An icy force slammed against the windows. Pressure built instantly. The river poured into the cabin as though it had been invited. Daniel pulled the door handle—jammed. He pounded the glass with his fists, his elbows, his fear. Nothing. The reinforced windows that once protected him from threats had become flawless prison walls.
The water rose. So did the panic.
He tried lowering the window. The controls were dead. The dashboard flickered and went dark. The air thinned. His lungs burned. “No… not like this,” he tried to say, swallowing river water instead.
Through the rain-blurred darkness he saw distant headlights, shadows passing without stopping. He kicked at the glass over and over. The water reached his chest, his throat, his mouth. His breathing fractured into desperate gasps. He hurled his body against the window, pride dissolving in raw survival.
Then—a hand.
A small hand slapped against the outside of the glass.
Daniel forced his eyes open underwater and saw a thin girl clinging to the window frame. Her face was streaked with rain and dirt, but her expression wasn’t fear. It was determination. In her grip was a rock far too big for her size.