Chapter Two: Keep Your Head Above the Water

The car hit the water nose first and the impact was like a head-on collision with a brick wall. The windshield cracked on impact and Don felt his head slam into something solid. The water immediately grabbed the car and it traveled for several feet in its vertical position until it slammed into the cluster of trees that grew in the center of the canal.

As water began to rise up into the cab, Don blinked his eyes rapidly trying to clear his head. Amazed that he had managed to remain conscious, Don lifted his hand to feel the place where his head had collided with the steering wheel. Pulling his hand back, he wasn't surprised to find blood on his fingers.

"Charlie?"

Turning to his brother, Don was dismayed to see that Charlie was hanging limply from his seatbelt. With the car in a vertical position, nose down in the water, it was angled slightly to the right and Charlie's face was already partially submerged. Without hesitation, Don un-clicked his seatbelt and fell onto the steering wheel. Even up against the tree, the force of the current was pushing the car further and further under and the water was rising fast enough that Don could see the line outside the closed windows. Finding the dash with his knees, Don clambered over to the passenger side and grabbed his brother's body. Pushing Charlie's head up against the back of the seat, Don managed to get his face out of the water. As Charlie sputtered and coughed, he began scrambling frantically for his own seatbelt before he even opened his eyes.

"Whoa! Hey!"
With one knee on the gearshift and the other on the face of the car stereo Don grabbed Charlie with both hands.

Charlie's eyes flew open and the panic was instantaneous. He sucked in a deep breath.
"Oh, God."

The water was rising so rapidly that Don's face was almost directly in front of Charlie's in the water. Still holding Charlie's shoulders up to the back of the seat, so his face would stay out of the water, Don readjusted his grip.
"We need to get your seatbelt off."

"Oh, God. Don?"

Charlie's voice was still groggy but it openly displayed absolute fear and Don fought to keep his own panic from showing.

"Can you reach your seatbelt?"

It took him a second to respond through the terror that was coursing through him, but Charlie shook his head.
"Yes…."

The water had covered Charlie's legs and it was lapping against his chest when his shaking hands finally found the seatbelt. As he released the clasp, he fell forward into the water. Don tried to slow him down, but his body weight caused them both to slide beneath the rising river. Don's feet found the windshield first and he pushed off back toward the surface. His head emerged between the car's seats and he realized again how quickly they were sinking when he saw that the front seats were already submerged. He turned and grabbed Charlie by the collar pulling his head out of the water next to him. His younger brother sputtered and coughed again. Don pushed himself toward that backdoor of the car.

"We've got to open one of these windows and get out of here."

Bobbing in the water next to him, Charlie looked at him as if that were the most ludicrous notion he had ever heard.
"Don, Dad's windows are electric….and that will make the water come in faster."

As Charlie lost his footing on the dash and slid under the water again, the full realization that they had precious seconds left hit Don like a ton of bricks. Pulling Charlie back up next to him, he reached under his jacket and pulled his service weapon out of its holster.
"Cover your eyes."

Charlie turned his head away and Don quickly brought the 9mm up and emptied the clip into the rear window of the car. The shatterproof glass broke into large pieces and rained down on top of them in chunks.

His ears were ringing from the gunshots and Charlie was shocked when Don simply dropped the gun into the water, unwilling to take the extra time to return it to its holster.
"Don?"

"Get up there, Charlie."
Using the backs of the front seats, his older brother boosted him towards the sky. The rain was now coming in through the back of the car and pelting off of their faces. Charlie grabbed the edge of the window frame and pulled himself out, scaling the trunk. The water was splashing up over the back of the car now and Charlie grabbed a branch from the tree they were resting against. Another surge of flood water suddenly shifted the car and Charlie lost his balance, almost falling off his perch.

"Don, the car is moving!"

Watching Don struggle to get out of the hole where the rear window had been, Charlie leaned out over the bumper and extended his hand toward his older brother. Just as he locked wrists with Don, another surge of floodwater hit the car. As the water twisted the vehicle out from under Charlie's feet, he wrapped his left arm around the tree branch next to him. He suddenly found himself hanging from the branch, his feet dangling in the air. Don's full weight jerked hard on his right wrist and Charlie was sure he felt something snap. Pain shot up his arm and into his shoulder, but Charlie forced himself to tighten his grip on Don's hand. The lower half of his older brother's body submerged in the fierce current and the water started its fight to pull him under.

"Whoa! Charlie?"

From the expression of pain on his younger sibling's face, Don was uncertain if Charlie would be able to hold him without falling into the water himself. But after a few seconds he answered him through gritted teeth.

