novelraw Chapter 112: The First Wave
Chapter 112: The First Wave
The four men and one woman raced to the end of the hallway, rushing into one of the stairwells and slamming the door behind them. The stairwell shook like it was alive, but the metal door stood.
For now.
Water roared up from the lobby, slamming against the lower steps in a fury of glass and debris. The sound filled the concrete chamber, louder than anything they had ever heard — a rolling thunder that didn’t stop, a freight train of ocean water forcing itself through doors and walls that had never been built to hold it back.
The first surge reached them, icy spray biting against their skin as the stairwell filled from below. It poured in from under the closed door, bending the metal with the force of a battering ram.
Freezing water slapped at Sera’s calves, then surged higher, soaking her thighs in seconds. The others shouted — half curses, half gasps — but none of them stopped climbing.
"Go!" Sera barked again, shoving Zubair forward, forcing the rhythm to hold. "Don’t look back. Don’t stop."
The stairwell stank of rust, mildew, and the sick-sweet reek of old death.
The barricade she had built weeks ago — a plug of bloated zombie corpses wedged into the lower levels — had shifted under the pressure of the oncoming water.
She didn’t need to look to know pieces of the barricade were tearing free. Zombie limbs bumping against the flood as the water ripped through.
Something pale brushed Elias’s leg, and he recoiled violently before realizing what it was. His jaw locked, teeth clenched, and he drove harder against the steps, not daring to look down again.
The water swallowed the lower flight in seconds. The sound of it climbing was deafening, a constant roar that made every bone in their bodies vibrate. Cold ate at their limbs, but adrenaline kept them moving — pounding boots on slick concrete, metal railing biting into their palms as they pulled themselves higher.
The stairwell twisted upward, step after step. Their wet boots slapped in unison, splashes echoing back down toward the chaos below.
"Keep going up until you can’t go up anymore!" Sera shouted over the roar.
Her voice cut through the noise, crisp and sharp. No one argued.
Zubair’s breath came in steady bursts, measured, every exhale controlled like a soldier conserving strength.
Elias pressed forward with his usual precision, but his eyes darted up the stairwell like he was already calculating odds against collapse.
Lachlan laughed once — a hard, breathless bark that sounded more like defiance than humor.
Alexei muttered a curse in his native language, his teeth flashing in a grimace that could have been a grin or a snarl.
Another surge slammed into them, freezing water soaking their feet again as they scrambled higher. It clawed at their legs, tugging like invisible hands. Alexei slipped on a wet step, arms flailing — and Zubair caught him by the shoulder, dragging him forward without breaking stride.
The stairwell rattled. The concrete groaned like something alive, like the building itself was screaming under the weight. Elias twisted his head back, voice sharp with urgency.
"Can the foundation withstand this kind of pressure?" he snapped, eyes flicking toward Sera. "This building wasn’t made for an ocean in its lobby!"
Sera sneered, cold and sharp, not even slowing. "You are talking like this is the main hit," she snapped, pushing forward, demanding them to go faster. "This is just the first wave."
The words were colder than the water around them, and even Zubair shuddered.
"The tsunami hasn’t hit us yet. We need to get to safety first."
The men faltered for a fraction of a second, eyes snapping to her.
Shock carved through their expressions — Zubair’s jaw tightening, Elias’s lips parting in disbelief, Lachlan’s grin dying into a grimace, Alexei whispering another curse that vanished into the roar. For a moment the stairwell seemed to still, just their pounding hearts in the silence between waves.
Then another crash from below spurred them on, louder, closer.
Zubair moved first, forcing them upward. His hand clenched his rifle as if sheer grip could anchor them. Lachlan pushed off the railing, shaking water from his hair. Alexei’s curses grew more creative. Elias’s mouth flattened into a line, the skeptic in him unwilling to admit she was right, but unwilling to stop climbing either.
The water was merciless. It surged up another landing, freezing their calves again, soaking through pants, biting into muscle. Their boots squelched as they climbed, water dripping down every step they left behind. The sound of it was maddening — the roar of the flood below, their ragged breaths, the pounding of feet on slick stairs.
Elias’s voice cut out again, sharp as a whip. "Is it really smart to be on the waterfront?" His words echoed off the concrete, rising over the roar. "Shouldn’t we have moved inland?"
Sera rolled her eyes, climbing steadily, her movements smooth even as the water chased them. "The tsunami’s heading for Province M."
She glanced back just long enough to slice him with her gaze. "Half a country away. How far do you think we could have driven before it hit us?"
The silence that followed said more than words.
Zubair didn’t flinch, but his grip on the railing tightened. Lachlan gave a strangled laugh, shaking his head. "She’s got a point, mate. Better chance on high ground than chasing shadows."
Alexei spat water from his lips. "Inland, casino, doesn’t matter. Still drown if we stop."
Another slam from below reverberated through the stairwell, and the lights overhead flickered. The flood was eating everything beneath them. The ocean wasn’t just in the lobby anymore; it was pressing into the very bones of the building, groaning through the foundation.
Still, they climbed.
Their bodies screamed from the effort — thighs burning, lungs aching — but they didn’t slow. Each step forward was survival, each landing conquered another moment stolen from death.
Sera set the pace, unrelenting, never hesitating, never faltering. The creature inside her purred with satisfaction, instincts aligning with her cold logic. This wasn’t panic. It was clarity. Survival had always been about movement, not mercy.
The others followed because they had no choice — and because, whether they admitted it or not, they trusted her more than the lies of safety they’d clung to before.
The roar rose behind them, the stairwell vibrating with the fury of water still climbing. Their feet were soaked, their legs heavy, but they kept going.
Because if they didn’t, they would vanish under the sea.