Chapter 10 - AVALANCHEJulian tackled Maria out of the vault just as the C4 detonated. The shockwave blew the massive steel door off its hinges, sending it crashing through the bank’s marble pillars. Fire and debris rained down, choking the lobby with thick, black smoke.
Ears ringing, blood trickling from his forehead, Julian dragged himself up. He pulled Maria to her feet. "Are you hit?"
"I'm fine," she coughed, waving away the dust. "But we just triggered every alarm in Zurich. The police will be here in two minutes. Worse, Alexander knows exactly where we are."
They sprinted to the G-Wagon, reversing violently out of the shattered lobby just as police sirens began to wail in the distance. Julian slammed the gearshift into drive and floored it, tearing through the snow-covered streets of Zurich.
But the police weren't their primary problem.
As they merged onto the mountain highway leading out of the city, three black, unmarked snow-caterpillar vehicles dropped onto the road behind them. Turrets popped out of their roofs, manned by heavily armed mercenaries.
"Incoming!" Maria yelled, rolling down her window and leaning out into the freezing wind with her assault rifle. She fired controlled bursts, shattering the windshield of the lead vehicle. It swerved, crashing into a snowbank and flipping violently.
But the remaining two vehicles opened fire. Bullets hammered the G-Wagon's reinforced armor, cracking the bulletproof glass.
"We can't outrun them on this ice!" Maria shouted over the deafening gunfire.
Julian’s eyes darted to the treacherous, winding mountain road ahead. To their left was a sheer rock face. To their right, a thousand-foot drop into a dark, frozen valley.
"I'm not trying to outrun them," Julian said, a terrifying, reckless glint in his eye. "I'm going to bury them."
Julian reached under the dashboard and pulled out a flare gun he had found in the smuggler's stash. He handed it to Maria. "When I say now, shoot the flare directly into the snow overhang above the cliff on our left!"
Maria looked at the massive, unstable cliff of snow hanging over the pass. "Julian, that will trigger an avalanche! It'll take us out too!"
"Trust me!" Julian yelled.
He slammed on the brakes, forcing the pursuing vehicles to close the gap. As the mercenaries raised their heavy weapons, Julian screamed, "Now!"
Maria fired the flare. The glowing red projectile arced gracefully through the blizzard, burying itself deep into the fragile snow overhang.
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For a second, nothing happened. Then, a sound like cracking thunder echoed across the mountain. Thousands of tons of snow and ice detached from the cliff, roaring down toward the road.
"Hold on!" Julian roared, flooring the accelerator.
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