Chapter 1 #2
Turning so he was swimming with the water instead of against it, Chaos kept his gaze locked on where he thought he’d last seen her, ignoring the debris that struck him along the way. His only goal was reaching her.
It worried him when her head appeared less and less frequently. He had no idea how long she’d been holding on to that tree, but she had to be exhausted.
Just when he thought he’d lost her, that she’d either gotten hung up in another tree or some other storm debris—or worse, that she’d lost the strength to fight the current—he saw her head pop up only a couple yards in front of him.
Adrenaline was already surging through his bloodstream, but with an extra burst of adrenaline, Chaos surged forward and reached for the woman.
His hand closed around her forearm and he tightened his hold as the water angrily tried to rip her away.
Pulling her closer and moving his grip to her wrist, Chaos did his best to serve as a buffer between her and the objects in the water all around them.
He felt something hit his back, but now that he had her, he wasn’t letting go. Glancing around, Chaos tried to get his bearings, but it was difficult with the water constantly washing over his head, with huge chunks of houses and cars in the churning water.
Using all his strength and his free arm, Chaos began attempting to move them out of the middle of the river, closer to one side.
How long they were washed downstream, he had no idea. All he knew was that his energy and strength were waning much faster than he would’ve liked. This wasn’t like falling out of a boat while whitewater rafting. This was literally a life-or-death situation.
The woman he was holding on to with a death grip wasn’t fighting him. In fact, he could feel her attempting to help move them out of the deadly floodwaters.
The odds were against them, Chaos knew that better than most. He’d been on plenty of search and rescue missions for people who’d been washed away in situations not nearly as bad as the one they were in, and who were found deceased weeks later.
Pushing that thought away almost violently, Chaos pressed his lips together in determination.
He’d been through training for things like this.
Blindfolded and strapped into the shell of a cockpit before being spun in circles, then dropped into a pool with the mission to escape before he passed out from lack of oxygen.
He was a great swimmer. Those training drills hadn’t beaten him, and neither would this.
It was amazing how fast they were moving, the water feeling as if it was a living, breathing entity all around them.
Chaos didn’t try to speak to the woman, it would be useless anyway, not with the roar of water and how often their heads were beneath the surface.
And thankfully, she seemed to know what he was doing, because she still wasn’t fighting him.
Wasn’t trying to get away from the stranger holding on to her tightly.
If she had, Chaos didn’t know what he would’ve done. There was no way he’d be able to hold her if she decided to rip herself out of his grasp.
Ever so slowly, they made progress. But it was costing Chaos.
He was doing his best to keep his body between the woman and the debris, but it was taking all his strength.
His back and legs ached, and he had no doubt he’d be covered in bruises and cuts by the time they made it out of this nightmare.
He hadn’t removed his boots and his feet were acting like anchors, trying to drag him under the water, but he ignored the feeling and kept pushing his body harder and harder.
Then, out of the blue, the river suddenly calmed just enough for Chaos to see a bend in the trajectory of the flow ahead of them.
That was their chance. The turn would slow the water even more.
But it would also push debris against the edge of the bank, where they needed to be in order to escape.
Increasing the speed of his kicks and the movement of his free arm, Chaos desperately made for the bend. There were dozens of tree trunks already piled up in the turn, and if he could grab on to one, they had a chance.
It was a risky move. Another tree, or a damn house, or a car could slam up against them as they attempted to pull themselves out of the water. Or the mud could suck them down and suffocate them.
There was no choice though. They had to get out of the flood before the water itself killed them.
Aiming for a tangled pile of trees he could just see in the darkness, Chaos felt the woman doing her best to help propel them out of the current. Her assistance was both welcome and useful. They were going to make it!
Just as his hand closed around a branch, that sixth sense that had saved him more than once roared to life.
Glancing behind him, he saw a pickup truck swept along by the floodwaters, racing straight toward them.
There was no way to avoid it. But he could get the woman out of the way before it hit.
Using the last of his strength, Chaos pulled the woman toward the tree and shoved her as hard as he could upward. Thankfully, she seemed to be ready for the move, because she scrambled up onto the pile of trees just in time.
Chaos let go of the woman just before the truck careened into the mass of trees.
The pain from the metal smashing him against the barrier took Chaos’s breath away.
He forced himself not to panic even as pain blossomed in his chest. Thankfully, the truck hadn’t pinned him against the trees under the water, and the tangle of limbs themselves had some give, bending with the impact and most likely saving his life.
The truck seemed to bounce off him before its back end swung around, and it was once more swept along with the current.
His head popped up, and he felt that same current trying to steal him away with the truck.
Chaos’s hand reached out and he desperately tried to get a grip on something, anything, that would prevent him from being washed away.
He was able to snag a small branch on one of the trees, but his strength was waning.
It was difficult to take a deep breath—damn truck had probably broken or cracked his ribs—but he refused to give up. Not when he’d come this far.
Still, the water was winning. Pulling at his legs as if determined to suck him back into the raging flood. His boots felt as if they were filled with lead. His flight suit weighed him down further, saturated with water. His hands hurt, his ribs hurt…hell, everything fucking hurt.
But if he died, if the water won this battle, he’d be okay with that, knowing he’d saved the woman.
Just as Chaos’s grip around the branch slipped, he felt the most amazing thing.
Fingers wrapping around his wrist.
Opening his eyes, blinking away the water, he saw the woman he’d been so desperate to save, crouched on the trees and holding on to him, her grip tight.
Even though it was dark, he could still see that her eyes were a bright blue, piercing in their intensity.
Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying.
Her soaked hair hung in her face, pieces clinging to her cheeks, and her brows furrowed as she leaned farther and grabbed his arm with her other hand, pulling with all her strength.
Renewed determination filled Chaos. He kicked his feet and did his best to fight the current to bring himself in alignment with the trees.
Painstakingly, with the woman’s grip and his own brute strength, Chaos was able to pull his upper body onto the trees.
His legs still dangled into the water, and he was well aware he needed to get them up and out of the way of anything else that might slam into the barrier.
But he was officially out of energy. He couldn’t seem to make his legs obey the commands his brain was giving them.
Lying there, with his body half in and out of the water, Chaos closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath. He fucking hurt. So much.
“You need to get up farther!”
It was the first thing he’d clearly heard the woman say, but Chaos couldn’t open his eyes to reassure her.
To tell her he’d move in a moment. His body began to shake.
The adrenaline dump…from his injured ribs, from the effort it had taken to get them out of the current, from the pain of objects pelting his body in the water.
He just needed a second to regroup. Then he’d move. Get them off these trees and onto more sturdy ground.