Chapter 9 - The Depths
The impact with the water felt like hitting a brick wall.
The metal walls groaned under the immense pressure as the container plunged beneath the surface.
Freezing water began pouring in through the ventilation vents, rising rapidly around our ankles.
Chloe screamed, clinging to my arm in absolute terror.
Titan was barking frantically, splashing in the rising water as it reached his knees.
"The doors!" Roman yelled, wading through the rising tide toward the heavy latches.
He strained against the metal locking bar, his muscles bulging, but the water pressure outside was too great.
The water was up to our waists now, freezing my limbs and slowing my movements.
I dove under the water, feeling around the floor until my hands brushed against a heavy iron crowbar left behind by dockworkers.
I surfaced, gasping for air, and handed it to Roman.
He wedged the iron bar into the door latch, using every ounce of his strength to pry it open.
The water reached our chests.
Titan swam over, using his massive head to push against Roman’s back, adding his brute strength to the effort.
With a deafening shriek of bending metal, the locking mechanism finally snapped.
The heavy doors blew open, and a violent rush of ocean water completely submerged us.
I grabbed Chloe’s hand and kicked furiously toward the faint moonlight filtering through the dark water.
My lungs burned for oxygen, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision.
Just as I thought I was going to drown, my head broke the surface.
We were floating next to a massive, anchored barge in the middle of the bay.
Roman hauled me up onto the rusty deck, then pulled Chloe and Titan out of the freezing waves.
We collapsed on the metal grate, coughing up salt water and shivering violently in the wind.
Roman crawled over to me, grabbing my face in his freezing hands, and kissed me with desperate, adrenaline-fueled relief.
I kissed him back, tears of survival streaming down my face.
May you like
Suddenly, a blinding spotlight swept over the barge, catching us in its glare.
The barge was drifting directly alongside Elias’s private luxury yacht, and fifty armed men were pointing their rifles right at us.
