Jess kicked furiously in the water. She used her arms to move faster with each stroke. The ridge was only meters way. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest. She could hear the Mosasaurs movements in the water, coming up behind her. Jess forced herself to swim faster. The ridge was right in front of her.
Jess grabbed onto the walkway of the ridge and heaved herself out of the water. She gasped deeply, pulling her feet up. Jess rose to her feet, leaning against the south wall. Her heart was still beating frantically in her chest. Her hands trembled against the wall. She'd made it. She'd made it to the ridge before the Mosasaur could reach her. Looking up from the water, Jess could see Matt and the little boy in the boat.
"Jess stay where you are!" Matt ordered. He gestured back the driver. The boat started heading toward her.
"Jess!"
Jess' head snapped up. Abby, Connor, and Becker were leaning over the reservoir edge. Connor and Becker held their EMD's ready, watching the water. Abby held her hand down for Jess. Jess turned and reached up. She was at least a meter from Abby's hand. She rose onto her tiptoes for Abby's hand, but her height wasn't enough to reach Abby.
"Come on Jess, you can do it." Abby urged.
Jess lowered herself and shook her head. "I can't reach."
"Watched out!" Connor yelled.
Jess turned around quickly. She gasped in horror as the Mosasaur burst from the water right in front of her. Jess slammed her back against the wall as she felt both air and water splash over her. She could feel the Mosasaur's teeth cutting through the air, centimeters from her body. But the Mosasaur missed Jess and slipped back beneath the water's surface. Jess exhaled deeply.
"Jess!"
Jess looked up. Becker was leaning above her, reaching down. "Give me your hand."
Jess turned around and reached up. But as before, she was short, only this time it was a few centimeters. Jess bit her lip and rose to her tiptoes again. Her fingers grazed Becker's as she reached. But still she couldn't reach. "I can't reach."
"Yes you can, Jess. Just reach." Becker urged.
"It's coming back!" Abby warned.
Jess turned quickly. The water along the edge of the walk way rippled, just as before. Jess quickly moved along the ridge. The water exploded against as the Mosasaur burst form the water. However, this time it used the walkway to slide toward Jess. Jess screamed and threw herself into the spillway entrance. She collided with the floor as the Mosasaur brushed over her. Pain erupted in her leg as she heard the water slosh around her.
Jess looked up from the ground to find that the Mosasaur had slipped back into the water. She winced painfully and looked at her leg. The material on her right leg was shredded and gaping open. Blood seeped from a large cut on her leg, soaking into her shorts. The cut was jagged, from the teeth of the Mosasaur. Jess placed her hand over her bleeding leg and forced herself to her feet. She groaned as she applied weight to her injured leg.
"Jess!" she heard Becker call.
"I'm in here!" she replied.
Suddenly the Mosasaur burst from the water, sliding into the spillway entrance. Jess screamed and threw herself out of its way. She slid down the spillway on the hater than continued to flow out. She could hear the Mosasaurs roar behind her.
In the dark tunnel, Jess saw a bright light. She looked ahead. Not five meters from her hovered the anomaly. Jess gasped in aw, but quickly pushed it aside when she heard the Mosasaur coming up behind her. Jess moved closer to the anomaly. She had a decision to make, face the Mosasaur, or face whatever was through the anomaly. Either choice could result in her death. However, the anomaly postponed her death, even if it was only for a moment. Take a deep breath, Jess threw herself into the anomaly as the Mosasaur reached her.