Chapter 7 - The Final Hour
I collapsed onto my back, gasping for air as the freezing poison reasserted its brutal grip.
Marcus hauled me up roughly, throwing my heavy arm over his broad shoulder.
"We have to move, Boss, the rest of the Russians are breaching the first floor."
Natalia grabbed Lily's hand tightly and followed us toward the hidden panic room.
My vision swam violently, black spots dancing across my sight as my heart rate plummeted.
"The poison," I mumbled, my tongue feeling like a block of lead.
"Vanessa has the antidote on her," Natalia said, rushing back to search the unconscious woman.
She pulled a small black velvet pouch from inside Vanessa's tactical vest.
Inside was a single glass syringe filled with a softly glowing amber liquid.
"Is that really it?" Marcus asked, looking nervously down the hallway as loud gunfire echoed below.
"It absolutely has to be," Natalia said, pulling the plastic cap off the needle.
She knelt beside me, her hands shaking as she looked deeply into my fading eyes.
"If this is the wrong chemical, it will stop your heart instantly, Leo."
I looked at the woman I had never stopped thinking about, and the brave daughter I never knew I had.
"Do it," I whispered, closing my eyes and accepting my fate.
Natalia plunged the long syringe into my chest, right above my failing heart.
Pain exploded through my entire body, hot and blinding like a massive lightning bolt.
I screamed loudly, my back arching off the floor as the amber liquid warred with the ice.
For ten agonizing seconds, I felt my tired soul hovering right on the edge of death.
Then, suddenly, the freezing cold completely shattered.
Warmth flooded my veins, my heart beating with powerful, heavy, and steady thumps.
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I opened my eyes, grabbed my dropped rifle from the floor, and chambered a fresh round.
"Let's go kill some Russians," I said, finally feeling like the undisputed king of Chicago again.
