The Friday 56 for 9/2/22: Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:

Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski

“Where are we going?” Fireball asked as he escorted Jen down the steps, careful on the wet concrete. His heavy back. pack bounced against his spine, the straps too loose.

“No idea,” Fiona said. The station would protect them from the rain and wind, at least. With no trains running, they could safely walk the tracks to another station. Hell, it wasn’t impossible they could make their way back to the house while staying underground.

But what if the system floods?

You have a point, she told the treacherous demon in her head. Past hurricanes had ruptured tunnels and retaining walls, filling half the subway system with toxic water. For years, politicians insisted they were spending the money to ensure such a thing never happened again, but since when could you trust anything they said?

She would just have to risk it. And yet she hesitated at the top of the stairway, frozen by a vision of whitewater foaming down a tunnel, sweeping away anything in its path, drowning anyone foolish enough to try and take refuge deep in the earth…