Chapter 8 - The Abandoned Shipyard
The pursuing SUV flipped wildly into the muddy ditch, bursting into a massive ball of orange flames.
Daniel stared at Emma in absolute shock, realizing these children were trained as literal weapons.
He pushed the thought aside and focused on reaching the abandoned shipyard at Pier Four.
They arrived at the rusted, decaying harbor just as the threatening deadline finally expired.
The shipyard was completely dark, save for a single floodlight illuminating a massive empty warehouse.
Daniel hid the truck behind a stack of rusted shipping containers and grabbed his service pistol.
He told the girls to stay hidden, but Emma simply shook her head in blatant refusal.
"If they see us, they will not shoot you," Emma reasoned with terrifyingly flawless logic.
Daniel reluctantly agreed, keeping them close as they crept into the massive, echoing warehouse.
In the center of the concrete floor, his wife and daughter were tied tightly to metal chairs.
Michael Carter was standing over them, heavily bruised from the car crash but still dangerously armed.
"You actually brought them," Michael laughed, wiping rain and blood from his arrogant face.
"Now slide your weapon across the floor or I execute your beautiful family."
Daniel slowly lowered his gun and kicked it across the smooth concrete toward Michael's boots.
"Let them go, Michael, you have what you want," Daniel pleaded with genuine desperation.
Michael smiled cruelly and aimed his weapon directly at Daniel's terrified wife.
"I am afraid I cannot leave any loose ends breathing to tell this incredible story."
Just as Michael placed his finger on the trigger, Olivia stepped out from the deep shadows.
She had not spoken a single word since they arrived at the police station hours ago.
Olivia looked directly at Michael and spoke in a loud, perfectly synthesized robotic tone.
"Initiate protocol Override Alpha Seven Niner Delta."
Michael's arrogant smile vanished instantly, replaced by a look of sheer, unadulterated panic.
The warehouse's automated heavy security doors suddenly slammed shut with a deafening metallic crash.
The lights completely cut out, plunging the entire building into absolute, terrifying darkness.
Red emergency strobe lights began to flash wildly across the concrete walls.
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A computerized voice echoed from the ceiling, announcing that a lethal nerve gas would deploy in sixty seconds.
Olivia looked at Daniel and whispered, "I am the security key, and I just locked him in here to die."
