Ostrava Rising

It's the summer of 2050, the floods weren’t just heavy like in the year 1997 or 2009, but they were historic, swallowing streets, tram tracks, and a whole neighborhood. You would think that after so many years of floods people would learn how to deal with them but that wasn't the case. Mark waded through water that was all the way up to his chest, carrying a small drone to scan the city for any survivors. The rain was harsh, and the wind ripped at his drenched jacket. He had no time to wonder if he would make it out alive. Every second counted. 

He remembered the news from two years earlier, when scientists warned that the river's course was unstable after decades of pollution and climate change. Most people didn’t listen. Now the warnings were real. Steel factories along the river, including Železárny Vítkovice, leaked  chemicals into the rising waters. Mark hated that factory due to it keeping the city economically alive while slowly killing the environment. The water was polluted with different kinds of materials.  But shutting it down in the middle of a flood? Impossible.

He wasn’t alone, alongside him, Hannah ran barefoot and covered in mud. Her wild hair tangled with reeds, her clothes looked like they were made from algae. Hannah is a biologist so she didn't mind being covered with different kinds of plants. She almost felt a sense of comfort being around things she sees on a day to day basis. 

She had told him in a low urgent voice, “The river’s alive now, Mark. It’s protecting itself.” 

He had thought that she had lost her mind until he saw it. An enormous shape moving in the water, emitting vibrant blue light. Something with antlers like a stag but, flowing and alive like a living organ.

Hannah’s eyes were filled with determination. “We need to stop the factory, or it will destroy the city to save itself!”

Mark hesitated. He had been trained for emergencies, but he carried a secret fear. Two years ago, during a smaller flood, he had failed to save a child trapped in rising waters. The memory haunts him to this day. Every time water surged too fast or a decision had to be made in a split second, his mind froze. He never told Hannah. Mark didn't want her to know he could be afraid.

The first attack came in the form of a wall of water. It slammed into the partially submerged steelworks, bending cranes and tearing gates off their hinges. Mark grabbed the railing as the floor surged past him, pulling debris and oil through the streets. The glowing blue figure rose above the waves. Mark could see its body, an unnatural mix of algae, nanotech and shifting through water, pulsing with energy. The creature wasn't angry in the human sense, it was correcting the imbalance humans caused. But that didn't matter. It was still going to destroy anything in its path.

Hannah shouted, “Mark! Through the factory! We can shut down the furnace from inside!”

He froze for a moment, the old panic gnawing at him. Memories of the child, lost because he had hesitated, flashed through his mind. 

Then he shook his head and forced himself to move. “You're right,” he said, voice wavering. “We have to try.”

They sprinted through water that reached Mark’s chest, dodging floating barrels, broken metal, and a partially collapsed tram. Every step burned his legs with cold, he fought the urge to look back at the city he loved, now half under water.

Inside the factory, smoke and heat mixed with the flood. Mark realised shutting down the furnaces was harder than he thought. The controls were flooded, and chemical leaks had made the air heavy and hard to breathe. The smell from the chemicals burned in their noses. It smelled like burnt tires. 

Hannah reacted quickly, her hands glowing faintly as if she were part of the river intelligence herself as if it was speaking to her. “I can redirect it!” she said “but i will need you to hold the emergency valves.”

Mark obeyed, twisting knobs and flipping levers while water surged around them. The factory trembled, groaning under the pressure. His hesitation came back once, when a valve burst under his hand. He froze, hands shaking, imagining the flood swallowing them both.

Hannah grabbed his arm. “Mark! You have to focus! We can't stop now!” 

He drew in a shaky breath, forced his fear down, his ears were ringing so he couldn't properly make out what Hannah was saying. Mark turned the valve just enough to stabilize the flow. His hands turned white from clutching the valve so tightly.

Outside, the creature rose higher. It smashed a crane, sending it crashing towards the flooded street. Mark looked out of the window and saw children trapped in a floating car. His past failure kept replaying in his head, but he pushed forward, grabbing a rope and yanking one boy to safety. Then another. The river's intelligence’s glowing antlers pulses near the windows , and he felt it watching them, judging their efforts. 

Mark heard an enormous bang like a steel bridge being torn in two. He looked up in astonishment and horror and saw that the chemical tank had cracked. Flames erupted, sending heat that burned through Mark’s wet clothes. Hannah screamed and focused harder, trying to stabilize the floodwater and redirect the organisms energy. Mark felt panic clawing at him, but he kept moving, shutting valves and rescuing survivors. He realised his hesitation could cost lives, but this time, he would not freeze. In the end they succeeded with shutting all the valves and redirecting the energy back to its original source.

Slowly the water began to recede. The creature sank back into the river, leaving behind debris but no more destruction. The factory’s furnaces had been shut down just in time. The chemical leaks were contained and the floodwaters stabilized. Mark and Hannah collapsed, soaked and exhausted, but alive.