Just when I thought I was done for, someone
grabbed me.
I looked up and saw Sam.
He grabbed my arm, and before I knew it, he
dragged me underwater.
It was dark, but I could see a dark tunnel.
We swam inside.
It was an old drainpipe.
We swam for a while and finally found some
air.
I leaned against the pipe, trying to breathe.
I tasted sewage.
Sam wasn’t doing much better.
Г
He was pale and sweating.
He stared at me.
Then, he grabbed me.
“Riley, you’re alive…”
He squeezed me tight.
I pushed him away.
“What are you doing here?”
His face darkened.
“Riley, things are worse than we thought.‘
He told me everything.
く
The day after I jumped, the cops showed up
at my family’s house.
They said my family was being investigated
for kidnapping.
Jenny had been fighting with my parents, and
she ran away, so she didn’t get caught.
Şam wanted to find her and warn her.
But Jenny thought Sam was with the cops.
She lured him to the factory, trying to kill him.
Sam fought back and barely escaped.
“I was going to call the cops, and then I found
you.” He sounded tired.
I looked at him.
His clothes were torn, and he was covered in
cuts and bruises.
Some of them were infected.
He looked terrible.
I thought about what he said.
The cops showed up after Jenny died the first
time.
But it didn’t go anywhere because she was
dead.
Now I knew the truth.
Jenny didn’t just kill herself.
く
She was covering her tracks.
Sam took a breath.
“Riley, I was wrong. She lied to me the whole
time. I just realized that.”
I laughed.
“You think saying that will make up for what
you did?”
He turned pale.
He started to say something, but stopped.
I looked around.
“Let’s go. There has to be a way out.”
He nodded.
We walked down the pipe.
It was dark, and we only had the flashlight.
Then, we heard footsteps and yelling.
“Hurry! They can’t have gone far!”
My heart was pounding.
Sam grabbed my hand.
“There’s a split in the tunnel ahead. We
should split up.”
I shook my head.
く
“No, there are too many of them. It’s safer if
we stick together. We need to find a way out
and call the cops.”
He hesitated, then nodded.
“Okay. You’re right.”
We kept going, then we saw light.
“There might be a way out!”
We hurried forward, but it wasn’t an exit.
It was a broken–down machine room.
The room was full of junk.
There were some old machines.
I looked around and saw a rusty metal door in
the wall.
“There!”
I pointed at the door.
Sam nodded and ran over.
He tried to push the door open, but it was
locked.
He frowned.
The footsteps were getting closer.
I grabbed a metal rod and handed it to him.
“Break it open!”
Г
He hit the lock.
It took a few tries, but it finally broke.
He kicked the door open and pulled me
inside.
There was a narrow hallway.
I could see a little light at the end.
We ran, the footsteps and voices getting
louder.
“They’re ahead! Get them!”
We ran out of the hallway.
We were in a ruined industrial area.
r
There were some streetlights.
I pointed.
“There’s a road over there! We can flag
someone down and call the cops!”
He nodded and pulled me forward.
Then, I heard a gunshot.
A bullet whizzed past my head and hit the
wall.
I froze.
Sam grabbed me.
“Don’t stop! Run!”
Г
We ran as fast as we could to the road.
But there weren’t any cars.
I thought we were going to die.
Then, I heard an engine.
I looked up and saw a truck coming.
I ran into the road and waved my arms.
“Stop! Help!”
