Cecil stumbles as well, losing his footing in the water sloshing around his ankle and catching himself with a thud on the opposite wall. There's a slope on two axes now - higher ground gets more difficult to find with every passing minute.

He's peripherally amazed (under the fear of the rising water) that there are now two people here who have not killed him, and don't seem likely to. He'd had a second, when the Initiate appeared, where he'd been sure his luck had run out; but death had, once again, not come. Every time it doesn't, Cecil finds himself less inclined to accept it when it does happen.

So, he pulls himself from the wall and sloshes back toward the door, grabbing at the hatch and putting his shoulder into trying to open it - confirming for the Initiate that they were indeed about to try this door. The pressure of the rising water makes it difficult, though, and his feet sliding on the floor don't help matters, either - it doesn't open for him.

He doesn't know how to ask for help. So he just keeps trying, keeping his eyes on the floor, his jaw tight with exertion. It's his job now, right? It's what he has to do.