Chapter 7 - The Fire in the Ice
“Run!” Silas shoved Maya through the access door into the steam tunnels.
Bullets chewed into the concrete walls, sending chips of stone flying into the air as Silas dove through the door, slamming it shut behind them. The heavy steel would hold against small arms fire, but not for long.
“This way!” Silas yelled, leading Maya deeper into the sweltering maze.
They ran until their lungs burned, the sound of heavy boots echoing behind them. Marcus’s men had blown the access door and were flooding into the tunnels.
Silas knew they couldn't outrun them all the way to the greenhouses. He stopped at a massive intersection where three main steam pipes converged. A large, pressurized release valve dominated the center of the room.
“Maya, get behind that pillar,” Silas ordered.
He waited until the silhouettes of the mercenaries appeared in the dim light of the tunnel.
Instead of raising his rifle at the men, Silas aimed at the heavy brass release valve on the main steam pipe.
He pulled the trigger.
The deafening crack of the rifle was instantly followed by an explosive, roaring hiss. The brass valve shattered, unleashing a blinding, pressurized wall of scalding, 400-degree steam directly into the path of the advancing mercenaries.
Screams echoed through the tunnel as the men were hit by the blinding white heat, dropping their weapons and stumbling blindly backward.
The tunnel filled with impenetrable white fog.
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“Now!” Silas grabbed Maya’s hand and they sprinted through the blinding fog, using the chaos to bypass the mercenaries completely. They reached the greenhouse grate, shoved it open, and climbed out into the freezing, violent embrace of the blizzard.
The transition from scalding steam to sub-zero temperatures was agonizing, but they didn't stop. They ran into the treeline, disappearing into the whiteout conditions before Marcus could even find his way out of the tunnels.
