Petulawas not going to die today, either.
Julian had clear view of the brown van as he yanked on his wet suit.
The unwieldy behemoth was bobbing and swirling in the rushing water, but it remained upright, thank god, and Julian could just make out Petula, still in the cab.
He thought, by her posture, that she must be clutching the wheel in a death grip.
That didn’t bode well for her state of mind.
Julian seized a mask, fins, and a tank from the bed of the truck. The regulator he grabbed had a tandem breathing apparatus—called an octopus—attached, which was the safetyprotocol for all regulators these days, and for that, Julian was thankful. Petula might need help breathing, either when he got to her, or when he was swimming her in. He was taking no chances, just in case she became submerged at some point.
Julian’s heart beat fast as he finished donning his equipment, then he took one precious second to breathe. He needed to calm himself. He already knew that Petula had to be panicking. For both of them to be unnerved wouldn’t do either of them any good.
His pause, however, was serendipitous. It had him spotting a large coil of nylon rope nestled under a tarp.
Maybe…?
Without overthinking it, Julian reached in and grabbed the coil, then ran full tilt toward the reservoir, noting that the water which had been rushing downhill bringing a lot of trees and branches with it, had slowed to a small stream.
That was good news, but it didn’t mean that dangerous detritus wasn’t still swirling around in the water, either on or beneath the surface. The last thing he needed was to get clunked in the head or tangled in something. Which meant his best bet was to mask up and fully submerge on the way out, so he could see any debris coming at him.
When Julian reached the bank, his mind had already formed a plan. Finding the sturdiest tree, he tied one end of the rope tightly around it, looped the rest of the coil over his head and one shoulder, pulled on his fins, and dove right in.
Damn.The water was fuckingfrigid.
He’d known it would be, at least for a few minutes before the layer next to his skin warmed up, but even then it would still be freaking frosty. If he’d only had a dry suit…
No.He’d manage just fine. He, at least, had some protection against the cold. He couldn’t imagine how Petula was coping. Not only would she be out of her mind with fear, if he didn’tget to her within the next fifteen minutes or so, she could be rendered unconscious because of the freezing water.
If Julian had anything to say about it, it wasn’t going to take himhalfthat long to reach her.
Submerging, and swimming as fast as he ever had before, Julian came up every ten seconds or so to make sure he not only kept eyes on the van, but didn’t stray from his course. The vehicle was tilting to one side, now, and he couldn’t see Petula any more.
Fuck.
Hang on. Hang on, Julian repeated over and over in his head.
He didn’t know what he’d do if he got to the van and Petula was nowhere to be found.
He immediately shut that thought down. He’d deal with that possibility when he reached the vehicle. There was no need to borrow more trouble.
Head in the game,he told himself.
The swim seemed to take forever. It didn’t exactly help that Julian had to uncoil the rope as he went, but he knew it would be important in bringing Petula back if she were incapacitated. There was no way he could swimandkeep her above water without it.
Julian fixated for a moment on the floundering van still twenty feet away, and almost got bashed with half a tree.
Fuck.
He dove, and was able to come up clear on the other side.
It was a close call. Too close.
His head remained on an underwater swivel until he finally spotted the chassis of the van no more than ten feet ahead. Thank god the visibility in the water, even with the incoming rush, had stayed fairly clear. It allowed him to peruse what was around and below the vehicle.
What he didn’t see, was Petula.
He hoped that was good news.
