Part 16
The minutes inside the blast vault stretched into eternity.
The air was thick, smelling of rubber and cold iron.
Emma sat on the concrete floor, her back pressed against the reinforced wall, rocking Leo in her arms.
The baby was awake now, his large, dark eyes looking up at her in the dim red light. He didn't cry. It was as though he understood that survival depended on his silence.
Above them, the vibrations grew more intense.
The distant, concussive thuds of grenades detonating on the upper levels shook the vault, sending tiny flakes of dust drifting down from the ceiling.
Emma closed her eyes, her mind flashing back to the pharmacy, to the sound of the gunshot.
She realized she wasn't just fighting for her life anymore.
She was fighting for his life.
This little boy, who had been used as a pawn by monsters before he could even walk, deserved a chance to grow up.
Suddenly, the faint sound of gunfire outside the vault door ceased.
The silence that followed was terrifying.
Then came a sound that made Emma’s blood freeze.
The mechanical wheel on the outside of the blast door began to turn.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Hector wouldn't be opening the door from the outside without signaling her on the radio first.
Someone else had cleared the command room.
Someone else was unlocking the vault.
Emma scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around the small, windowless space. There was nowhere to hide. The room was empty except for a few crates of rations and a secondary ventilation control panel.
She looked at the floor.
Beside the rations box lay a heavy, iron crowbar used for opening the supply crates.
She gently laid Leo behind the heavy wooden crate, shielding him from view.
"Stay quiet, sweetie," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Please stay quiet."
She grabbed the iron crowbar with both hands, her knuckles turning white.
She stood flat against the wall directly beside the heavy steel door, hiding in the blind spot.
The wheel turned one last time.
The heavy blast door swung open with a slow, grinding hiss.
A large, shadow-drenched figure stepped into the red light of the vault, a suppressed submachine gun raised, searching the darkness.
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The man wore a tactical vest with the unmistakable red snake insignia patch on the shoulder.
The moment his body cleared the threshold, Emma screamed with every ounce of strength left in her lungs and swung the iron crowbar with everything she had.
