Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga) (57 page)

“What’s causing it?” asked Spec-4.

“Lack of maintenance, mostly,” said Heather, shaking her head. “There haven’t been maintenance crews keeping things repaired since this all started. Eventually, this entire facility will shut down.”

“How long do we have?” I said, still looking at the indicators.

“To be honest, I’m surprised that they’re still working,” she said, softly. “They weren’t designed to go this long without regular maintenance.”

“Good to know,” I said.

Heading back down to the common area, we found the others scouting out areas to put down their bedrolls. I decided that I’d find an out of the way spot to place mine. It’s not that I was trying to get away from everyone, but I just wanted to be alone to think through my plan. So much was hinging on us pulling this off. I wanted to make sure that we succeeded and lived to tell the tale.

After several hours of laying on my bedroll, I was still at a loss. I was tense and couldn’t concentrate. I decided that since we had pretty much unlimited water here and I had no idea when the next time I would be able to take a hot shower would be, I’
d try to let the steam relax me. Grabbing my gear, I headed into the locker room. I could tell that pretty much everyone was already asleep. No one was moving about and I could hear their soft breathing.

Slipping into the locker room, I stripped off my gear and headed into the shower stall. In seconds, piping hot water was shooting from the showerhead and filling the area with steam. Closing my eyes, I lowered my head into the water and leaned against the wall. The hot water cascaded down my neck and back, easing away stiff muscles and stress.

I knew I needed to think about the plan, but I just wanted to relax and not think about anything for a while. To just be me for a while. Not the leader and not the go-to guy for answers. None of that. Just me, alone in the shower. For a few minutes, I could forget about the rest of the world. It would still be there when I was finished.

Breathing in the hot, steamy vapor, I tried to let my mind drift. To forget about the loss of friends, the pain I’d endured at the hands of the
Freemen
, even the responsibilities that I’d taken on. I just needed to relax. Really relax. I imagined the warm water easing my aches as it massaged my muscles. I could feel it working.

For a moment, I was lost in the
gentle caress when I realized it wasn’t just water on my skin. I felt hands moving down my back and around my abdomen. Spinning around, I was surprised to find Spec-4 standing naked right behind me, water glistening on her skin. For a moment, I stood there, frozen by the sight before me. She looked magnificent.

She placed her hands on my chest and leaned against me. Despite the heat of the water, I shivered as I felt her skin against mine. It was electr
ic in its intensity. It felt so good, it almost hurt. I fought for control of my emotions and my body. I wanted to tell her to stop. I wanted to make her stop, but I couldn’t. My thoughts spun in wild directions, swirling between duty and pleasure. Pain and doubt. Sensation and responsibility.

There was a war going on in my mind. So many mixed emotions. So many conflicting sensations. So much temptation. I was losing
my grip on control. My senses were on overload and I wanted to throw my head back and scream, but I couldn’t clear the lump in my throat. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins and pounding on my temples.

Then her mouth found mine and it was all over. Everything that had been pent-up inside exploded to the surface and I was lost
in a world of sensation. I could feel my fingers as they traced the lines of her body, but I could no more stop it than I could stop the sun from rising in the morning.

“I…I can’t,” I managed to croak through the side of my mouth.

“Shut up, Wylie,” she breathed, then slid her tongue into my mouth.

The ecstasy of the moment was agonizing in its intensity. Every fiber of my being was on fire and every brush of flesh against flesh or fingers on skin was in inferno. I lifted her into the air, our mouths still welded together and lay her on the tiles in the center of the heated shower spray. At the moment of contact, she arched her back and threw her head back, screaming. She was intensely electrifying. It was primal. It was bestial in its fury. It was
all wrong
.

Something was wrong and my brain was too far into primal Neanderthal mode to fully comprehend. The screaming
was loud, insistent and undulating in intensity. It wasn’t a human scream. I blinked and the moment began to change focus. All the raw energy was swirling around me. I felt the sensation of movement and pain.

Suddenly,
I awoke to chaos. Spec-4 was standing there, shaking me and trying to say something. I wasn't in the shower. I was in my sleeping bag and there was still this loud, unrelenting screaming. It wasn’t Spec-4’s ecstatic cries. It was an alarm klaxon. It’s piercing wail was accompanied by red alarm lights flashing in the darkness all around us. The eerie glow of the red lights cast a deathly pallor on her features.

“Wylie!” she screamed. “We’ve got trouble!”

“I’m awake!” I called out, unzipping the sleeping bag and sitting up.

Heather ra
n into the room, a frantic look on her face. She appeared out of breath and only partially dressed. She had to scream to be heard over the warning siren.

“We’ve lost containment around turbine number one,” she screamed. “Turbines two through four have failed. We’ve got water flooding the dam. We have to get out of here, now!”

This was catastrophic. I wasn’t sure what had caused the dam to fail so suddenly, but we didn’t have time to ponder the reasons. If the dam’s own Mechanical Engineer said we had to abandon the place, then we’d better damned well listen to her. We could try to figure out what had happened, later. Right now, we had to get everyone organized and out.

