Chapter 4 - The Mercenary Pact
The bright fluorescent lights of the underground medical bay blinded me for a crucial second.
The mercenaries raised their automatic rifles, completely surrounding us in the sterile, white room.
"Drop the old man and put your hands in the air," the lead mercenary barked aggressively.
I slowly lowered my grandfather to the cold tile floor, raising my hands in absolute defeat.
"Please, he needs the antidote right now, he is dying," Sofia begged, tears streaming down her face.
The mercenary commander laughed coldly, revealing a terrifying scar across his left cheek.
"Your uncle Marcus paid us ten million dollars to secure this bunker and make sure Ernesto never wakes up," the commander stated.
They were the estate's private security team, utterly corrupted by Marcus's stolen wealth.
I looked at my grandfather's pale face, his chest barely moving as the poison ravaged his system.
"I will pay you twenty million dollars right now if you let me save him," I offered desperately.
The commander raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by the massive counteroffer.
"You do not have access to that kind of liquid capital, kid," he scoffed skeptically.
"I know the combination to the master vault," Sofia interrupted, stepping bravely in front of the guns.
"The master ledger is inside, and it contains billions in untraceable bearer bonds."
The mercenaries exchanged greedy, hesitant looks, their loyalty clearly tied only to the highest bidder.
"Give me the code first, and then you can have your precious medicine," the commander demanded.
Sofia quickly shook her head, refusing to back down from the heavily armed killer.
"You let Julian administer the antidote, and I will type the code into the vault myself," she negotiated fiercely.
The commander lowered his weapon slightly and nodded toward the glass medical cabinet.
I sprinted to the cabinet, smashed the glass with my elbow, and grabbed the red emergency syringe.
I plunged the needle directly into my grandfather's chest, praying I was not too late.
Ernesto gasped violently, his eyes flying open as he took a massive, desperate breath of air.
He was alive.
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But as I turned around to thank Sofia, the mercenary commander pressed his gun directly against her temple.
"Thanks for the bonus, kids, but Marcus is paying us to deliver the vault and your corpses," the commander laughed.
