William—”

The line died.

He threw the phone onto the passenger seat.

Ahead, the Mirebalais water plant appeared through a veil of gray smoke.

The fence gate stood open.

That frightened him more than if it had been locked.

He drove through it.

The tires struck gravel.

The sedan fishtailed.

William slammed on the brakes.

He was out before the car stopped moving.

Smoke rolled over the roof of the plant.

The front doors were sealed.

Above them, a small red display blinked.

SECURE MODE ACTIVE

William hit the glass.

“Jean!”

Nothing.

Then movement.

Jean appeared behind the doors.

He was soaked from the waist down.

Blood ran from his forehead.

He lifted both hands.

William couldn't hear him through the glass.

Jean pointed toward the interior.

Water.

William saw it moving down the corridor.

Then Jean pointed at the red display.

He shook his head.

No.

William stepped back.

He looked at the door.

Then at the iron security bar mounted beside the emergency equipment cabinet.

He ripped it free.

“Move!”

Jean disappeared.

William wedged the bar into the seam.

He pulled.

Nothing.

He pulled again.

The muscles in his arms tightened.

The lock didn't move.

Inside the building, something groaned.

William looked up.

The glass trembled.

“Come on.”

He planted one boot against the wall.

Pulled.

The magnetic seal flickered.

For one second, the red light turned amber.

Then green.

The door exploded outward.

A wall of gray water struck William in the chest.

He went down.

Cold swallowed him.

His shoulder hit concrete.

He rolled, gasping, and came up on one knee.

Jean grabbed his arm.

“Pump room!”

“Where?”

Jean pointed into the dark.

William ran.

By the time they found Elena, the water had reached her waist.

She was pinned beneath a section of collapsed railing.

Her left arm was trapped.

William dropped beside her.

“Elena.”

To Be Continued...