Chapter 5 - The Ambush
"We have to move right now!" I screamed, slamming the laptop shut and grabbing my mother's arm.
We ran out the back door of the cabin just as the countdown timer hit zero.
A blinding flash of orange light illuminated the night sky, followed by a deafening roar.
The entire safe house exploded into a massive fireball, sending burning wood raining down around us.
The shockwave knocked us violently into the wet dirt, knocking the wind completely out of my lungs.
I pulled my mother up, checking her for serious injuries in the chaotic darkness.
She was bleeding from a small cut on her forehead, but she was alive.
We sprinted blindly into the dense, dark forest as the sound of heavy boots crunched on the gravel behind us.
The mercenaries had survived the blast and were actively hunting us with thermal imaging goggles.
I used every piece of tactical evasion training I possessed to mask our heat signatures in the freezing mud.
We crawled under a massive, hollowed-out tree root and held our breath in absolute silence.
Two armed men walked directly past our hiding spot, their rifles raised and ready to fire.
My mother suddenly gasped, grabbing her left arm in agonizing pain.
I covered her mouth with my hand, begging her silently to stay perfectly still.
May you like
She whispered that her arm felt like it was burning from the inside out.
I pulled back her sleeve in the dark and felt a hard, unnatural lump beneath her skin.
