The water was inching higher now, reaching her hairline, but she nodded, shivering. Taking the belt in her hand, she pulled it hard to create an easy surface for him to cut into.
“P-p-lea-se hurry,” she begged him through her own chattering teeth, as though he would have done anything else.
He brought the blade to the thick fabric of the belt and started to saw at it, all too aware of how quickly the water was inching up her face. “It’s going to be okay.”
She let out another whimper as the water reached her eyes. She squeezed them shut, and her grip tightened on the belt. Thefabric was starting to fray now, and he knew it was only going to be a few more seconds until it—
It snapped. Xavier dropped the blade and reached out to catch her before she fell into the roof of the vehicle, pulling her into his arms.
She gasped, wiping the water from her eyes, clinging on to him for dear life.
“You okay?” he asked her, and she managed to nod, though he could tell she was having a hard time pulling herself together. She gripped him tightly.
“We need to get out of here,” she told him, voice shaking. “Are the doors stuck?”
He tried the handle on her side, but it wouldn’t move. The SUV had sunk too far, and the water pressure on the doors was too great.
“Looks like it,” he replied. “Here, go over toward the driver side—get back as far as you can.”
He set her down next to the driver seat, and she wrapped her arms around the back of it for purchase as he pulled back to slam his foot into the opposite door. It didn’t budge, but he could hear the metal groaning underneath the pressure. Going again, he mustered up all the force he had in him—not that there was much of it left. He was running on pure adrenaline now, doing his best to ignore the shock of the accident and the cold water. But it was just a matter of time before his body shut down.
He kicked again, and again.
Thankfully, on the fourth kick, the door finally came loose, leaving a gap large enough for him to get his hands in between the door and the frame.
Unfortunately, the opening also gave enough room for the frigid river to come rushing in as well. The SUV started filling faster, the water no longer held at bay. Reaching back for Hannah’s hand, Xavier continued to push against the forceof the icy river, using his shoulder and dragging Hannah out behind him.
The water they were in was only about chest deep for him, a little more for Hannah, but they struggled to trudge back to dry land through the freezing, mucky water.
“Thank God,” Hannah breathed as soon as they were out of the water. They collapsed on the riverbank, and Xavier shot a look up to the road to make sure the person who had done this to them wasn’t still there.
But it was totally quiet.
Whoever had taken them out had made a run for it already. A good thing, because even though Xavier was exhausted and fighting off hypothermia, he thought he probably could have mustered the strength to kill them with his bare hands for almost ending Hannah’s life.
Did they think they had finished her and Xavier off? Or was this just meant to be a warning, a sign for them to keep their heads down and out of whatever trouble these people didn’t want them knowing about?
He didn’t know, but he was definitely going to get to the bottom of it.
Xavier wrapped a protective arm around Hannah, squeezing her in close. He could feel her shivering from the icy water as well as the cooler temperature, and he wished there was something he could do to make it better. He was wearing a jacket, but it wouldn’t provide her any warmth because it was soaking wet. Their best bet was to get back to Warrior Peak Sanctuary as soon as possible and into dry clothes.
“How f-f-far are we from the lodge?” Hannah asked, and he looked over at her. There was a bloody mark on her head, just below her hairline.
“You’re bleeding,” he murmured.
She reached up to touch her head and pulled her hand away with a smear of blood on her fingers. Her eyes widened.
“Do you feel dizzy?” Xavier asked. “Nauseous?”
She shook her head. “N-no, nothing l-l-like that,” she stuttered, but she winced. “I do have a bit of a headache, though.”
“Okay, we need to get you checked out,” he replied, and he steered her up toward the road. “Once we get back to the lodge, we’ll get you looked over.”
“And how a-are we going to g-get back there?” she asked, her voice laced with panic. “I mean, it’s too far to walk, and it’s too cold this time of the year, plus we’re soaking wet, and we’ll probably freeze to death…”
“I’ll flag down a car,” he replied before she spiraled any further. He was doing his best to keep her calm, though he could tell that she was on the brink of losing it completely. He smoothed a hand over her back, trying to soothe her. “You stay here,” he told her. “I’ll find someone. I promise.”
She parted her lips to protest, but the fight seemed to leave her just as soon as she had thought of it.
