Chapter 8 - The Sabotage
Ashley stood defiantly in front of the heavy steel shutter, holding our only bargaining chip hostage.
The silver-haired man on the monitor raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by the sudden betrayal.
"You possess a remarkably ruthless entrepreneurial spirit, Ashley," he chuckled smoothly.
"I accept your terms. A million dollars will be transferred to your account the moment that drive slides under the door."
Emma drew her pistol with lightning speed and aimed it directly at Ashley's chest.
"Drop the drive, Ashley, or I swear to God I will shoot you," Emma threatened, her voice devoid of any bluff.
Ashley laughed, a frantic, unhinged sound fueled by pure greed and terror.
"You won't shoot me, because if the drive gets destroyed, the gas kills us all," Ashley gloated.
The faint hissing sound from the ceiling vents was growing louder, the deadly neurotoxin slowly filling the sealed server room.
I felt a slight tingling in my throat and coughed, the panic beginning to truly set in.
"Ashley, please, he is lying to you! He will never let you leave alive!" I pleaded desperately.
Ashley ignored me, kneeling down and preparing to slide the small flash drive under the narrow gap beneath the steel shutter.
In that split second, I realized that words were no longer going to save us.
I sprinted forward and tackled Ashley brutally to the hard floor, knocking the breath completely out of her lungs.
The flash drive flew from her grasp, skittering across the polished concrete directly toward the heavy steel shutter.
Emma dove for it, sliding across the floor and grabbing the small plastic drive just inches before it slipped under the door.
Ashley screamed in fury, kicking me violently in the ribs and scrambling to her feet.
She lunged at Emma, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her backward.
In the chaotic struggle, the flash drive slipped from Emma's hand and landed heavily on the floor.
Ashley raised her boot, fully intending to stomp on the drive and smash it to pieces just to spite us.
But before her boot could make contact, a massive, deafening surge of electricity ripped through the server room.
The brilliant overhead lights shattered, plunging the entire room into absolute darkness.
The humming servers instantly died, the glowing indicator lights fading into black.
Most importantly, the hissing sound from the ceiling vents completely stopped.
The man on the monitor vanished, his face replaced by a static-filled, completely dead screen.
"What happened?" Ashley gasped in the darkness, her voice trembling with fresh terror.
Emma clicked on her tactical flashlight, sweeping the beam across the silent, powerless room.
"Someone just triggered a massive EMP pulse inside the building," Emma deduced, her eyes wide with shock.
"The entire digital grid of Vanguard headquarters has been completely fried."
Without power, the electronic locks holding the heavy steel shutters down were completely disabled.
Emma holstered her pistol and grabbed the bottom edge of the massive steel door, heaving upward with all her strength.
"Help me lift it!" she ordered, straining against the immense weight.
I rushed over, grabbing the edge of the shutter and pulling upward, ignoring the sharp pain in my ribs from Ashley's kick.
Even Ashley, realizing that her million-dollar deal was permanently dead, joined in to help lift the door.
Together, we managed to force the heavy shutter up just high enough to crawl underneath.
We scrambled out into the dimly lit, cavernous underground parking garage.
The garage was in absolute chaos; emergency backup lights flickered dimly, and alarms wailed in the distance.
Vanguard mercenaries were running blindly in the dark, their electronic communication devices completely rendered useless by the EMP.
"We have to find a car before they regroup," Emma whispered, leading us through the maze of parked luxury vehicles.
We found a sleek black SUV parked near the exit ramp, its doors miraculously unlocked.
Emma hotwired the ignition with practiced ease, the engine roaring to life just as a group of armed guards spotted us.
"Get down!" Emma shouted, slamming her foot onto the gas pedal.
The SUV tore through the parking garage, smashing through the heavy wooden toll arm and bursting out into the rainy city streets.
We sped away into the night, the chaotic wreckage of the Vanguard headquarters fading in the rearview mirror.
I slumped back in the leather seat, gasping for air and feeling the adrenaline slowly drain from my exhausted body.
We had survived the impossible.
"Who triggered the EMP?" I asked Emma, completely bewildered by our miraculous escape.
Emma kept her eyes on the wet road, a strange, haunted look crossing her face.
May you like
"There is only one person who possesses that specific, military-grade technology," Emma answered softly.
"And I watched him die ten years ago."
