Chapter 10 - The Iron Bridge
The heavy footfalls of the three guards thundered against the dirt path as they advanced toward the brick archway.
Emma peeked around the stone pillar and fired one of her remaining shotgun shells into the tunnel.
The blast erupted with a deafening roar, scattering lead pellets across the narrow passage.
The lead guard took the hit to his armored chest plate, stumbling backward into his teammate with a loud grunt.
"Move! Onto the bridge! Now!" Emma screamed at Ethan, grabbing his arm and pulling him out from behind the pillar.
They sprinted out onto the narrow iron catwalk suspended over the roaring black river below.
The rusty steel grating groaned violently under their boots, swaying back and forth over the churning rapids.
Spray from the cold water hit Emma’s face, blinding her momentarily as she dragged Ethan along the wet metal.
Behind them, the two remaining guards burst through the brick archway and opened fire with their submachine guns.
Submachine gun fire chewed through the rusted iron cables, sending bright sparks flying into the dark cavern.
PING! PING! PING!
Bullets ricocheted off the iron structure, cutting through the heavy steel support chains above their heads.
With a sickening metallic SNAP, the main support cable on the left side of the bridge snapped completely.
The entire catwalk tilted violently to forty-five degrees, dropping them toward the roaring water below.
"Emma!" Ethan shrieked as his boots slipped off the wet grating.
He slid wildly toward the open edge, his small fingers grabbing onto a rusted iron bar at the last possible second.
His legs dangled helplessly over the churning black rapids below.
Emma dug her boots into the slanted iron mesh, leaning down and grabbing Ethan’s jacket with both hands.
Her muscles screamed in sheer agony as she pulled his weight back onto the tilted bridge.
"I've got you! I've got you! Hold on!" Emma yelled, her face turning crimson from the intense exertion.
Above them on the brick ledge, Mr. Sterling stepped forward, taking slow, deliberate aim with his hunting rifle.
"End of the line, Emma," Mr. Sterling said smoothly, lining up his crosshairs directly with her head.
Emma looked at the heavy iron support cable holding up the remaining side of the bridge right beside her face.
She looked at her stolen shotgun, which still contained one final, high-explosive round.
She didn't aim at Mr. Sterling.
She turned the barrel of the shotgun directly toward the main iron anchor bolt holding the bridge to the rock wall.
"Go to hell, Sterling!" Emma screamed at the top of her lungs.
She pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
The heavy shotgun shell exploded point-blank against the ancient anchor bolt, shattering the rusted iron pin into fragments.
The remaining support cable whipped backward like a giant steel whip, releasing the entire catwalk from the stone wall.
The bridge fell out from under them completely.
Emma wrapped her arms around Ethan, pulling him tightly into her chest as they plunged into the dark abyss.
The entire iron catwalk crashed into the roaring subterranean river with a massive, deafening splash.
The icy black water instantly swallowed them whole, dragging them down into the freezing currents.
On the ledge above, Mr. Sterling stepped to the edge of the pit, looking down into the foaming dark water with an annoyed expression.
The roaring river carried the twisted iron catwalk downstream, leaving nothing but empty foam behind.
"Check the downstream drainage grates," Mr. Sterling ordered his chief of security coldly.
"If their bodies wash up against the intake bars, burn them immediately," he instructed, turning his back on the pit.
"Yes, Mr. Sterling," the chief of security replied, pulling out his radio to issue the order.
Deep beneath the earth, the freezing subterranean river dragged Emma and Ethan through the pitch-black tunnels at terrifying speed.
Emma fought against the powerful current with everything she had, her lungs bursting for air as she held Ethan’s head above the water.
They were washed over a series of jagged rock steps, crashing through small waterfalls in the dark.
After three agonizing minutes of drowning in the icy water, the river violently dumped them onto a muddy gravel bank.
Emma tumbled onto the rocks, coughing up lungs full of filthy water as she crawled onto her hands and knees.
"Ethan... Ethan..." she gasped, frantically sweeping her hands across the wet rocks in the pitch dark.
"I'm... I'm here..." Ethan coughed weakly right beside her, shivering violently from the freezing water.
Emma collapsed beside him on the muddy bank, weeping tears of pure exhaustion and relief.
They were still alive, but they were lost in the deepest, darkest sub-levels of the estate.
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The digital clock mounted on a concrete wall nearby flickered weakly: 02:15:00.
Two hours left until dawn.
