Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Clutching the cold-water pipe with one hand, Naomi continued to beat out her desperate SOS. Exhausted, floored, the fading teenager knew this was her last hope, her final chance of making contact with her rescuers. Unable to shout, unable to move, she had curled herself up into a ball, preparing for the end. As her last act, she had kissed her eternity ring, her beloved keepsake, wanting to feel close to her mother in her final minutes, and as she felt the soft metal touch her lips, an idea struck her. She was leaning against the metal pipe already, as she had done so many times during the past few days, loving its solidity. All she had to do now was pivot her body slightly, then rap out her desperate rhythm on the hard metal.

Convinced that all was lost, the loud, percussive noise suddenly gave Naomi new strength. Swathed in darkness, smothered by a terrible silence, it felt amazing to fill this awful, airless place with sound, her strident, repetitive rhythm bouncing off the brickwork. She didn't know if it would make any difference, whether she was already too late, but she was determined to go down fighting. This was her last chance to cheat a slow, painful death.