Chapter 7 - The Assault on Sector 4
The concrete floor trembled as the first explosive blast tore through the upper steel doors of the warehouse. Smoke and dust filled the stairwell as tactical team members in black uniforms poured downward, light-mounted weapons scanning the gloom.
"Ethan, take Clara and Chloe through the escape tunnel under the generator room!" Marcus yelled over the deafening alarms, throwing himself behind a reinforced concrete pillar and laying down suppressive fire. The chatter of automatic weapons erupted, echoing off the high ceilings like thunder.
"I’m not leaving you, Marcus!" Ethan roared, grabbing an assault rifle from the emergency cache and firing a precise three-round burst that dropped two advancing mercenaries at the top of the ramp.
"If you die here, Vance wins!" Marcus screamed back, tossing a flashbang grenade up the stairs. "Go! Now!"
The grenade exploded with a blinding white light and a concussive boom that disoriented the advancing squad. Ethan grabbed Clara’s hand, pulling her back toward the sleeping chamber where Chloe stood trembling, holding her stuffed rabbit. Ethan scooped his daughter up into his arm, using his body as a shield as they sprinted toward the rear maintenance door.
They burst into the dark generator room, the smell of diesel and hot metal thick in the damp air. Ethan pressed his palm against a biometrics reader on the floor wall. A heavy steel hatch swung open, revealing a narrow ladder descending into the city’s old storm drain network.
"Clara, go first!" Ethan ordered, handing Chloe down to her.
Clara scrambled down the rusted iron rungs, cradling Chloe securely against her chest. Ethan followed close behind, pulling the heavy hatch shut and locking the manual deadbolts just as bullet impacts began to hammer against the outer side of the steel door.
They dropped into six inches of cold, flowing water inside the cavernous concrete pipe. The underground echo of distant gunfire echoed through the vents above, but they were moving. Ethan pulled a waterproof GPS tablet from his tactical vest, checking their subterranean route.
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"This tunnel leads two miles east, directly under the Financial Center," Ethan said, his breathing heavy as he looked at Clara. She was drenched, covered in dust, her hands scraped from the rungs, but her eyes were steady, unyielding, and burning with a terrifying inner fire.
"Then that’s where we’re going," Clara said softly, holding Chloe tight. "Julian Vance thinks he’s attending a victory celebration tomorrow morning. Let's make sure it’s his funeral."
