The cold hit instantly.
Water rushed around Elena's ankles, then calves as they moved deeper into the flooded tunnel.
It wasn't still.
It was rising.
Fast.
"Keep moving!" Daniel said, pulling her forward.
The tunnel sloped slightly downward, which made everything worse. Water from the storm above was pouring in from unseen cracks, turning the passage into a narrow stream.
Behind them, faint echoes bounced through the tunnels.
Voices.
Closer now.
"They're coming," Elena whispered.
Daniel didn't look back.
"Then we don't stop."
The flashlight beam cut through the darkness ahead, but the water reflected the light strangely, making it hard to see where the ground dipped.
Suddenly—
Elena slipped.
Her foot hit a submerged stone, and she fell forward into the freezing water.
"Daniel—!"
He caught her arm just before she went under completely.
"I've got you," he said quickly, pulling her back up.
The water was already at her knees.
And still rising.
Elena gasped, shivering. "We're not going to make it if it keeps filling like this."
Daniel scanned ahead.
The tunnel narrowed.
Then—
He saw it.
"Wait… there!"
A small opening in the wall.
Half hidden by flowing water.
Not a tunnel.
A vertical shaft.
Elena frowned. "What is that?"
"An old ventilation passage," Daniel said."
"Or a secondary exit."
The only problem—
It was narrow.
Very narrow.
And partially broken.
Behind them, a distant crash echoed.
The men had cleared part of the collapse.
Time was gone.
Daniel turned to Elena.
"You go first."
She stared at the opening.
"I might get stuck."
"You won't," he said firmly. "Just keep climbing."
The water surged higher, now pushing against them with force.
Elena took a breath.
Then stepped toward the opening.
The stone edges were rough, cutting slightly into her hands as she pulled herself up.
Her foot slipped once—
But she kept going.
"Don't look down," Daniel said.
She didn't.
She climbed.
Higher.
Faster.
The sound of rushing water grew louder below.
Then—
Her hand hit something solid.
Wood.
A hatch.
"Elena?" Daniel called.
"I found something!"
"Push it!"
She braced herself and shoved upward.
At first, nothing happened.
Then—
With a loud crack—
The hatch burst open.
Fresh air rushed in.
Elena pulled herself out onto wet grass.
Rain poured over her face.
She was outside.
"Daniel!" she shouted, turning back toward the opening.
A second later, his hand appeared.
She grabbed it.
Pulled with everything she had.
And together—
They collapsed onto the ground above the tunnels as the storm raged around them.
Behind them, the shaft echoed with the roar of rising water.
The tunnels were flooding.
And whatever secrets still lay beneath Seravalle—
Were being buried again.
But this time—
Elena and Daniel had the truth.