Gomorrah, Jordan 12: 19 a.m. GMT Brandt's feet dragged along the ground as Lopez and Harvish practically carried him down the street. He'd feel ashamed only he didn't have the fucking energy for even that. But now with the air above them on fire, what did it matter?
All the pain. All the sacrifice. For fucking nothing.
"Ouch!" Bunny cried, swiping at her sleeve that sparkled with white fire. As the flickering flame consumed her shirt, the woman swatted frantically.
"Don't!" Lopez yelled as he slid Brandt's arm off of his shoulder and draped it over Rebecca's. Brandt tried not to lean into Rebecca heavily except for that whole gravity being a bitch thing and him having absolutely no resistance to it.
The corporal, however, still had some gas in the tank and ran over to Bunny, shouting, "Don't!" He ripped her sleeve off. "It's a magnesium fire!"
Which Brandt would have realized had he not been in five different kinds of shock.
Lopez dropped to his knees, digging a hole in the salt and dropping the flaming fabric into it, then covering it with a huge pile of salt. "The only way, and I mean only way to put out a magnesium fire is to completely cut off its source of oxygen."
Clearly there were enough microcracks between the grains to sustain the fire as it glowed bright orange through the translucent salt, melting it into a clear shell.
"We've got to take cover," Lopez said as tiny sparks floated down from the roof.
"And what?" Harvish asked. "So we can wait until the fire consumes all the oxygen in the cavern?"
That wasn't an option. Actually, with the world tilting slightly to the right, Brandt couldn't think of any options. A magnesium fire was nearly impossible to fight, even if fully equipped for one. And they clearly were not fully equipped on so many levels.
"It's on me!" Rebecca announced, indicating to the back of her shoulder, but even then she didn't let go of him.
Lopez rushed over to Rebecca as she tried to quell the panic. She'd felt the drop hit her back. Strangely though, it didn't hurt. The corporal went to rip the jacket when he stopped.
"Wait," he said, touching the spot. "This isn't fire...its water."
Water? There wasn't any water in the cavern. Then she noticed Brandt's head tilt up. She followed his gaze to the roof. Through the clear white flames she could make out cracks in the ceiling. Water ran, contrary to all logic, sideways along the ceiling, following the grooves and ruts of the salt.
In their travels they must have passed west enough to find themselves under the Dead Sea.
Little did it matter though where the water came from. It was here now. The scene above made it seem that water and fire were performing a tango meant only for them.
Only the occasional drop, then more and more as the seconds ticked down, broke free of the water's sideways flow, falling through the white magnesium flame to the ground beneath. Where the drops fell, they dissolved the salt, washing it away as if it had never been there.
The statuelike figures around them became pocked with the water marks, dissolving away their pained expressions. There was a certain beauty to the whole, complicated set of events.
Only the men seemed none too happy about it. Lopez looked to her with widened eyes and Harvish had gone pale.
"We're so screwed," Brandt announced.
Really? Out of everything that had happened so far, water was the problem?
"The water will put out the fire, won't it?" she asked, still confused.
"Definitely not," Lopez said, moving her out of the way so he could take Brandt's shoulder again. "Our only hope is to get the hell out of here."
Without a car or finding a closer exit than the outpost, how exactly were they going to do that?
Adrenaline coursed through Brandt's veins, dulling the sharp pain of his ribs and lessening the ache in his heart. He'd actually gotten his feet to work, helping the men to carry his weight so they could move faster. However, that wasn't exactly going as planned as they ran through a veritable rainstorm. The water pooled in the street, creating a briny obstacle.
Fire, apparently not wanting to feel left out, splattered down around them. If you were hit, your only option was to ditch the piece of clothing on fire. What damage would be wrought once they ran out of clothes to protect their skin?
Brandt didn't have time to think about that as Talli stumbled from a building, a gash still bleeding on his forehead. The man looked up to the white fire raging above them to the water falling from the ceiling.
"What happened?" he asked groggily.
No one answered him because, really, did it matter? Talli must have agreed because he just fell in line as they rushed toward the rally point. And they may have made it except a huge chunk of roof blew out as a geyser of water sprayed into the cavern.
