Chapter 16 - The Submerged Sluice
"They're already here!" Derek gasped, dragging Sarah and Mia behind the rear wheel of the vehicle as mud splattered his face.
A second shot punched through the rear tire with a violent hiss. The shooter was positioned high on the old water tower overlooking the clearing. The only path of escape by vehicle was gone.
"The overflow drainage tunnel," Derek whispered urgently, his eyes darting toward the concrete foundation of the station. "When they decommissioned the plant, they diverted the lake runoff into an underground drainage canal that empties back into Bellweather Cove. It’s narrow, but the water level only rises to waist height unless the sluice gate fails!"
"Can you find the latch in the dark?" Sarah asked, shielding Mia, whose tiny hands were clamped over her ears in silent terror.
"I spent six months studying the park’s water infrastructure for my safety certification," Derek said, his voice finding an eerie, steady resolve Sarah hadn't heard from him since the day of the lake accident. "I know these tunnels. Trust me, Sarah. Just this once, trust me."
Sarah looked at him. The coward who had hesitated on the pontoon was gone. In his eyes was the desperate, primal focus of a father ready to tear down a mountain to protect his family.
"Go," she commanded.
They sprinted through the mud. A round kicked up gravel inches from Sarah’s boot as they hurled themselves through the broken plywood barricade of the pumping station's lower maintenance hatch. Derek slammed the iron fire door shut and dropped the rusted crossbar into place.
*Clang! Clang!* Bullets struck the heavy iron plate from the outside, denting the metal but failing to penetrate.
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Inside, the air was thick with the stench of stagnant algae, rust, and damp concrete. Below them, a spiraling iron staircase led down into the echoing roar of rushing water. Derek switched on the flashlight, pointing the beam downward into the abyss.
"The storage lockers are on the middle platform, ten feet above the waterline," Derek said, descending the slick stairs two at a time. "Stay right behind me."
