The danger was close now. "Better tell him," the Witch warned, and Angela shook her head. It was too late to go back now. Nothing would keep her from her son!
"Nice and slow until you hit the flatter part just before the water, then start picking up speed."
Heart in her throat, Angela rode the brakes as she started down, and the 4x4 bounced over the big rocks, jarring her.
"A little faster, Honey."
She eased off the brake, let it coast as the water rushed by. It was deeper than she'd first thought, maybe two feet, and moving fast, and then she was out in it. Easing on the gas too late, sprays of water flew up from her mostly submerged tires, creating small rapids that rippled and surged outward.
Her tires slipped near the middle of the wide riverbed, going sideways with the water, and then she was back in control and shooting across, heart pounding.
Marc was now coming down the incline behind her, and Angela felt her tires slip again as she hit the muddy embankment on the other side. Pedal now to the floor, her tires dug into the wet ground, and the Blazer came to a stop with a jerk that snapped her seatbelt painfully against her chest.
Angie let off the gas and hit reverse, but only sank further into the thick slop. She got no response from 4x4 mode. Slamming it back into drive, she was overwhelmed by a feeling of danger, the Blazer fishtailing as the ground began to shake again.
Out! They had to get out! Angela mashed the pedal, eating up stuck tires, and a cloud of white smoke billowed into the sky.
Marc didn't warn her as the rumbling increased, just hit the gas and slammed into the back of her smoking, sliding Blazer, knocking it up and out of the thick mud with little visible damage.
The sound of the bridge collapsing was extremely loud, painful as it echoed.
Angela was suddenly hit hard and moving again, and as she cleared the edge, she picked up her mic, stopping to look back. "Damn that was... Brady! Get out!"
Marc didn't need to look, knew the wall of debris-laden water was now surging toward him hungrily. He'd been here before. When his tires bogged down where hers had, he shoved himself out the window and got onto the hood, glad Dog was already up on the hill, out of reach.
"The tree! Grab the tree!"
Angela's scream was frantic and he ran across the protesting hood, jumping just as the water slammed into the Blazer.