Chapter 7 - The Metal Tomb
"Lily!" I screamed, running toward the massive shipping container.
Agent Harris grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back forcefully.
"Wait, it could be rigged with explosives," he warned me.
He signaled for the bomb squad to approach the heavy steel doors.
Every second they spent scanning the metal felt like a physical torture to my soul.
I could hear my daughter crying inside, begging for her mother.
"It's clear," the bomb technician finally announced.
Harris grabbed a heavy pair of bolt cutters and snapped the padlock off the door.
He threw the heavy metal doors open, shining his tactical flashlight into the darkness.
Lily was huddled in the corner, shivering and clutching a dirty blanket.
I sprinted inside and scooped her into my arms, holding her so tightly I thought I might never let go.
"Mommy's here," I sobbed, kissing her forehead over and over again.
"You're safe now, my sweet girl."
She buried her face in my neck, crying uncontrollably.
"Where are they?" Harris yelled, scanning the empty container.
"Where did your father and grandmother go, sweetheart?"
Lily pointed a trembling finger toward a grated storm drain in the floor of the warehouse.
"Daddy said they had to go underneath," she whispered.
Harris immediately radioed the perimeter units to secure the sewer exits.
"They're trapped in the underground drainage system," he announced.
I carried Lily out of the warehouse, surrounded by a dozen heavily armed agents.
Paramedics rushed forward to check her vitals and treat the chemical burns on her mouth.
The doctor assured me that she would make a full physical recovery with time.
I sat in the back of the ambulance, finally feeling a sense of overwhelming peace.
My daughter was alive, and the monsters who hurt her were cornered like rats.
Suddenly, the police radios erupted in a chaotic frenzy of shouting.
"Officer down! We have multiple officers down at the sewer exit!"
I looked out the ambulance window and saw a plume of black smoke rising near the water.
"They hijacked a police cruiser," Harris yelled, running toward his own vehicle.
He looked at me with a grim, terrifying expression.
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"They aren't running away anymore," Harris said.
"They're heading straight for this ambulance."
