Becker felt the heart in his chest beat against his ribs as he watched the Mosasaur slide across the walkway toward Jess. He fired quickly, knocking the Mosasaur off its target and back into the water. He stared at the entrance, but there was no sign of Jess. His heart quickened. Had it taken her? Had he fired too late?
"Jess?" Becker called. He listened for a reply. Seconds ticked by, feeling like an eternity.
"I'm in here!" came her reply.
Becker felt his heart ease. Jess was alive. She was alive. But his relief was short lived when the Mosasaur burst from the reservoir. Its massive body slid from the water and through the entrance of the spillway. Becker fired again, but the creature kept moving deeper into the spillway.
Becker slung the strap of his EMD around his shoulder and grabbed the edge of the wall. He swung his legs over the edge and dropped onto the walkway below the wall. Matt came up alongside the entrance in the boat. He jumped off and raced into the spillway in front of Becker. Becker entered closely behind Matt, both following the creature and Jess.
Matt and Becker ran through the tunnel. The water splashed against their boots and legs, drenching their clothes. They could hear the Mosasaur in front of them. Their EMD lights flicked on, illuminating the tunnel. They aimed the light just as the Mosasaur vanished into the anomaly.
Becker froze, watching the anomaly. It hung like all the others he'd seen. But in the tunnel, Becker only saw the anomaly. There was no Mosasaur. And what was worse, there was no Jess either. She was gone.
Becker shook his head. "No."
"Damnit." Matt snapped. "Abby, Connor, get down her now! We lost Jess in the anomaly. Jess went into the anomaly."
"We're on our way." Abby replied.
Becker turned to Matt. "She should have stayed behind. I told you, she should have stayed behind. You said you'd watch after her, Matt. Jess' safety was your responsibility!"
"You're right, she was my responsibility. And if we lose Jess I'll have to live with that. But I'm going through to do everything I can to make sure we don't lose her. I don't care if you go with me or not, Becker, but I'm not going to let procedure rules prevent me from going through there and findin' Jess." Matt explained.
Becker froze. The rules said no one goes through an anomaly. "Security rules all trips through an anomaly-"
Matt didn't give Becker a chance to finished his sentence. "So you're going to let Jess die?"
Becker said nothing.
"Because if we seal that now, Jess will die." Matt explained.
Becker shook his head. He hadn't managed to step through in anomaly in over a year. He couldn't go back through another anomaly. Not after losing Sarah. He couldn't bring himself to go anywhere near an anomaly after losing her.
Connor and Abby jogged down the tunnel. "What's the plan?"
"The three of us are goin' after Jess." Matt answered.
Abby looked to Becker. "You're not going with us?"
Becker shook his head.
"Becker, this is Jess. You can't just not go in after her. There's no telling what's on the other side of that anomaly." Connor replied.
"Becker's made his choice. We've got two hours to find her before he'll seal up the anomaly." Matt explained.
Becker, Abby, and Connor both stared at Matt in shock.
"Let's go." Matt ordered. He turned to the anomaly and walked through. Abby and Connor both gave Becker one last glance before running in after Matt.
Becker sighed raggedly. He couldn't go back through. He couldn't.
short chapter, but i think it works alone