“Tell everyone to grab their gear and head for the suburban!” I bellowed, grabbing my boots.

“We can’t go out that way!” screamed Heather. “The water level is rising faster than I expected. The parking lot is under water. We have to go out the top.”

“Fuck!” I hissed, grabbing my pack and weapons.

So much for spending the night. We were going to have to go out there with the
Stalkers
still active. This night just keeps getting better and better.

“Darkness must pass. A new day will come,

And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.
”

-
                    
J.R.R. Tolkien
 

We
grabbed all of our gear and headed up the stairs. I was already seeing water in the lower level hallways, so I knew time was running out. We divided everything up that we could grab quickly and headed for the maintenance door on the top. I could hear the roar of water in the darkness below, even over the top of our loud footsteps on the metal grating.

“How long will we have power?” I shouted over my shoulder as I climbed.

“The turbines are already shut down,” yelled Heather from behind me. “We’re on emergency batteries. They should last a few hours, unless they go underwater. If the water rises above level three, we’ll lose them.”

“What level are we on now?” shouted Spec-4.

“Level two,” replied Heather.

“You mean all of this will be under water soon?” said Sanders, sounding out of breath.

“More than likely,” said Heather. “We’re actually below turbine control. Depending on how bad the damage is, it could flood all the way to the top.”

“
Damn,” I muttered.

I wasn’t looking forward to going outside. I knew that the
Stalkers
would be all over the place and according to my watch, it was only 0215 hours. At least, I hoped it was right. There was a big crack in the lens. We had a
long
time before the sun would come up. If we couldn’t find some kind of shelter or defensible position, none of us would survive the night.

“Where do we plant the charges?” asked Ramirez.

“We’ll pass by the floodgate systems on level four,” replied Heather. “We’ll plant the charges there and then continue on.”

“Just show me where,
chika
,” said Ramirez, chuckling. “I’ll take it from there.”

Climbing a hill carrying all of this equipment was bad. Climbing stairs with water filling the corridors behind you was even worse. I was sweating like crazy and my legs felt like they were made of rubber. I felt like a survivor on the
Titanic
trying to make it topside before the entire thing sank. My heart was beating a staccato rhythm against my ribcage.

When we started climbing the stairs to level four, I saw the lights flicker. I knew level three wasn’t flooded yet, so I knew that the emergency batteries couldn’t be underwater.
Suddenly, we heard and felt a shrieking of tearing metal. It reverberated through the concrete and echoed down the corridors. It was followed by even louder rushing water sounds.

“What the fuck was that?!” screamed Snake, looking around wild-eyed.

“I think another turbine just broke free,” said Heather. “We’re flooding faster, now. If we don’t get to the surface soon, we’ll all drown when the water catches us.”

“You heard the lady,” I shouted. “Keep climbing!”

With a groan of effort, we pushed harder. When we reached the fourth level landing, Heather and Ramirez handed off their gear to Sergeant McDonald and Sanders.

“You guys keep climbing,” shouted Heather. “We’ll plant the charges and be right behind you.”

Reluctantly, I nodded to the others and we continued to climb. As we passed the fifth level landing, the roaring of the water was continuously getting louder. I knew we didn’t have much time. The water was climbing much faster now and I could feel the air pressure starting to increase as the air was forced out the top of the dam. My eardrums were starting to hurt and the air seemed oppressive to breathe.

I stopped on the top of the level six landing and started shoving people past me. Spec-4 stopped beside me and we
helped the others struggle onto the platform. We were on the uppermost level and just down the catwalk was a door labeled “Maintenance Only.” I did a quick check of my mental map and knew it had to be the door we were looking for.

The air pressure was continuing to increase
. I was starting to feel light headed and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. I glanced up and saw a stairway leading to the Floodgate Control Tower. It was above the top of the dam and wouldn't flood. I knew we had to get everyone up there and seal the door behind us. It might not be the perfect shelter, but it was the best we had.

Sanders walked over to the maintenance d
oor. I could see him reaching for the door handle as the little light went on in my head. The difficulty breathing was making it hard to think, but something told me not to let him open that door. Mental warning bells began to scream. Suddenly I realized, it was the air pressure!

“
Cal!” I yelled. “Don’t…”

That was all I managed to get out of my mouth before he turned the handle and the door exploded
outward. Air rushed past us with hurricane force, howling as it rushed past all of the scaffolding and pipes. Cal frantically grabbed the door frame and was nearly sucked out into the lake. Instantly, the roar of the water increased and I knew it was coming even faster now. The pressure had slowed it down, but now with the door open, it was unrestrained.

M
y thoughts jumped to Heather and Ramirez. They hadn’t made it up the stairs and they were trapped below us, with the water now rising faster than ever. They were going to drown trying to plant those charges. I wasn't going to let that happen. We had already lost enough people.

“Get up to the control room!” I bellowed. “Move!”

Sanders pulled himself back inside and shook his head. He looked apologetic and grabbed his gear. Everyone headed for the control room as Spec-4 and I hurried them along. Then it was our turn.

“You go on up there and keep everyone together!” I shouted above the roar of the water. “Take my gear with you.”