Chapter 12: The Underground Escape
Chapter 12: The Underground Escape
The stairwell smelled of ozone and damp concrete.
My lungs burned as we descended five flights of stairs in near-total darkness, my father leading the way with a tactical flashlight, his gun drawn.
Claire was right behind me, holding the steel lockbox tight against her chest.
At the third-floor landing, the heavy metal door crashed open above us. Heavy boots pounded on the steel grates.
"They're heading for the basement garage!" a voice echoed down the shaft. "
They think we're going for a car," my father whispered, stopping abruptly.
He pointed to a rusted maintenance door marked City Utility Access.
"We change the game." He kicked the door open, snapping the old padlock.
We slipped into a narrow, damp tunnel just as a barrage of bullets rained down the center of the stairwell, sparking violently against the metal railings.
We ran. The utility tunnel led us deep into the city's forgotten subway infrastructure, a labyrinth of decaying brick and echoing water drips.
We were miles away from the federal building, hiding in the belly of the city. My father leaned against the cold brick wall, breathing heavily.
He reached for his side. In the dim light of the flashlight, I saw the dark, slick stain spreading across his shirt. A ricochet in the stairwell had caught him.
"Dad!" I choked, dropping to my knees beside him.
"It's just a graze," he lied, his face tight with pain.
"I'm fine. But we can't keep running aimlessly.
The city will be swarming with hitmen looking for a payday." Claire knelt beside us, her eyes locked on the antique silver key I held in my palm.
"Evelyn," she said softly, her voice echoing in the cavernous dark. "I know what that key is for.
I saw a picture of it once in Preston's room.
It doesn't open a door. It opens a safety deposit box at the Grand Continental Depository.
It’s the only bank in the city that operates outside federal jurisdiction.
It’s where she keeps the physical server—the kill switch."
May you like
I looked at the key, then at my wounded father.
The rules had changed. Surviving wasn't enough anymore. If we wanted to live, we had to become the hunters.
