Alive at 5 (Entangled Ignite) by Linda Bond Page B

“Your uncle is a hundred feet deep. Why doesn’t he look backward to check for his backup?”
    Zack had no answer.
    “Maybe he didn’t want to go past that awful sign,” Samantha suggested with a grimace.
    Rita handed Zack the remote control. He pressed forward. A couple of times it looked as though his uncle did turn to check out what was behind him, but by now there was no sign of the other diver. He pressed play again. The readout on his uncle’s wrist now said a hundred-thirty feet deep.
    “Shouldn’t he be switching to his primary tank now?” George asked.
    “Is that important?” Samantha asked.
    “Divers must breathe different mixtures of gas at different depths,” Zack explained. “You start breathing mostly oxygen, but at this depth you have to switch to a tank that contains a blend of oxygen, nitrogen, and helium. The combination allows you to breathe under the pressure of the water.” He didn’t really think she wanted such a detailed explanation, but frankly, he wanted to hear his own voice right now rather than the sound of his uncle’s laboring regulator. A slow horror was creeping up inside him, as if he were down in that cave, struggling to breathe right beside his uncle.
    As if on cue, his uncle reached behind his head and maneuvered the switch that changed the mixture. He continued to swim inside the dark tunnel. Occasionally, he’d glance back. Zack rubbed his eyes, but knew nothing would change the outcome ahead.
    Jackson had almost reached the area where George had freaked out.
    The mechanical air sounds were getting more intense. Why was his uncle breathing so hard? Jackson had been in good shape for his age, and he didn’t look like he was overexerting himself. He’d just switched to his other tank. His heavy breathing didn’t make sense.
    A sudden dread sank deep into Zack’s bones. “Something’s wrong with the other tank. He isn’t getting enough oxygen.”
    “How can you tell?” Samantha’s voice sounded far away, even though she was still sitting right next to him.
    “Listen to the way he’s struggling to breathe.”
    The eerie sound of air bubbles being released into the water filled the room, followed by an electronic noise that sounded like it came from a robot, not a man.
    “Elp.”
    Zack turned his ear toward the TV. Had he heard right?
    “It sounded like he said help!” George exclaimed.
    “Maybe the sound came from his equipment?” Samantha said cautiously.
    “Elp!”
    Zack dropped his head into his hands, his elbows resting against his knees. The weight of that one simple word pulled down his shoulders. His heart felt like it was tearing in two. “Jackson obviously knew something was wrong.”
    He probably also knew help wasn’t coming.
    “What could it be?” Samantha whispered.
    Zack could feel her leaning closer to him.
    “The mixture of air in his tanks,” George said. “If Zack’s uncle wasn’t getting enough oxygen, he would pass out or have a seizure. Why didn’t he turn around and head back up? Where the hell did his dive partner go?”
    All good questions. Ones Zack would never be able to answer. A lack of oxygen to the brain did cause divers to do crazy things deep underwater. He forced himself to keep his focus on the TV.
    “But… If your uncle was able to make a sound like help, he couldn’t be suffocating, right?” Just as Samantha finished making that logical statement, little gasps rippled through the speakers.
    Zack’s stomach plummeted. He couldn’t watch this. But he had to. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, though he wanted to shut them tight.
    His uncle had stopped moving. He rested on the cave floor, his breathing shallow. With the limited light from his uncle’s gear, Zack found it difficult to see what Jackson was doing. But…he appeared to be moving his hands, struggling with something at his side.
    Jackson turned his head and gazed down. That directed the headlamp toward a guideline hooked into a rock.
    Zack