Chapter 4 - The Underground
Arthur shoved a heavy military gas mask into my hands and yelled for me to put it on the child.
I adjusted the straps over Lily's small face, watching her eyes widen in fear behind the glass visor.
The toxic smoke was filling the room rapidly, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction.
Arthur grabbed my shoulder and pulled me toward a hidden trapdoor concealed beneath a filthy rug.
We climbed down a rusted ladder into the damp, echoing darkness of the city's forgotten sewer system.
Just as Arthur reached the bottom, a massive explosion shook the ground above us, raining concrete dust onto our heads.
The warehouse had been completely leveled, cutting off our only way back up.
We waded through knee-deep water, the stench of decay battling the lingering smell of the chemical gas.
Arthur was limping heavily, clutching a piece of shrapnel that had embedded itself deep into his side.
He collapsed against a brick wall, his breathing ragged and shallow as blood pooled around his boots.
He looked at me with fading eyes and told me he couldn't walk another step.
He pressed a small brass key into my palm, leaving a smear of dark crimson blood on my skin.
He explained that the key opened locker 402 at the central train station, where a backup of the evidence was hidden.
I begged him to keep moving, but he simply chambered a round into his shotgun and turned back toward the tunnel entrance.
He told me to run, because he could hear the splash of heavy boots approaching through the water.
I picked up Lily and sprinted blindly down the tunnel as the deafening roar of shotgun fire echoed behind me.
We finally found a maintenance hatch and climbed up into the blinding fluorescent lights of a subway platform.
I set Lily down for a moment to catch my breath and looked up at the digital news screen hanging over the tracks.
My own face was plastered across the monitor, labeling me as an armed terrorist who had kidnapped a toddler.
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The headline warned all citizens that I was extremely dangerous and to contact the authorities immediately.
A woman standing ten feet away lowered her phone, made direct eye contact with me, and began to scream.
