Chapter 3 - The Iron Cage
"The medical transport helicopter from Mass General is finally here," the lead paramedic announced with a sigh of relief.
He moved toward the nursery window and shined his heavy flashlight down onto the rain-soaked lawn.
I turned to Frank and ordered him to gather his best men to escort us safely to the hospital.
Emily stood perfectly still in the center of the room, her head tilted slightly as she listened to the churning rotor blades.
"Tell your men to stand down immediately," Emily warned, her voice trembling slightly.
I frowned at her, my patience wearing dangerously thin despite what she had just done for my son.
"My son needs a pediatric intensive care unit, and that chopper is our only ride out of here," I snapped.
Emily rushed to the window and forcefully yanked the lead paramedic away from the glass.
"Listen to the engine pitch of that aircraft," Emily pleaded desperately.
"That is a heavily armored military transport chopper, not a civilian medical evacuation unit."
Frank chuckled darkly and shook his head at the maid's ridiculous paranoia.
"You watch too many action movies, sweetheart," Frank mocked.
He stepped up to the massive bay window and peered out at the dark silhouette of the helicopter.
"They even have the red cross painted directly on the side of the hull," Frank pointed out confidently.
Emily grabbed Noah tightly from his crib and backed slowly toward the reinforced interior hallway.
"Civilian medical choppers do not mount heavy machine guns on their landing skids," she whispered.
Before anyone could fully process her terrifying words, the dark yard completely lit up with blinding muzzle flashes.
A devastating hail of heavy-caliber bullets shattered the massive nursery windows into millions of flying glass shards.
The lead paramedic was instantly shredded by the incoming fire, his body thrown violently backward into the medical cart.
The remaining paramedics screamed in sheer terror as they dove desperately for cover beneath the antique furniture.
Frank tackled me roughly to the plush carpet just as a bullet tore a massive hole through the wall where my head had been.
The deafening roar of the heavy weapons completely drowned out the sound of the thunder outside.
"We need to reach the underground panic room right now!" Emily screamed over the terrifying chaos.
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She tossed a smoke grenade from the paramedic's emergency bag directly into the center of the room.
As thick white smoke filled the nursery, the heavy wooden door leading to the hallway suddenly locked shut from the outside.
