Ben Gabe shouted The water’s too deep Nothing I can do He unfastened his seat belt and turned around rapidly We’re going to have to have a go at it on foot Tyler grab some rope and put it in your backpack Can anyone get a phone signal here After some fumbling everyone reported the same thing No cell service 66
That’s what I was afraid of Ben said Sean stuff as many bottles of water as you can carry into your backpack Water Sean yelped Do you have any idea how much water weighs Ben didn’t reply He just gave Sean a scowl that sent the boy scrambling under the seats where the flats of water bottles were stored When everyone was ready Ben put down his window Rain pounded in We have to climb out the window Ben said The water is too far up the doors to open them I’m going to climb out so I can help you Each of you has
to follow Climb out onto the roof then carefully onto the hood You should be able to jump past the water from the hood He turned to look directly at Gabe Give me a minute to get outside then you climb out You probably won’t be able to see me but I’ll get you Okay Gabe said He watched his brother wriggle out the window He knew it would be easier for him He was so much smaller Gabe waited a moment after Ben was gone then scrambled into the front seat and stuck his left arm and head out the window Cold rain drenched his hair in seconds and stung his eyes He rubbed his eyes on his shoulder trying to clear his vision A hand grabbed his wrist Ben’s voice called from above I got you Climb on out As Gabe scrambled through the window Ben caught his other hand and hauled him onto the van roof Ben half shouted in his ear I’ll 8
lower you to the hood Be careful it slopes You’ll need to jump from the hood to clear the water but throw your backpack first so it doesn’t weigh you down How far is the jump Gabe asked nervously Ben didn’t exactly answer He patted his brother on the arm You can do it Go I have to help the others Ben lowered Gabe to the hood then let go Gabe had never felt as alone in his life as he did while standing in the pounding rain on the slippery hood He carefully edged out farther onto it Though it was only early evening the pounding rain made it much darker Gabe wiped his arm across his eyes then squinted trying to see the edge of the rushing water Something big and shadowy moved in the darkness beyond Gabe gasped sucking in enough rainwater to make him cough Whatever moved in the shadows slipped farther away out 9
