Chapter 9 - The Final Stand
Carter collapsed to the wet concrete, gripping his bleeding shoulder with a fierce grimace.
Miller immediately laid down a furious wall of suppressing fire, forcing Cameron to duck behind the steel railing.
I dragged Carter behind a thick concrete pillar while Hayes covered Emily with his own body.
"I'm fine, boss! It went clean through," Carter gritted his teeth, pulling a bandage from his pouch.
I looked up at the catwalk, pure rage boiling through my veins.
"Hayes, get Emily and Carter to the chopper right now!" I commanded over the deafening gunfire.
"You aren't doing this alone, Blake," Miller argued, reloading his weapon with lightning speed.
"That is an order, Sergeant!" I roared, my eyes locked on the upper level.
Miller nodded grimly, grabbed Carter by his tactical harness, and helped him toward the exit.
I broke from cover, sprinting up the rusted metal stairs toward the catwalk.
Cameron fired three more shots, the bullets sparking dangerously close to my head.
I did not return fire; I needed him alive long enough to feel the fear he had caused my wife.
I reached the upper platform just as Cameron retreated into the massive central generator room.
I kicked the metal door open and stepped into the humming, cavernous space.
The massive turbines spun below us, generating enough electricity to power the entire county.
Cameron was backing away toward the emergency exit, looking terrified for the first time in his life.
His sniper rifle was empty, and he threw it uselessly onto the grated floor.
"My father will pay you ten million dollars right now if you let me walk away," he panted, holding up his hands.
"Your father's money can't buy your way out of this," I told him, drawing my combat knife.
Cameron smiled desperately and pulled a live fragmentation grenade from his designer jacket.
He pulled the pin and held the explosive tightly in his fist.
"If you touch me, I drop this into the main turbine and blow this entire dam to pieces," he threatened.
He took a slow step backward, moving closer to the open shaft of the spinning generator.
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"You die, your wife dies, and a thousand people in the valley drown tonight," he laughed.
He opened his fingers, releasing his grip on the deadly explosive.
