Shattered World (Shattered #3)

Chapter Twenty

E arthquakes created tsunamis. It was basic science, something I had learned in school years and years prior. But never did I think Lake Michigan could form waves of this size.

Screams of terror bled into my ears as the large wave approached, horror seeping through my veins as Murphy and I rushed toward the others.

Warner still held Stephanie in his arms, but when I was a foot away, he reached out, pulling me into his side. With his touch on one side and Murphy’s on the other, we braced ourselves as the first wave hit.

My body froze on contact. The water was freezing, colder than an ice bath. The water pelted my entire body, the strands of my hair freezing to my face as the wave fell and started flooding the street.

My fingers struggled to open and close around Murphy’s hand. Wiping a hand over his face, icicles forming on his lashes, he stared down at me.

“Keep moving. We need to keep moving.”

Warner refused to let go of my side, the three of us moving slower than before as Stephanie slowly wept into Warner’s shoulder.

My gaze tried to snag onto the others, searching them out. Thankfully, they weren’t far ahead, Rainer’s head swiveling until his eyes landed on me. His relief was apparent, Lucas’ head tucked neatly under his chin. Aiden held onto Elizabeth, the woman frantically searching for her daughter.

Sasha stood at Aiden’s side, her clothes stuck haphazardly to her body, one of her shoes missing as her lips started to turn blue. The cold had already been a detriment to our health, but with the addition of the water, I worried we wouldn’t stand a chance. That all of this had been for nothing.

Aiden held up the others, waiting for us to join them, before our group continued pushing forward. A loud voice from ahead sounded out, yelling, “Brace yourself!”

I knew what was coming, but there was no way to prepare for another onslaught of a wave. The water was rougher than before, the wave bigger as we made our way closer, my legs giving out from the pressure.

Warner tried to hold on to me, but his grip slipped, both arms wrapping around Stephanie’s small body as she wailed for her mother. Murphy refused to let go of my hand, falling as I did, the water washing us further away from our destination.

Desperation coursed through me, all the fight I had in me bleeding out into my movements. I couldn’t give up, not now. I hadn’t been to hell and back to give up at the end. I was going to get into that bunker. If not for myself, then for everyone I had lost. Mom. Alex. Dad. Emmanuel. Mina.

“Come on, we can do this,” Murphy sputtered around a mouthful of water, swimming against the current.

Knowing I needed both arms for this, I pried my hand from Murphy’s grip. It was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do, knowing that it could be the last time we touched, but I needed all my strength.

The water was to my thighs, the current flowing dangerous and fast in the opposite direction, but I gritted my teeth as I paddled forward. From my vantage point, I could still see the others, all of them doing their best to make it the rest of the way.

My muscles burned in direct opposition to the icy fire that spread throughout the rest of my limbs. I had never felt a pain as severe as the one I did now.

A little way ahead, I spotted Rainer, Elizabeth, Sasha and Aiden huddled against one of the first buildings on the pier, clinging to the siding as the current of water rushed past them. Others in the crowd attempted to do the same, some of them succeeding, others succumbing to either the mounting pressure or the cold, their holds slipping as they fled away with the water back into the city.

With all the strength I could muster, I made my way to the building, reaching for Aiden’s hand as he pulled me closer. My teeth chattered, my lips blue as I struggled to feel my body, but we were almost there.

Murphy wasn’t far behind, Warner stomping up to the building, his long legs higher in the water than the rest of ours. A short-lived relief breathed out of me as we all stood together, but I knew it wasn’t over yet.

“Fuck, hold on!” Rainer roared over the wind, gripping tighter to the building as I noticed the new wave coursing toward us.

It had to be at least fifteen feet tall, towering over all of us. It hit the ferris wheel first, the seats of the ride swinging, some of them coming loose and falling to the surface below. They dragged through the water as the wave continued toward us.

Pressing my face into Aiden’s chest, Murphy gripped the back of my shirt, all of us holding tight to the building in front of us.

The current was stronger than before, my feet slipping out from underneath me, only Murphy’s grip holding me in place.

“Mommy!” Stephanie yelled from Warner’s arms and I turned to see Elizabeth gripping swiftly to Sasha’s hand.

Sasha struggled with the hold, Rainer gripping the back of her shirt as he tried to keep hold of a kicking Lucas. Aiden moved an inch to the right, aiming for her grip, but he couldn’t reach.

Sasha’s fingers slipped one by one, Rainer’s muscles straining as he almost dropped her shirt, and I knew what was coming. Placing my hand over Stephanie’s eyes, refusing to let her see another parent die, Sasha’s last touch fell.

Elizabeth was swallowed by the wave, her arms powering against the current, doing everything in her power to make it back to her children. When she was too far away, the current too strong for her to fight against, her muscles slumped. In that moment, her lips forming words I couldn’t read, she accepted her fate. And even though she would never know, I promised her I would always keep her children safe.