Chapter 6 - Poisoned Air
"Richard, you are a monster," Danielle screamed into the microphone, her voice echoing off the reinforced titanium walls of the bunker.
"I am a visionary, my dear, and Ethan's unique genetic code is the absolute key to curing cellular decay," Richard replied smoothly.
The speakers suddenly clicked off, severing the connection and leaving the mother and son in a suffocating silence.
A loud, mechanical hiss suddenly erupted from the air ventilation grates located near the ceiling of the panic room.
Danielle smelled it immediately, a sweet, chemical odor that made her eyes burn and her lungs instantly tighten.
"He is overriding the life support systems and pumping in a neurotoxin," Ethan yelled, pulling his hoodie up over his nose and mouth.
Danielle grabbed a medical mask from the emergency supply kit and forced it over Ethan's face before taking one for herself.
"We cannot stay in here, we will be dead in less than five minutes," she choked out, her vision already beginning to blur.
Ethan rushed to the heavy manual override lever next to the door, analyzing the complex locking mechanism with frantic intensity.
"The electronic locks are fried, but if we create a concentrated kinetic blast on the hinges, the pressure difference will blow the door outward," he instructed.
Working together, they gathered three oxygen canisters from the medical supplies and wedged them tightly against the steel hinges.
Danielle used a tactical flashlight to smash the valves, creating a highly pressurized leak in the confined space.
"Get down!" Ethan screamed, dragging Danielle behind the heavy steel desk just as the pressure reached a critical threshold.
The resulting explosion was deafening, ripping the massive titanium door entirely off its frame and sending it crashing into the hallway.
They scrambled through the thick smoke, coughing violently as they finally breathed in the clean air of the mansion's corridor.
Danielle immediately ran toward the adjacent nursery to check on her baby, her heart pounding with terror.
May you like
She pushed open the shattered wooden door, only to find the crib completely empty and the window smashed open.
On the floor lay Marcus's tactical radio, broadcasting a chilling message: "I have the infant, moving to the extraction point."
