Chapter 6 - The Vault
The massive steel door slammed completely shut with a truly deafening, terrifying metallic boom.
The highly complex mechanical locking bolts loudly slid heavily into place, sealing them totally inside.
Audrey instantly ran to the thick door and forcefully pounded her fists against the cold, unyielding metal.
"We are completely trapped inside!" she screamed in absolute, blind panic.
Adrian remained perfectly still, slowly examining the thick black ledger she had just dropped onto a steel table.
"Audrey, stop hitting the door and immediately look at this exact page," Adrian ordered her very quietly.
She slowly stopped shouting and cautiously walked over to stand right beside him under the dim vault light.
Adrian had forcefully flipped the heavy book open to the very last page of the complex financial entries.
"These specific numbers do not correctly align with our syndicate's known operational budget," Adrian pointed out logically.
Audrey quickly wiped her tear-streaked face and leaned in closer to professionally analyze the handwritten math.
She instantly realized that the complex numbers represented massive, untraceable offshore debt.
"Dante has been stealing millions to completely bankrupt your organization for months," Audrey whispered in total disbelief.
"He literally orchestrated this entire war to cover up his own massive financial theft."
Adrian slowly closed the black book with a deeply grim, highly disturbing realization.
"Someone incredibly wealthy is secretly funding Dante to actively act as a highly violent proxy," Adrian concluded.
Before they could further analyze the massive conspiracy, a bright red warning light suddenly flashed above them.
The automated emergency ventilation system loudly shut itself entirely off with a mechanical grind.
A computerized voice pleasantly echoed loudly through the small, enclosed metal space.
"Emergency lockdown highly activated, oxygen depletion will permanently commence in exactly ten minutes."
Audrey violently gasped for air, her injured chest already tightly constricting from the massive stress.
Adrian aggressively began searching the secure safe deposit boxes, forcefully ripping them violently open with a heavy crowbar.
"What are you rapidly looking for in those boxes?" Audrey asked between heavy, ragged breaths.
"Many wealthy clients illegally store highly volatile emergency items inside these private vaults," Adrian explained frantically.
He successfully broke open a massive bottom box and quickly pulled out a heavy medical trauma kit.
He rapidly grabbed a thick bottle of pure rubbing alcohol and a heavily sealed package of emergency hydraulic flares.
"I am going to intentionally build a highly concentrated explosive charge," he told her with deadly seriousness.
He rapidly combined the highly flammable chemical liquid with the reactive powder from the broken flares.
He carefully packed the highly unstable homemade mixture directly into the vault's primary mechanical locking cylinder.
"Get completely back against the far steel wall and forcefully cover your ears!" Adrian yelled loudly.
He violently struck the makeshift fuse with his heavy steel lighter and violently dove across the hard floor.
A truly massive, completely blinding explosion violently rocked the entire subterranean room.
The heavy steel door forcefully buckled dramatically outward, rapidly spewing thick black smoke into the hallway.
Adrian aggressively kicked the weakened metal door completely open and roughly pulled Audrey out into the lobby.
They both froze entirely in their tracks as the heavy smoke slowly cleared around them.
May you like
A dozen heavily armed men were quietly standing in a perfect semi-circle, pointing automatic weapons directly at them.
These silent men were definitely not Dante's low-level street thugs.
