Page 351 of Hidden Depths
Mom’s hands closed around his shirt.
“I can walk.”
“I know.”
But Nathan didn’t release her.
Ward moved toward the hidden passage.
Ben caught his arm.
“The floor is dropping.”
A crack split the concrete between them.
Black water surged through it.
“Everybody out!” Ward shouted.
The narrow storage room erupted into motion.
Ben took the lead.
Ward pushed me behind him while Nathan kept one arm around Mom’s waist.
We reached Room Fourteen as another tremor shook the cannery.
The chair toppled.
The painted window shattered inward.
A bullet struck the doorframe.
Ward dragged me against the wall.
“They’re still here!”
Ben returned fire through the broken window.
“Two on the upper walkway!”
Nathan pulled Mom behind the metal shelving unit.
She gripped his arm.
“They’re trying to keep us inside.”
“Why?” I shouted.
Mom looked toward the water spreading across the floor.
“Because opening the gate floods the lower tunnels.”
The roar beneath us grew louder.
Ward fired twice.
A man cried out.
