Chapter 8 - The Escape Plan
Officer Davis leaned heavily against the wall, his breathing ragged.
"Nobody moves," the officer commanded, keeping his weapon trained on my father's motionless body.
My mother was frantically pressing her hands against Daniel's chest wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"He needs a surgeon right now!" my mother cried out.
I crawled over to Daniel and grabbed his cold hand.
His eyes were fluttering shut, and his skin was turning pale.
"Stay with me," I begged, tears streaming down my face.
Officer Davis limped over and checked my father's pulse.
"He is dead," the officer confirmed flatly.
The threat of my abusive father was finally extinguished, but our nightmare was far from over.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
The cartel mercenaries had recovered from the flashbang and were hunting us again.
"We have to get out of this wing, there is no exit here," Officer Davis said.
"There is a maintenance shaft behind the nurses' station," Daniel whispered weakly.
"It leads directly to the underground parking garage."
Officer Davis helped my mother pull Daniel to his feet.
We half-carried, half-dragged Daniel behind the large wooden desk of the nurses' station.
I found a small, unmarked metal door hidden behind a filing cabinet.
I pulled it open, revealing a dark, narrow ladder descending into the gloom.
"Go, I will hold them off," Officer Davis said, raising his weapon toward the hallway.
"You will die," I told him.
"I swore an oath to protect this town," he replied, giving me a grim smile.
I climbed down the ladder first, followed by my mother who was supporting Daniel.
The sounds of heavy gunfire erupted above us as Officer Davis engaged the mercenaries.
We descended in absolute darkness, the smell of damp concrete filling the air.
We finally reached the bottom and kicked open the grate.
We tumbled into the freezing underground parking garage.
A black armored SUV with tinted windows was idling exactly ten feet away.
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The driver's side door opened, and a tall man in a tailored suit stepped out.
"Get in," the man ordered, holding a submachine gun.
