Glitch

somehow I had done it?
    I didn’t have any time to think about it. I sputtered the rest
    of the disgusting liquid out of my mouth and barely man-
    aged to get my feet securely underneath me before we were
    running again.
    “Almost there,” Adrien yelled. He was gripping my hand
    tightly now and when I tripped again, he steadied me be-
    fore I went down again. The rats were thick around us, and
    as much as I hated to look at them, I had to watch the
    ground to make sure my next step was clear of their squirm-
    ing bodies.
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    G L I TC H
    And that was when I noticed the water level rising. It
    crept up to my shins and instead of being just stagnant water,
    now there was a tugging current to it.
    “Adrien!” I screamed. “The water!”
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Chapter 7
    “i know,” he yelled back over the cacophony of screeching
    rats and the fl owing water that now approached our knees.
    “We’re almost there, I swear.”
    But in another moment, running became impossible. We
    slogged through the water as quickly as we could. Adrien
    half- dragged me as I slipped and stumbled forward. I dropped
    my fl ashlight, plunging us into near darkness, but at least
    it meant I could hold on to Adrien with both hands. If he
    dropped his fl ashlight too, though, we’d be lost in the dark-
    ness with the rats.
    A rumbling from behind us echoed down the tunnel.
    Adrien looked back, and in the dim light I could see his eyes
    widen in terror. I didn’t have to look behind us to guess
    what was coming our way: a wall of rushing water, sweep-
    ing through the tunnel to wash away everything in its path,
    including us if we didn’t get out of here now.
    “Faster!” he yelled. “There!”
    He pointed with the fl ashlight beam. I saw the off - shooting
    tunnel situated about fi ve feet up the wall. It was clear of the
    water and too high up for the rats to get to— I knew we’d be
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    G L I TC H
    safe if we could just manage to get up into it. If we could just
    make it there.
    “Up, up, up!” Adrien shouted, making a foothold with
    his hands. I grabbed his shoulders, put my foot in his hands,
    and launched myself up into the tunnel, then reached back
    to pull Adrien up.
    But I was too late. Just as I got ahold of both of his arms,
    the wave of water hit, knocking his feet out from under him
    and sweeping him sideways with the current.
    I lost my grip on his left hand and screamed as the
    water yanked at him. I was on my stomach and quickly
    grabbed his other wrist with both hands, digging my nails
    to keep hold of him against the forceful current of the
    water.
    I would not let him go. I would not lose him. His body
    was battered against the wall as the water crashed and frothed
    around him. His weight pulled me inch by inch forward off
    my perch.
    “Let go!” he managed to yell before the water swallowed
    him up again.
    “No!” I screamed back, but my grip was slipping. The
    rushing river had reached the height of the tunnel’s base.
    With a sinking feeling, I realized we were both going to
    be swept away.
    The water started spilling over into my tunnel, and I
    pulled with all the strength I had left in my body. In my des-
    peration, I unthinkingly yanked with my mind too. I pulled
    with every thought, every piece of myself that wanted to
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    survive, every hope and dream and memory that had ever
    made life worth living.
    “Please,” I pleaded through gritted teeth, though I didn’t
    know to what or whom I called out. “ Please. ” In the next
    heartbeat, my whole body became electric with urgency and
    a racing heat.
    Adrien’s body suddenly emerged from the water, like a
    popping cork. He slammed into me, knocking us both back-
    ward farther into the tunnel. My arms and legs were weak
    from the exertion, I felt like I had no strength left, but some-
    how Adrien was alert enough to pull us both to our feet
    again and start splashing down the tunnel before the water
    could really rush in.
    The tunnel led steeply upward and water was running
    down it, but the adrenaline rush from our narrow escape was
    enough to keep us fast and steady even on the slick surface.
    When one of us tripped, the other held on and kept them
    stable, until the tunnel lightened beyond the beam of Adrien’s
    fl ashlight. We paused and looked at each other, managing
    weak smiles, then hurried forward until we reached a small
    concrete platform with a ladder.
    “You fi rst,” Adrien said, breathing heavily. They were
    the fi rst