Chapter 21
Before Vance could answer, a tactical flashbang grenade bounced through the open corridor and rolled into the chamber.
"Cover!" James screamed.
I threw myself over the console, pulling Vance down with me.
A blinding white flash and a deafening boom shattered the room.
My ears rang with a high-pitched whine, and my vision blurred into a smear of grey and white.
Through the smoke, I saw the silhouettes of three heavily armed operatives breaching the blast door.
They wore matte-black tactical gear, night-vision goggles, and carried suppressed assault rifles.
James was already firing.
The sharp crack-crack-crack of his sidearm echoed through the room.
The lead operative took two rounds to the chest plate, stumbling backward into the corridor, but the other two immediately returned fire, unleashing a barrage of automatic rounds that shattered the computer monitors above my head.
Sparks flew everywhere, raining down on us like angry hornets.
Collins fired from behind a server rack, pinning one of the gunmen down.
Claire was curled into a tight ball beneath a heavy steel desk, her body shielding Ethan completely.
I crawled through the shattered glass toward James, who was reloading behind a concrete pillar.
"We can't hold them off forever!" James yelled over the gunfire. "They have body armor and superior firepower!"
I looked back at the console.
Amidst the smashed screens, one small, red toggle switch under a plastic cover caught my eye.
It was labeled: EMERGENCY BULKHEAD ISOLATION.
I lunged forward, exposing myself to the line of fire.
A bullet chipped the concrete inches from my hand, spraying my face with sharp fragments.
I flipped the plastic cover open and slammed my hand down on the red toggle.
A loud siren began to wail throughout the bunker.
EMERGENCY CLOSURE INITIATED, the electronic voice announced.
The pneumatic arm on the blast door suddenly re-engaged with a violent jerk.
The massive steel door began to slam shut with terrifying speed.
One of the operatives tried to dive through the closing gap, but he was a second too late.
The solid steel door slammed shut with a concussive boom, locking him out and cutting off the sound of gunfire instantly.
We were safe.
May you like
For now.
But we were completely trapped sixty feet beneath the earth.
