The four men and one woman raced to the end of the hallway, rushing into one of the stairwells and slamming the door behind them. The stairwell shook like it was alive, but the metal door stood.
For now.
Water roared up from the lobby, slamming against the lower steps in a fury of glass and debris. The sound filled the concrete chamber, louder than anything they had ever heard — a rolling thunder that didn't stop, a freight train of ocean water forcing itself through doors and walls that had never been built to hold it back.
The first surge reached them, icy spray biting against their skin as the stairwell filled from below. It poured in from under the closed door, bending the metal with the force of a battering ram.
Freezing water slapped at Sera's calves, then surged higher, soaking her thighs in seconds. The others shouted — half curses, half gasps — but none of them stopped climbing.
