The scene was total chaos. The inmates were losing it—agitated, despairing, remorseful, furious—waves of negative emotions exploding all at once. Death felt imminent, and meanwhile, two men were still arguing over a woman's life.
The water had already risen above their ankles in mere moments, and Attal had no choice but to believe the situation. He wasn't an idiot. If either end of the tunnel weren't blocked, the floodwater would've naturally flowed downhill toward New Jersey. That meant Owen had been telling the truth—this was a dead end, and the river was backflowing. Just like the prisoners said: they were all going to die.
"What do we do? You're CTU. You must've trained for this kind of thing…"
Chen Mike gripped Owen's shoulders desperately. He didn't want to die. Right now, Owen was his only hope.
"At this rate, we've got less than three hours before this tunnel fills up completely. We have to stop the water somehow—but we don't have the tools…"
Owen's voice was full of frustration. CTU had trained him for tunnel emergency scenarios, but training meant nothing when you were empty-handed.
"What kind of tools?"
"Explosives. The only real way is to blow the breach shut. But we don't have any."
"So what? We just wait here and die?"
"No. There has to be another way…"
"Maybe… maybe someone will get to us before it's too late…"
That last line sent a ripple of panic through the group.
Owen did have another idea.
Tunnels were round on the outside but boxy inside. At the top was a ventilation duct, but he didn't know how to get up there. There had to be some access point…
Then, unexpectedly—
"Explosives? I've got some."
Everyone froze and turned. The voice belonged to Attal.
"In my trunk," he said. "There's C4. A lot of it. Should be enough for whatever you're planning."
He was looking directly at Owen as he spoke. Then, without warning, he released Beth. She immediately bolted back to Owen's side.
Owen gently reassured her, then faced Attal.
Attal looked back and said evenly, "Everything else… we settle after we get out."
"Fine," Owen agreed. "After we're out."
A ceasefire. For now.
Attal got into character quickly. He opened his trunk, revealing a bag full of C4.
"Jesus Christ," one of the inmates whistled. "You planning to blow up the White House?"
Attal shrugged. Owen checked the contents—C4 bricks, detonators, and a wireless trigger.
No wonder the earlier explosions hadn't set this stuff off. Top-grade C4—stable under pressure.
He pocketed the explosives and gear. But a new problem emerged: how to reach the top of the tunnel. The ceiling was far too high, and there was nothing nearby to climb.
Chen Mike offered a solution—a human ladder.
Clearly familiar with the method, he had the inmates push a car over to the wall. Then he chose the strongest ones to form the base. Slowly, layer by layer, the ladder rose.
"Wait," someone suddenly called out. "If we blow up the breach… how do we know we won't make it worse?"
Good question—but too late.
"We don't," Owen replied bluntly. "It's a gamble. Unless you've got a better idea…"
Silence.
The ladder building continued.
Owen climbed it, reaching the top layer. One jump got him to a chunk of broken concrete. Above it was the ventilation shaft—clogged with mud, but still there.
Using the tunnel's steel arch, he crawled to the apex. There, he clamped his legs around the beam and started assembling the charge with careful precision.
Below, everyone backed up to a safe distance, eyes on Owen as he worked.
He jammed the C4 deep into the mud, attached the detonator, and slid back down to the car.
By now, the water had reached knee level.
Owen gave the signal. Attal raised the detonator.
Three… two… one—
BOOM—
The blast rocked the tunnel. The shockwave bounced back and forth within the sealed space. Water surged through the rupture like a tsunami—but quickly, mud collapsed into the hole, sealing it.
Success.
But no time to celebrate. Owen had anticipated backlash—but not like this. The explosion acted like a piston, shoving river water forward in a massive wave. Two-meter-high surges came barreling toward them, carrying vehicles like battering rams.
Owen barely got two steps before the shockwave knocked him down. Being closest to the blast, he was hit first.
A car hurtled toward him. He dove between two vehicles—just in time.
The floating wreckage blocked the wave, sparing him from being crushed. But he swallowed two mouthfuls of filthy water, coughing violently as he surfaced. Grabbing onto a car, he hauled himself onto its roof.
One by one, others surfaced—Beth, Chen, Attal, the inmates. A quick headcount showed two missing.
One was the guy who'd said he couldn't swim—drowned in the surge.
The other was less lucky. He'd been slammed against a car mid-wave, his neck snapped. His body was still wedged between two vehicles.
Owen swam to Beth, who was shivering uncontrollably. He again silently thanked Chen Mike, who'd stuck with her the entire time, even in crisis.
They regrouped, Owen urging everyone to climb onto cars to avoid hypothermia. He'd seen the effects firsthand during SEAL training—no joke.
"Wait here. I'll go check."
He swam back toward the blast site.
The mud was still unstable, debris occasionally falling. But something had to be confirmed.
At the breach, he crouched down.
Sure enough—the mud wasn't holding. Water was already seeping through the cracks.
Shit.
The explosion had only bought them time—not a solution. Soon, the water would return.
He turned to head back—but barely took two steps when a dark shadow loomed above.
CRASH.
A mass of mud and concrete collapsed onto him.
"Owen—!"
Beth's scream echoed across the waterlogged tunnel.
------------------
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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