Chapter 18 - The Blood of the Cure
The scientist gasped for air beneath Ethan’s crushing grip, his arrogant demeanor completely shattered by the violent assault.
He pointed a trembling finger toward a heavily armored cryogenic vault glowing with a faint blue light in the corner of the lab.
Ethan dragged the broken man across the floor, pressing his bleeding thumb against the vault's biometric scanner to force the lock open.
The heavy steel door hissed as it swung wide, revealing rows of glowing metallic vials containing the purely synthesized antigen.
Ethan grabbed three vials, shoving them securely into the padded compartments of his tactical vest.
He struck the scientist across the jaw with the butt of his pistol, rendering him completely unconscious to ensure he could not trigger a lockdown.
He rushed back to the steel operating table where Claire lay, her breathing shallow and incredibly erratic.
The dark veins on her neck were pulsing aggressively, a clear sign that the systemic biological failure was only minutes away.
Ethan loaded a syringe with the glowing blue antigen, his hands shaking slightly as he searched for a viable vein in her bruised arm.
He whispered a desperate prayer to a God he hadn't spoken to in years, pushing the needle directly into her bloodstream.
He pressed the plunger, injecting the freezing cure into her body just as the heavy laboratory doors were violently blown off their hinges.
A squad of heavily armored syndicate mercenaries poured into the room, their laser sights sweeping through the dissipating chemical foam.
Ethan dove behind the thick steel operating table, pulling Claire’s unconscious body down with him as a hail of bullets shattered the medical equipment above them.
David screamed through the earpiece, warning Ethan that the facility's central security had initiated a total purge protocol.
The syndicate intended to flood the lower levels with incendiary gas to destroy all evidence of their illegal biological weapons program.
Ethan had less than four minutes to get Claire out of the mountain before the entire fortress was incinerated.
He ripped a heavy titanium bone saw from a shattered medical cart, using it to smash the control panel of the room's secondary blast door.
The heavy door groaned open, revealing a dark, emergency escape chute meant for disposing of contaminated biological waste.
Ethan slung Claire over his shoulder, ignoring the burning pain in his own muscles as bullets sparked violently against the floor behind him.
He threw himself into the dark metal chute, clutching Claire tightly to his chest as they slid down into the absolute darkness.
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They plummeted through the twisting pipe for what felt like an eternity, the terrifying sound of the facility exploding echoing violently above them.
The shockwave of the blast violently propelled them out of the chute, throwing them out into the freezing, deep snow of the Alpine valley below.
