Chapter 14 - The Final Lever
Water was rising past Sarah’s hips now, frigid and merciless. Lily cried out, shivering violently against Sarah's neck.
""It won't budge!"" Sarah screamed in desperation, her hands slipping on the icy wheel.
David pressed his hands against the thick glass, tears welling in his red-rimmed eyes as he looked at Lily for the first time in four months. ""Lily... my little girl...""
""Daddy!"" Lily reached through the air toward the glass, her tiny fingers holding up the worn navy fabric patch. ""I saved your seat, Daddy! Eat with me!""
Hearing his daughter's tiny, innocent plea shattered the exhaustion paralyzing David’s body. Roaring with fury, he grabbed a heavy steel oxygen canister and began battering the emergency latch release from the inside. Sarah, driven by a surge of adrenaline, looped her belt through the valve spokes to create a leverage bar and threw her entire body weight downward.
With a deafening groan of shearing metal, the rusted valve turned.
The hydraulic seals hissed and the door swung open. David lunged forward, catching Sarah and Lily in his arms as the cold ocean water swirled violently around their waists. He buried his face in Lily’s neck, weeping openly, his body trembling with raw sobs.
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""I’m here, baby. Daddy’s here,"" he choked out.
A sudden, thunderous boom shook the entire habitat. The main dome above the corridor shattered, unleashing a roaring wall of black ocean water straight toward them.
