Chapter 9 - The Final Shot
Adrian pushed his face tightly against the ceiling of the flooding tunnel, gasping desperately for the last pockets of trapped air.
He handed his heavy assault rifle to Clara and dove completely underwater toward the rusted steel gate.
His lungs burned with excruciating agony as he examined the thick padlock holding the massive chains together.
He found a heavy metal pipe floating in the debris and began bashing it violently against the rusted lock.
The darkness of the freezing water made it incredibly difficult to aim, but his sheer desperation guided his strikes.
After five agonizing blows, the heavy metal lock finally snapped, and the heavy chains drifted slowly away.
Adrian kicked the gate open and swam forcefully back to the surface, breaking the water and gasping loudly for oxygen.
He grabbed Clara's hand and pulled her through the open gate, swimming rapidly upward toward a faint shaft of moonlight.
They broke the surface of the water and dragged themselves onto the rocky, unforgiving shoreline of the private island.
Behind them, the massive hospital facility exploded in a towering, blinding fireball that illuminated the entire night sky.
The concussive blast wave sent them tumbling forward into the sharp rocks, but they fiercely protected the sleeping child.
Adrian looked up toward the towering cliffside overlooking the burning facility.
Victor was frantically boarding his luxurious private helicopter on the illuminated helipad, preparing to escape justice forever.
Clara coughed up seawater and fiercely wiped the wet hair from her determined eyes.
She stumbled toward a hidden crevice in the rocks, pulling out a heavy, waterproof case she had stashed there years ago.
She opened the case and quickly assembled a highly advanced, military-grade sniper rifle with practiced, lethal precision.
Clara braced the heavy barrel against a jagged rock, taking careful aim at the helicopter as its rotors began to spin rapidly.
She did not aim for her evil father, knowing a simple death was far too good for a monster like him.
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She adjusted her scope, exhaled slowly to steady her racing heart, and aimed directly at the aircraft's exposed fuel line.
With exactly one second left before liftoff, Clara gently pulled the heavy trigger.
