Chapter 13 - The Drowning Chamber
The sirens shrieked like banshees. High on the concrete crest of the dam, warning strobes flashed amber against the grey rock.
Gabriel slid the bike to a halt against the heavy steel walkway leading to the control substation. He killed the engine, unclipped the harness, and set Maya down behind the heavy concrete bulkhead.
"Stay behind this wall. If anyone other than me or Dutch walks up these steps, you run into the woods, you understand?"
Maya nodded, her eyes wide with fear, but she gripped his thumb tightly. "Bring Mommy back."
"I will," Gabriel swore.
He drew his knife and his sidearm, charging down the rusted spiral staircase that clung to the outer wall of the spillway. The roar of the river upstream was growing louder as the mechanical gears of the floodgates groaned into motion, slowly cranking the massive steel sluice doors open.
Gabriel reached the bottom maintenance platform. Water was already surging over the lower lip of the spillway, swirling ankle-deep around his boots.
"Sarah!" he roared over the thunder of the mechanics.
"Gabriel?!"
A faint, desperate voice came from behind a reinforced steel door marked Sub-Level 3 Valve Room. Gabriel lunged toward the hatch. Through the reinforced porthole, he saw Sarah. Her hands were cuffed to an overhead high-pressure pipe, the murky river water already rising past her waist.
The electronic lock on the door was dead, severed by Miller's men to ensure she couldn't be freed.
"Gabriel, get out of here!" Sarah cried through the glass, her face pale, bruised, and soaked with spray. "The main sluice opens in three minutes! It’ll wash this entire chamber clean!"
"Shut up, Sarah!" Gabriel yelled back, slamming his shoulder into the reinforced steel. The door didn't budge.
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Gabriel stepped back, pulled his .45, and emptied four rounds into the heavy brass hinges. Metal fragments sheared off, but the deadbolt still held.
The water on Gabriel's platform was suddenly knee-deep as the first wave cascaded over the top gate. He had ninety seconds.