If the city was already dissolving, now it was full-on melting.
Another huge portion of the ceiling blew out, and a third chunk flew by so closely they had to duck as it slammed into a shop, as water pummeled them, not just pooling in the streets but making the passage a veritable river.
So great. Now they could die by fire, drowning, or being crushed to death.
Take your pick.
From atop the SUV, Davidson watched the others as they splashed their way to the vehicle. The water was rising fast. As fast as the roof was crumbling. Where fire had been pushed down by the debris it burned brightly, eternally really as long as it had oxygen. Not fazed at all by the gaining floodwaters.
Must be nice to be magnesium.
If anything it burned even more brightly underwater like party favors in a pool.
Davidson had taken to the highest ground he could. And since the buildings were now floating away that left the SUV, and even the roof of that was not necessarily all that safe anymore. Not with the water levels rising every second.
The bulk of the roof of the cavern still held, but for how long? He didn't have much time to contemplate as the group neared barely ahead of a rush of water. Rebecca scrambled up onto the SUV's bumper, using it to hop up onto the hood of the car.
"Help me," she pleaded as she turned back to Brandt.
"What's wrong?" Davidson asked, joining her.
"He's been shot seven times," Rebecca answered matter-of-factly.
Lopez snorted, "Yeah, but which one of us hasn't?"
Davidson took one of Brandt's shoulders from the corporal and helped haul the sergeant onto the car. Up close and personal everyone's injuries became more obvious. No one was unmarked.
"Hurry!" Talli shouted, however the roar of the upcoming wave kind of warned them what was coming.
He couldn't even make sure Brandt was secured when Bunny's foot slipped off of the bumper. Davidson lashed a hand out, catching her before she went down. Talli helped him get Bunny up onto the hood of the car, which was as far up as they could get before the surge hit.
The crash of water sent everyone sprawling. Davidson grabbed a hold of the windshield wiper with one hand, the other anchoring Bunny. Gasping as the salty water receded, Davidson shook the moisture from his hair, smiling. The band was back together. They could figure out a way out.
Then a giant chunk of ceiling broke off above them, plummeting into the river, sending a second even larger swell of water at them. Bunny was lifted from the hood and dragged out and over the SUV. Davidson gripped as tightly as he could, but her slick fingers slid millimeter by millimeter.
He looked into her eyes as calm certainty replaced terror.
"I can't swim," was the only thing she said he lost his grip and she spun away, out of sight.
"Don't!" Brandt yelled, shredding his intercostal muscles on the right side. And for what? Davidson was already in the water, clothes, boots, and all.
"We'll take care of Puppy Love later," Lopez said as he grabbed hold of Brandt's arm. "But let's get you out of harm's way first."
"No," Brandt struggled to say, but the overwhelming nausea came out of nowhere, knocking the breath from him. It took everything he had not to retch right there.
Once on the roof of the car, Rebecca knelt beside him. "Can't we give him something for the pain?"
Brandt shook his head, but Lopez shrugged off his pack, digging around for the right syringe. "I'm good," Brandt insisted, but no one looked like they believed him.
"Great, so fight me off," Lopez said as he rolled up Brandt's sleeve. Of course he couldn't fight the corporal off, so Lopez jammed the needle into his arm, pumping him full of morphine.
"Whoa!" yelled Harvish as the SUV rocked under them.
Fairly quickly the vehicle settled back onto its tires. No one was fooled though. Give those huge leaks above them a few more minutes and not just surges of water would lift them. Soon the river flowing around them would be high enough to unmoor the SUV and they'd be nothing more than a steel log on a wild set of rapids.
Then of course the inevitable when there was no more room for the water.
When the cavern was full. What then?
"Don't be such a downer," Rebecca said next to him.
"What?" Brandt asked, not sure if the morphine had kicked in, making him talk in his sleep.
"I know that set to your lips," Rebecca answered. "You are walking the situation forward to the worst possible scenario."
Harvish scoffed next to them. "Yeah, he wouldn't have to go too far to find that one."
Rebecca smiled though. "But just think of how many times you've thought about that worst possible scenario..."
