Chapter 5 The Breaking Point

The beam smashed down with a shower of splinters and plaster.

Ryan pinned Lena to the ground, his body taking the brunt of falling debris around them. The room was engulfed in darkness; their only light now came from the sporadic flashes of lightning piercing through rents in the ceiling.

Lena gasped beneath him, holding on to his shoulders. "You're bleeding."

A piece of wood had grazed Ryan's temple. He wiped his brow with a slow swipe of his hand. "It's nothing." His voice rumbled, his breath warm against her lips. "Can you move?"

She nodded, and they crawled through rubble toward the far wall of the storage room; the floodwaters lapped at their ankles. The storm roared like a living creature, shaking the building's bones.

Lena's flashlight flickered over the collapsed doorway-completely blocked. They were trapped.

Ryan pulled out his phone. "No signal." Shoving the phone back into his pocket, he turned to her with fierce eyes. "We need to get to higher ground before the surge hits."

Lena stared at the lapping water, her heartbeat thundering. "Ryan... what did you mean back there? About saving me?"

A furious crack of thunder rattled through the room. After it passed, Ryan's hands were framing her face, his forehead pressed to hers. "I love this place because it's yours. Every shelf, every creaky floorboard-it's all a part of you." His thumb traced her cheek. "I couldn't let them take that away."

Lena's breath caught. The words she had buried for years clawed their way up her throat-

The sound of gunfire ripped through the air as wood broke. The useful storage shelves swayed in an uneven position.

Ryan, in the meantime, pulled her to the side, and just when the bookcases toppled, a tidal wave of books and water came cascading through their last position. The impact tossed them away from each other, with Lena's back splatting against the wall with pain buzzing up her spine.

"Ryan!"

He came out coughing; blood striped his chin. "Still here."

Lightning flashed again, illuminating something behind him-a rusted service ladder leading to the roof access.

"There!" Lena lunged for it, her fingers slipping on the wet rungs. Ryan forced her up, his hands steadying her hips until she could wrench the hatch open.

Rain lashed her face as she climbed onto the roof. She turned to help Ryan-

When black water exploded in a wave through the ceiling down below.

Ryan went under the flood.