Go!

Time braked to an almost standstill while that word slanted through my horrified, tumbling mind directly to my roots. Hallelujah that they knew what that vague order meant. They punched through the concrete walls in all directions, flinging pebbles into my bare skin and eyes, and snatched me from my freefall.

Tick.

Darby stopped her fall on the same ledge that had caught her before three feet down from the surface.

Tick.

Other roots snaked ...