Chapter 9 - The Meltdown
Sparks showered from the ceiling as the syndicate's mainframe violently overloaded.
The distraction was all Emily needed to act.
Using the self-defense techniques I had taught her as a teenager, she stomped hard on David's instep.
As David flinched, Emily drove her elbow into his ribs and broke free from his grip.
I lunged forward and tackled David to the steel grate floor.
The knife spun out of his hand and skittered into the darkness.
I pinned him down, my forearm pressing heavily against his throat.
The Marines quickly moved in, securing Thorne and dragging David up from the ground.
Thorne was screaming furiously as heavy iron handcuffs were slapped onto her wrists.
David coughed blood, glaring at me with absolute hatred.
He swore that his syndicate would hunt my family to the ends of the earth.
I told him he wouldn't have a syndicate left by tomorrow morning.
The virus I had uploaded didn't just destroy the servers in this room.
It had tracked the data back to every offshore account and hidden server his organization owned.
I grabbed Emily, holding her tightly as the bunker began to shake.
The thermal meltdown was spreading to the facility's ancient power grid.
The Marine commander ordered an immediate evacuation of the underground base.
We sprinted down the concrete corridors, dodging falling debris and bursts of steam.
We climbed the rusted iron ladder just as a massive explosion rocked the lower levels.
The blast doors sealed automatically, burying the destroyed servers forever.
We stepped out into the cool, silent Nevada desert air.
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The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, painting the sky in gold.
Emily leaned against me, finally safe after the longest night of her life.