"And it turned out to be worse than that?" Brandt answered.
"No," she laughed. Not a hysterical laugh. Not a scared-out-of-her-mind laugh, but a genuine laugh. "Okay, maybe yes, but out of all those worst cases you always figured out a way out." Rebecca took his hand. "I trust you'll find us a way out."
Brandt couldn't think of anything except for the fact he'd married the wrong woman.
Aunush let the water pour down upon her. Beat upon her skin. If the fire did not kill them all, the water ultimately would. The sniper grabbed for her hand as a wave nearly carried her off.
Their eyes met. Her intent had been to die here, to stay with the tablets, yet it felt as if God was pushing them toward home instead of calling them home. She didn't fight when the sniper angled them toward the crevice that separated the two caverns.
It was hard to tell if tears or salt water streaked down her cheeks. The water sloshed up the sides of the cavern walls, carrying her and the rest of her soaked team away from Gomorrah. Rapidly the gap in the stone approached. If they could somehow get through that opening, they might have a chance at surviving their own suicide mission.
Her shoulder hit hard against the cavern wall as the water gained speed, hurling them toward the gap. She didn't complain though. How could she when she could feel God's hand upon their back?
As they sped toward the gap, the crack above them widened, sending debris falling. The sniper grabbed her arm and jerked her clear of a huge boulder. Nannan had not been so lucky. His scream was doused by the roaring water. His leg pinned, the Watcher reached a bloody hand out to her.
God had made his choice though. Who was she to countermand it?
Just as a set of boulders blocked the passage out, the remainder of her team slipped through the gap and stumbled into Sodom.
The crack they had created in Gomorrah extended into this section of the cavern. And while Sodom was not positioned under the Dead Sea, that crack wicked water along the ceiling. The dangling city was dissolving. But Sodom refused to go as quietly as Gomorrah. Towers broke off, crashing to the floor.
It was like a stalactite attack. They ran, dodging the very sharp and very heavy salt missiles. One of the men cried out, his arms up. But nothing short of a concrete bunker could save him from the ornate stalactite that slammed into him. The water turned red as it churned around the pile that used to be a man.
God did always have a magnificent way of weeding out the weak.
Davidson let the current take him. The river wound around buildings, making its way to the cavern wall that separated Sodom from Gomorrah. If he didn't catch up to Bunny by then, the girl didn't have a chance.
There! A splash followed by a sputtering cough. Bunny flailed against the water, churning, kicking, fighting for her life. Davidson kicked harder, angling toward Bunny. She hit the corner of a building and disappeared. He waited a heartbeat for her to resurface, but she didn't. Gulping a breath, Davidson dove under the water. Between the high salt content and the speed of the water it was a blurry mess. He might never have found her if a small flame of magnesium hadn't fallen in the river, illuminating the tubid waters.
It's flickering light bobbed in the river's flow.
He found Bunny still flailing. Davidson tried to gently guide her to the surface, but panic had set in and she fought even him. Not knowing what else to do, Davidson grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to his hip, his bad hip. Pushing off against a wall that disintegrated under the pressure, he strove for the surface.
As they broke the surface Bunny gasped for air, starting the flailing all over again.
"Stop," Davidson yelled, but she either didn't hear him or didn't care. "Bunny!" He pulled her closer. "Just stop."
Some dim awareness must have penetrated her panic as the woman slowed her movements.
"Completely stop," Davidson encouraged.
Bunny swallowed hard, but still near panting she stopped her struggle.
"It's hypersalinated," Davidson explained as they drifted peacefully. "You just float."
Bunny's eyes dilated and then constricted back down. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"No. You can only drown if you fight it."
Davidson was ready for a number of reactions, however Bunny wrapped her arms around his neck and then snuggling her head against his collarbone was not one of them.
It was almost idyllic except the river began speeding up, heading toward that rift. Water splashed and churned. If they didn't make it through just so, they would be smashed against the walls. And the closer they got, the more violent the passage appeared. Then he saw why. One of the boulders from the ceiling had fallen near the passage. What used to be an exit that could fit a car had been narrowed to what looked like a stick figure would have a hard time getting through.