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/* /*]] */ d15 Chill factor The cliff face bulged out, releasing a wave of pent-up slurry that knocked Ryan off his feet. His mouth filled with the stinking ooze, and he fought for his life, struggling in blind desperation to get back onto his feet.
The initial tide eased, and he managed to claw himself upright, fumbling for his shovel. He wiped his eye clear of the mud and looked around frantically for Dean. But the boy had vanished under the wall of earth, mud and water.
“Get help, Kate! Call the sec men. Need shovels here, now!”
The noise of feet rattled on the ladder, and someone bellowed orders, shouting for everyone to get out before the whole place caved in.
“There’s folks trapped!” Ryan called, his digging fingers suddenly touching something soft and yielding, flesh within cloth. The one-eyed man scrabbled in the yellow muck, heaving out a limp little body.
“Leave him be,” the sec man ordered. “We’ll get him up top.”
“I’ll carry him,” Ryan insisted, not even looking at the guard.
Ryan didn’t see the rifle butt as it went crashing into the side of his skull. He recovered and reached for the sec man, his fingers clawing for the pale, staring face. But the M-16 swung down a second time, and he toppled into a dark chasm of unconsciousness.
