Page 112 of High Water

But the bats have other ideas, flying straight for us as we block their exit and forcing us both to duck down. The other son uses this chance to jump me, knocking us both to the ground in a manner that sees my gun scattering across the floor out of reach. I look for the sheriff, hoping he’s close by and capable of either using it or tossing it to me, but he’s gone. As the son and I struggle over his gun, we cause it to misfire, ricocheting off the walls and down the echoing stretch of the tunnel.

We turn over one another, rolling from one side of the tunnel to the other as we fight to get the upper hand. I manage to gain control over his wrist, digging my fingers into a pain point there and loosening his grip until the gun falls. It tumbles end over end, threatening to fire, and then clatters to a stop a good five feet away. Right as he wraps his hands around my throat.

At least this will be a fair fight.

I glance up to see the sheriff throw a rope down the shaft, yelling loudly to Aspen below. The sound of her voice echoing back and the slosh of water from beneath give me hope I desperately need right now. I pray that Jay is strong enough to hold her as he wraps his end around a rotting support beam to help gain leverage in his weakened state. But as I punch and kick and try my level best to get this son of a bitch off me, my vision starts to fade at the edges.

Instinct kicks in. I’m at death’s door, and I’m Aspen’s best hope.

It’s now or never.

I use one last bolt of adrenaline to shove upward, kicking my leg back, forcing us into another rolling tumble. His grip on my neck loosens, and I use the opportunity to reach for my dog tags. I flick my P-38 free from its folded position and use the tight space I have to drive the razor-sharp edge into his jugular vein, pushing it in and dragging it down.

The results are bloody and instant. He releases his grip on me, instead feeling for his neck and pressing against the gushing wound with little effect. I shove him aside and stand, rushing to the edge where Jay is helping Aspen climb the ladder by holding the rope. I can see the strain on his face, though, his strength fading as the loss of blood takes hold over his senses, and the surge of adrenaline in his system wanes. I wrap my hands around the rope end and take the leverage into my own.

“I’ve got it!” I yell over the water, startling him as he looks up at me. He releases the rope and lets himself fall back against the wall.

“Fuck!” I hear Aspen curse below, and I see her there, sword in hand, dangling from the rope as her feet kick to meet the ladder again.

“Just drop it!” I call down.

“B-B-Bishop!” She looks up at me, giving me a glimpse of her wide green eyes, filled with relief at the sight of me, before her headlamp practically blinds me. I tuck my head into my shoulder for a moment and then yell back down to her.

“I got you, honey. Just keep coming. You can drop it.”

“N-n-no,” she chatters loudly as she responds. “C-c-can’t.”

“You piece of shit. What the fuck did you do to my sons? What the fuck did you do!” the governor wails, his lamentations echoing off the walls, and I glance back, half afraid the bats will return.

The governor has freed himself, and he’s hobbling his way toward me, closing the couple of feet between us fast despite his injury. I’ll have to fight him off, but I look down and Aspen’s still dangling from the rope. If I let go, she’ll fall down the shaft again into the murky water below. I can’t drop her.

“You killed them by bringing them down here!” I kick out, and the governor trips, falling to his knees and screaming out in agony as it aggravates the wound in his leg. It buys Aspen more time, and she hooks an ankle around the side of the ladder, pulling her body close to it again and using her other foot to feel for the next rung. She’s shaking, evident in the way her headlamp moves, and I’m as much worried about hypothermia as her injuries right now.

“You fucking Stocktons. None of you deserve to live. You’ve ruined everything.” He rants as he pulls himself back up onto his knees again, extracting something from his jacket that glints in the light.

A fucking grenade.

I reach out with my free hand, trying to knock it free from his grasp before he can pull the pin. But he jerks back just in time, and I fail.

“You use that, you’ll kill us all. These walls are too weak for that,” I warn him, but a grim, bloody smile stretches across his face.

He pulls the pin, and I close my eyes, bracing for death but never letting go of Aspen’s rope. If we die together, I can’t stop it. But I won’t be the one to drop her.

“Fuck you, Abbott!” Jay curses, back on his knees now and then his feet, launching himself at the governor with what’s left of his strength.

They tumble over the edge, and I hear a loud cry from the governor before there’s a splash of water.

Fuck.

If he pulls the grenade while she’s dangling.

“Aspen!” I call for her as I lean back over and see her climbing the ladder. I pull hard on the rope to help her ascend, but she still has a good fifteen feet to go.

My eyes catch on the light from the governor’s headlamp; it illuminates Jay, who’s still alive but barely.

“Grab the rope!” I yell; he’s inches from it. I could pull him up after Aspen is up here. I could save them both. Jay reaches out, trying and missing the end of the rope. He makes another attempt, but he’s too weak to grasp it.

“Just go!” Jay calls.