Chapter 176
- Josh -
"The bridge to leave on the West side is quickly beginning to flood. If you can't leave there, you must find another exit."
People started moving fast.
Fear spreads faster than fire.
Machines shut down. Doors opened, and people started pouring out.
I jumped down from the desk.
Water dripped off my jacket as we headed back outside.
"Alright, everyone, let's keep moving forward." Evan directed. "Next was the residential area."
"What about the other warehouse and plant workers?" I asked.
"I spoke with some managers; they are going to handle that before they head home."
"Well, you should have told them to make sure they pack some matches that work fast." I chuckled.
Evan shook his head, but a small smile pecked through the side of his lip.
"Baby and Duke said they will meet us once we get to the neighborhood circle."
Two figures jumped down from a nearby roof.
One landed lightly, the other as if gravity offended him.
Duke and Baby.
Nany straightened, brushing dust from his coat as he'd just stepped off a stage instead of a rooftop.
Duke cracked his neck.
"About time you slow walkers showed up," Duke said.
"Nice to see you too," I replied.
Evan stepped forward. "What's the report?"
Baby's eyes scanned the neighborhood.
"District two," Duke said calmly, "is starting to fill through the channel system. Doors are indeed opening all through the underground network. The bridge is washed out, but thankfully, the ramp to City District 3 is still open for now—but we must hurry."
I looked down the street.
Porch lights were still on with the artificial sun barely breaking what we know as sunrise.
"Alright!" Evan clapped his hands once loudly. "We move now. Spread out and start knocking on every door, wake everyone up. NO one gets left behind.
The group split immediately.
Becky and Kaysi took the row of houses on the east side.
Micah and James moved down the center.
Evan and I took the opposite side.
We started pounding on all the doors people slowly came out to check.
At first, they just stood on their porches, confused, but after hearing the alarms and seeing some of the water we now kicked around, they started to move.
One after another, lights came on inside the homes.
Curtains shifted.
More people with confused faces walked from their homes.
"What's happening?" Some of the younger people asked.
"City evacuation!" I yelled. "Grab your families and move!"
"There is flooding in the system, so we need you all to move to higher ground fast!"
Some of the people froze.
Others ran back inside, shouting for family members.
Duke's voice boomed across the street.
"MOVE NOW!"
That got them going.
Within minutes, the quiet neighborhood turned into chaos.
Parents carrying children.
Old couples helping each other down porch steps.
Dogs barking.
Someone dropped a suitcase, and clothes spilled across the sidewalk as Micah rushed to help them pick it up.
Then suddenly—
A deep metallic groan echoes across the district.
Everyone stopped.
I knew that sound!
Baby's head tilted toward the skyline.
"Josh," She said quietly as I followed her gaze.
The water tower.
The massive steel tank that supplied at least half the district trembled against its frame.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the supports snapped.
The tower didn't explode.
It released.
The valves below the system blew open under the pressure.
A wall of water thundered down the distribution channels, overflowing and roaring.
"GET TO HIGHER GROUND NOW!" Duke roared.
People started running.
Evan grabbed an older woman who didn't walk well and carried her up the elevation.
Kaysi grabbed my arm.
"Josh," She pointed.
I turned.
She pointed toward the far end of the street.
Three houses.
Dark.
No light.
No movement.
Still sleeping, they were at the odd end of the street, and we missed them until now.
I swore under my breath. The others were too far ahead; we were the only ones left.
"Damn it, let's go!"
We went full throttle, pushing our feet, pounding the pavement, our strides stretching as far as our lungs would allow!"
The race was on, waters roaring behind us, growing louder.
I kicked the first door open.
"WAKE UP!" I shouted.
I jerked the man on the couch upright.
His wife stumbled out of the hallway, clutching the blanket over her head.
"Flood! Kaysi shouted as she dashed off to the next house!"
We got to the second house, and Kaysi slammed her shoulder against the door before I could make it to her.
The lock broke.
A couple of children are still in P.J's, eating cereal as the parents make coffee.
"You need to leave now, grab your children, and head to higher ground!"
The last house was only steps ahead as the mountain of waters was coming closer into view.
I slammed the door so hard it exploded in wood chips.
"OUT!" I shouted.
As a young teenage girl was watching her toddler sister. They had to be some of the warehouse workers' kids.
We pushed them toward the street and up the elevation as we followed just seconds behind.
A wave roared through us and slammed against the block.
The waters shattered some of the older houses behind us and hit a freight train.
The undertow pulled Kaysi into the waters and behind me, seconds out of sight.
A shadow jumped into the water, grabbed her, and grabbed a nearby tree.
Evan!
"Right on!" I grabbed his arm and pulled them up.
The second wave hit as we made it up the incline.
Waters now covered the rooftops. The current ripped anything that was left, cars, bikes, everything, washed away in the flood.
We pushed up farther as the water rose. Our boots splashed through ankle-deep water.
And quickly Knee-deep.
people scrambled up the slope, gasping and slipping but climbing.
Kaysi helped the older man and his wife beside him.
I pulled the teenager with her little sister the rest of the way up the incline.
Behind us, the streets vanished beneath the surge.
All swallowed by the rushing flood.
The crowd gathered at the high ground overlook, breathing hard.
I looked across the rising flood as we made it onto City district level 3.
"Well," I muttered under my breath.
Before I could finish that thought, I spotted a group of 4 warehouse workers standing on the top of the roof with the waters still rising.
"Today is going to suck!"
And once more, the emergency doors that sealed before started to count down.
"Damn it, cut us some slack." I locked eyes with Micah, Duke, and Baby.
"Let's fly!" I said as my Cyan wings burst from my shoulder blades.