Chapter 10
“Son of a bitch!” Tumbling in the waterfall, I roared as the surface below came at me at a million miles an hour. Curling my knees up, I gripped my flashlight, sucked in a huge breath, and plunged into the swirling pool.
On impact, my breather was yanked from my lips, my mask was ripped off my face, and the air was punched out of me.
I tumbled over and over, caught in a whirlpool.
Clawing at the water, I couldn’t work out where the surface was.
My mind careened all over the place.
Was Kat okay?
Where was my breather?
Which way was up?
My flashlight bounced over millions of bubbles as I searched the blackness for Kat.
Fucking hell! Where is she?
My lungs screamed for breath, and feeling along the side of my body, I searched for my air pipe. Gripping the tube, I found my breather and inhaled a breath.
An invisible surge pushed me along, and forcing my mind to get a grip, I stopped fighting it and succumbed to the current. I released precious air into my vest and let my buoyancy find the surface.
I punched through to fresh air, and my head slammed into overhead rocks. “Shit!”
Using my light beam, I searched the tunnel.
“Kat! Kat!” My voice boomed in the narrow space, but the brutal current grabbed hold, forcing me along the tube.
I couldn’t see her. The water roared like an angry beast, making it impossible to hear anything else.
“Kat!” I screamed until my throat burned.
My temple slammed into a rock, spearing pain into my brain.
“Fuck!” Stars burst across my eyes.
Forcing myself to think, I shoved my breather back in my mouth and released some air from my vest to lower into the water. Shining my flashlight ahead, I searched for Kat and something to hang onto to stop myself from hurtling along.
In the distance, a rock jutted out from the wall, and as the current raced me toward it, I readied to put everything I had into gripping the rock.
My chest slammed into it, and I pawed at the slippery surface. But the water yanked me away, letting me know who the fuck was in charge and reminding me just how useless my right hand was.
“Kat!” I screamed.
Was she okay? Was she knocked out in that fall? Was she thrust into this tunnel like me?
I burst out of the passage and was tossed into a small circular cavern. Whipped sideways in a whirlpool, I scraped the jagged rock walls, trying to stop spinning.
“Kat!”
The weight of the water pressed on my body like a liquid battering ram, and I was powerless against the strong current. I inflated my vest again, using my buoyancy to lift me to the surface.
At the top, I spat my regulator from my mouth.
“Kat!” My voice echoed my fear as I spun around the vortex.
With my face mask on, I used my flashlight to peer down through the swirling water. It was like being in a tornado. The water was heavy with sediment, and bubbles fucked up the visibility.
My heart thundered in my ears as I begged for Kat to appear.
A streak of white crossed the tube below. Kat! She clawed at the walls, scrambling for a hold.
I shoved my breather in my mouth and swam for her.
Her face tilted toward me, and through her mask, the whites of her eyes showed how terrified she was.
I reached for her. She reached for me. We dragged our bodies together, and with the water spinning us around like we were trapped in a giant washing machine, we were powerless against it.
My mind raced over what to do.
With all the water pouring into this tube, the water had to be going out somewhere. I’d seen the top of the cavern, so the water wasn’t escaping up there.
With each spin around the outside of the cave wall, I fought dizziness as I searched the walls for an exit.
Nausea burned in my stomach. Kat’s fingers dug into my flesh.
We had to get out of there.
I gripped my arm around the back of her neck and clutched her against me. With our faces inches apart and the water controlling where we went, I used hand signals to tell her we would swim deeper. She gave me an ‘okay’ signal, and holding hands, we aimed our heads down, our feet up, and we kicked.
The lower we went, the colder it got and the narrower the underwater tube became. Clutching Kat’s hand, I was determined not to let her go again.
A large black hole appeared ten yards below.
The current increased.
Kat and I hurtled toward the hole at break-neck speed.
We were sucked into the tube and tossed around like cadavers.
Swimming was pointless.
My head slammed into the tunnel roof, and I lost my grip on Kat.
Fuck!
I searched the swirling mess ahead but couldn’t see her.
Jagged rocks scraped my elbow, and I cried out, releasing more air from my tank.
How much air do we have left?
And how much more will we need?
The current was merciless. At least Kat and I were going in the same direction.
Panic spiked my senses, telling me we were running out of luck. The pressure in my ears was excruciating. My head was set to explode.
How deep are we? A mile below the surface? Two?
My left kneecap slammed into a rock, snapping me back to reality.
The water around me became clearer somehow.
Is there an opening ahead?
Hope skipped through me as I peered forward, waiting for the moment I was spat from the devil’s throat.
I broke through the exit and into a mammoth underwater cave that glowed like I was in a giant snow globe. Scanning around, I searched for Kat in the water.
She appeared below me. Her breather was still in her mouth, but her body was limp.
Kat! My brain exploded as I swam to her lifeless form. Her blonde hair fanned around her face like a halo.
Fuck. Fuck!
I unclipped her from her scuba gear, gripped my arm around her chest, and pumped air into my vest. As buoyancy pulled us to the surface, I turned her face toward me. Her eyes were closed. Her face was limp. And a nasty gash was a bloody mess on her forehead.
Please, be alive. Please, be alive.
We burst through the surface, and clinging to her, I pressed my fingers into her neck.
A pulse.
“Thank Christ!” I shook her. “Kat! Stay with me. Wake up.”
With rain pouring onto my head, I searched the area for a place to take her. Against a distant wall of the cave, a few feet above the water, was a small moss-covered ledge. Twisting onto my back, I curled my arm around her chest and through the pouring rain, I dragged her toward the side.
“Kat. Come back to me. You fucking fight it.” My voice boomed around the chasm.
My heavy scuba gear made it impossible to lift her from the water. I dumped my gear and hauled her lifeless body onto the rocks.
“Kat. Wake up.”
Water dripped from her pale face, and her lips were blue.
My Navy training kicked in. Kneeling at her side, I tilted her head back, pinched her nose, and breathed air into her lungs.
“Come on, Kat. Work with me.”
I breathed into her mouth again, and her chest rose with my breath.
I did it again. And again.
Dread crawled through me like a million scorpions.
Tears spilled from my eyes.
I breathed into her mouth again.
I pumped her chest, counting my compressions.
I screamed my fury and pumped her chest again.
She coughed up water.
“Yes. Thank Christ.” I rolled her onto her side, and water gushed from her mouth as she coughed and jerked.
“That’s it, get it all out.” I rubbed her shoulder.
As she groaned, the rain slapped her face.
I pulled her to my chest, desperate to protect her. “I’m here. Thank God you’re okay. I thought I lost you.”
Her hand draped over my arm. “Colton?”
“Yes. It’s me. That was close; you nearly drowned.” I scooped her hair away from the bloody cut on her forehead. It was deep enough to need stitches.
Her eyes rolled like she was trying to find her thoughts. “Where are we?”
Squeezing her to my body, I studied the giant rock walls looming over us. We’d tumbled into a cenote, one of the hundreds of million-year-old natural wells that were dotted all over the Yucatan.
Kat pushed to sit up and squinting skyward, she groaned. “We’re still trapped, aren’t we?”
I didn’t answer.
Yes, we were trapped, but we had another serious problem. In my panic to rescue Kat, I’d dumped our scuba gear. So, getting back into the underground river was no longer an option.
We had to climb out of here.
It was going to be like climbing out of a giant silo.
We were fucked.