Page 70 of In Too Deep
Noah gasped.His vision grayed at the edges.
He was stuck.His right leg was trapped between the rocks at an angle that made his knee scream.His foot twisted beneath him.
Noah’s headlamp had slid off and come to a stop a few feet away, shining just enough for him to see it wasn’t the path he’d come in on.The light flickered—the battery was running low.And he’d left his backup flashlight with Meg.The panic he’d been holding at bay crashed over him like a wave.
He was trapped in a shaft, alone, with his leg possibly broken and his light failing.
And somewhere in the darkness, Meg waited for him to come back.
Meg, who was counting on him.
Meg, who he’d promised he would return to.
He forced himself to breathe slowly and fight panic, to think through the pain.
He had to get free.
Had to.No choice.
Because if he didn’t, if he died here alone in the dark, that meant he’d just sentenced Meg to die alone in the dark too, with the water rising around her.
Noah braced his hands against the walls and pulled with everything he had.The pain shot through his body like lightning.
But the leg didn’t budge.
He tried twisting, pushing down instead of up.Anything to shift the angle, to create space.
Nothing worked.
His headlamp flickered again, the beam weak.Dimmer now.Almost gone.
Then it went out.He looked up, but the kink in the shaft stole any light he’d been able to see from the surface earlier.
He was in absolute darkness.
Meg checked her watch for the fifth time in five minutes.The LED display glowed green against her wrist—a small circle of certainty in the oppressive darkness.
Forty-seven minutes since Noah had disappeared into the blackness.
What if he’d fallen?What if he’d come across another flooded cavern?
She shifted position and tried to find relief from the cold seeping through her pants.The limestone beneath her was unforgiving, with each ridge and depression mapped against her spine.
Her headlamp beam swept across the chamber again.She cataloged the same empty shadows, the same tunnel opening where she’d last seen him—black maws that swallowed light and offered nothing back.The same unconscious kid lying too still on Noah’s jacket.
Except—
Alex’s eyelids fluttered.
Meg scrambled forward, her knees scraping against grit and loose pebbles.Her medical training snapped into focus.“Alex?Can you hear me?”
His eyes opened slowly—unfocused and confused.His pupils were still slightly dilated but reactive.
Good sign.
He blinked several times, his gaze bouncing around, not really focusing on anything before finally settling on her face.
“Who…Where…” His voice came out as a croak.He tried to sit up.
