Chapter 7 - The Awakening
Daniel fought desperately against the heavy chemical fog clouding his entire brain.
He could hear Marcus pacing back and forth across the creaky wooden floorboards.
Emma and Olivia were sitting quietly on the sofa, entirely untouched by the drugged beverages.
"Do not look at me like that, little girl," Marcus muttered defensively to Emma.
"I am just an old man trying to survive in a very cruel and corrupt world."
Emma did not blink, her intense gaze boring completely through the guilty retired detective.
Daniel focused all his remaining willpower on wiggling the fingers of his right hand.
He needed the adrenaline in his bloodstream to burn through the powerful sedative quickly.
He remembered the intense physical training he had endured during his time in the military.
Slowly, the feeling began to return to his arms, accompanied by a sharp, tingling pain.
He waited patiently until Marcus turned his back to look out the cabin window.
Daniel launched himself upward, tackling the older man directly into the wooden dining table.
The table shattered into pieces as they violently crashed to the hard floor.
Marcus was strong, but Daniel was fueled by the desperate need to save his kidnapped family.
Daniel delivered a swift, brutal punch to Marcus's jaw, knocking the older man completely unconscious.
He staggered to his feet, breathing heavily as he wiped a trickle of blood from his lip.
"We have to go right now," Daniel told the girls, grabbing the keys to Marcus's heavy pickup truck.
They ran outside into the freezing rain just as three black SUVs tore up the muddy driveway.
Michael Carter stepped out of the lead vehicle holding a high-powered automatic rifle.
"There is nowhere left to run, Daniel," Michael shouted over the pouring rain.
Daniel threw the girls into the truck and slammed his foot entirely down on the gas pedal.
The heavy truck surged forward, smashing violently through the front bumper of Michael's SUV.
A terrifying high-speed chase began down the treacherous, winding mountain roads.
Bullets shattered the back window of the truck, showering the interior with sharp glass.
Daniel struggled to keep the heavy vehicle on the slippery, mud-slicked pavement.
Suddenly, Emma climbed into the front seat holding the pump-action shotgun she had taken from the cabin.
Before Daniel could stop her, the seven-year-old girl expertly pumped the heavy weapon.
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She aimed out the broken window and shot out the front tire of the pursuing vehicle with perfect military precision.
"Daddy taught us how to defend his property," Emma said with a completely cold and emotionless face.
