Chapter 18 - Inferno
The force of the explosion above them knocked both Cameron and Silas to the floor. The overhead lights shattered, plunging the massive data center into total darkness, illuminated only by the frantic, flashing red emergency LEDs on the server racks. Smoke quickly began pouring down through the ventilation shafts, choking the freezing air.
Silas scrambled through the darkness toward the computer terminal, desperately trying to finish the data transfer before the secondary power grid completely melted down. Cameron pushed himself up off the floor, his ears ringing violently. He saw the glow of the monitor illuminating Silas’s face and lunged forward, tackling the older man into the metal server racks.
The sidearm was knocked from Cameron’s grip, sliding across the floor into the shadows. The two men engaged in a brutal, desperate hand-to-hand fight. Silas was older, but he fought with the lethal, mechanical precision of a lifelong assassin. He drove a knee into Cameron’s ribs, the sound of bone cracking echoing over the blaring alarms.
Cameron stumbled back, gasping in pain, but he refused to stay down. He grabbed a heavy metal fire extinguisher from the wall bracket and swung it with everything he had. The heavy cylinder collided with Silas’s shoulder, sending the older man crashing into the main terminal.
Sparks showered from the damaged equipment as the glass monitor shattered. Silas roared in frustration, drawing a serrated combat knife from his belt. He lunged at Cameron, slashing wildly in the dark. The blade caught Cameron’s forearm, tearing through his suit jacket and slicing deep into his flesh.
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Ignoring the searing pain, Cameron stepped inside Silas’s guard. He grabbed the assassin's wrist with his bleeding arm, locking it in place, and used his other hand to violently smash Silas’s head into the jagged steel edge of the broken server rack. Silas went limp, dropping the knife as he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious and bleeding heavily.
Cameron did not waste a second. He stumbled over to the shattered terminal. The data transfer was at ninety-eight percent. He ripped the heavy power cables directly out of the wall, killing the connection instantly. The servers whirred down into silence. The patents were safe, but the building was burning to the ground around him.