"I've got you…..Don. Get your…..grab something!"

The force of the water slammed them both into the tree and Charlie grunted with the effort of hanging onto Don while he searched for a branch to grab on to.

Finding a limb that would hold his weight, Don pulled himself out of the river. Once he knew the water wasn't going to carry them both downstream, Don let go of Charlie's wrist and lifted his eyes to the Victory Boulevard Bridge. The suburban and the black pickup truck were gone and there were no signs of any other cars.

The other car.

Don turned back to Charlie and it seemed that they both realized at the same moment that the blue hatchback was somewhere in this river too.
There was a glare off the river from the lights at Glendale and about 800 yards downstream the cars passing on the Highway Five bridge cast an occasional burst of light off of the water. Don looked around, trying to find the other car or any sign of its occupants.

"I don't see it. Charlie?"

Brushing his wet hair from his eyes, Charlie scanned the surface; equations and calculations running through his head. From the place where the railing had been bent over and peeled from the bridge to the place where their own, lighter car had come to rest…..then guessing at the velocity of the current, Charlie quickly came up with an estimated location and turned his eyes to the trees just to the right and slightly behind them.

"There."

"Charlie, I don't see……"

Trying to keep as much of his body out of the water as possible and using the branches of the tight cluster of trees as anchors against the current, Charlie began trying to make his way to the location.

A glint of metal in the midst of green leaves and brown water prompted Don to follow his brother. Just a few feet from where they had climbed from their car, the hatchback was resting…miraculously…on its roof, almost suspended in the trees. The surge of the current had grabbed the car and its momentum had elevated it just enough for the tree branches to hold it above the surface. The very top of the overturned car was submerged, but the lower half of the vehicle was sticking up from the dirty water.

Hoping against hope that someone's parents taught her not to drive unless all of the passengers were buckled in, Don caught up with Charlie and reached out; grabbing the door of the car. Seeing that the rear door had been smashed in the collision, Don moved up to the front. From the car's suspended position, he was able to maintain a hold on the larger tree limb he was using for support as he fought against the current to pull the car door open. The current immediately grabbed the door and wrenched it from his hand. The new object of resistance against the raging water caused the car to shift slightly. But the thick bed of tree branches kept it from following the current downstream.

Casting a glance at Charlie, Don leaned into the car and looked at its passengers.

The young woman who had been driving was hanging upside-down from her seatbelt, unconscious; her blond hair floating in the water around her head. The three children were in the same position. The two girls on the sides were unconscious as well. Only in the center seat, a pair of bright blue eyes stared back at him. The child couldn't have been over a year old, but she was not crying.

"Hey, sweetheart."

Calling up his profession charisma, Don struggled to remove any fear or alarm from his voice.

"We're gonna get you girls out of here, okay?"

The child continued to stare at him, unspeaking.

Turning to his brother, Don tried to gage his ability to assist him. There was a trickle of blood running from Charlie's nose and a goose egg knot was well formed on the right side of his head where he had hit the window on their initial impact with the truck. He was unconsciously cradling his right wrist and Don was going to suggest he stay put, but Charlie didn't give him the chance.
"I don't think there is anyway around to the other side, Don. I can get up next to the door…"

Don cut him off.
"I can get into the back of the car…..I'll hand you the kids."

Despite the fact that he had never taken an oath to serve and protect, Charlie's resolve to get these girls to safety was just as strong as his and Don found himself filled with a surge of pride.

Nodding in agreement, Charlie used the limbs around him to get as close to the car door as possible without putting any weight on the vehicle.

Don lowered his body gingerly into the car, sliding himself into the water that was pooled inside the roof of the vehicle. He was being careful, but the change in weight caused the vehicle to shift. They were only a few feet apart now, but the sound of the water rushing over the back of the car was so loud; Don had to yell at Charlie to be heard.
"If this tree turns us loose…"

Don locked eyes with his younger brother and for a moment the chaos around them slowed to a crawl. Charlie shook his head slowly and Don cut himself off mid sentence. Charlie was not moving from that spot without him and he knew it.

With a quick nod, Don disappeared into the partially submerged car.

Authors Notes: Holy Cow…(and other expressions of amazement.) I am so thrilled to see your comments.

You totally made my day! I squealed like a little girl when I opened up my email….I was at work and they looked at me funny. But who cares…it was worth it. Thank you, thank you for your feedback and comments! I dare not try to express what that means to me or I'll come off sounding like a nincompoop.

Why did everyone assume the 'young woman' was the kid's mother? Just wondering….

It turns out - she is not….

And here is what's next----

Chapter Three: The Eppes' Vs. Old Man River