Chapter 28
|
"Heavy footsteps approaching the corridor!" Jax roared over the blaring sirens, taking cover behind a massive server rack and aiming his heavy shotgun at the doorway. "We are cut off from the ventilation shaft!"
"Chloe, I need an alternate exit route, now!" Elena demanded, returning fire as a squad of heavily armed Obsidian mercenaries flooded into the hallway, pinning them inside the server room under a relentless hail of bullets.
The server racks sparked and shattered as high-caliber rounds tore through the expensive hardware.
"The blueprints show an emergency blast door at the back of the server room that leads to the underground drainage tunnels," Chloe shouted through the static-filled comms. "But it's magnetically sealed from the main security hub upstairs!"
"Can you hack it open?" Elena yelled, ducking as a bullet grazed the ceramic plating on her shoulder.
"I'm trying, but Thorne's ICE protocols are incredibly aggressive," Chloe replied, her voice frantic. "I need sixty seconds to brute-force the firewall!"
"You have thirty!" Jax bellowed, blindly firing a devastating blast from his shotgun that sent two mercenaries crashing backward into the corridor. "They are bringing up a heavy machine gunner!"
Elena pulled a flashbang grenade from her tactical belt. She pulled the pin and hurled it expertly around the corner of the server rack. The grenade detonated with a blinding, concussive flash, temporarily stunning the advancing mercenaries.
Elena didn't hesitate. She broke cover, sprinting across the bullet-riddled room toward the heavy blast door at the rear, laying down a fierce line of suppressing fire with her submachine gun to keep the enemies pinned down.
"Chloe, now!" Elena screamed as she reached the heavy metal door, slamming her hand frantically against the electronic access panel.
"Got it! Executing override!" Chloe yelled.
The magnetic seal disengaged with a loud, heavy clunk. Elena grabbed the heavy iron wheel, straining her muscles to spin it open. The blast door gave way, revealing the dark, wet expanse of the underground drainage tunnel.
"Jax, move!" Elena ordered, holding the door open.
Jax fired two more blasts, grabbed his duffel bag, and sprinted for the exit, diving through the door just as a barrage of heavy machine-gun fire shredded the servers where he had been standing seconds before.
May you like
Elena slammed the heavy blast door shut behind them, instantly spinning the locking wheel to secure it. The deafening roar of gunfire was abruptly muffled, leaving them in the echoing, damp darkness of the drainage tunnel.
"We are clear of the main compound," Elena panted, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Chloe, guide us to the extraction point."
