Chapter 4 - The Chemical Fire
The sudden darkness was blinding.
Camilo grabbed Joanna and pulled her down behind a massive steel washing vat.
A barrage of bullets rained down from the catwalk above them.
Sparks flew as the rounds ricocheted off the heavy machinery.
Gabriel returned fire from his sniper position outside, shattering the upper windows.
Camilo used the distraction to cut the rest of Joanna's bindings with a pocket knife.
He asked her if she could run.
Joanna nodded, ignoring the agonizing pain radiating from her damaged hands.
Silas's voice echoed through a megaphone from the control room above.
Silas laughed and said Camilo had always been too sentimental.
He announced that the factory was rigged with highly flammable chemical accelerants.
The smell of gasoline began to overpower the scent of bleach.
Camilo realized Silas was planning to burn the evidence and them along with it.
He grabbed Joanna's arm and guided her toward the maintenance exit.
They crawled through the puddles of toxic water on the concrete floor.
Flames suddenly erupted near the loading dock, blocking their main escape route.
The fire spread unnaturally fast, climbing the walls in sheets of blue and orange.
Gabriel radioed Camilo to warn him that the roof was becoming unstable.
Camilo spotted a heavy iron grate leading to the city sewers.
He tried to lift it, but the rusted metal would not budge.
Joanna saw a crowbar resting on a nearby workbench.
She picked it up with her mangled hands, screaming in pain as she forced her fingers to close.
She handed the metal bar to Camilo just as a burning beam collapsed behind them.
Camilo jammed the crowbar under the grate and threw his entire weight against it.
The iron grate popped open with a loud crack.
They slid down into the damp darkness just as the factory floor exploded above them.
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When they splashed into the shallow sewer water, Camilo realized Gabriel had not responded on the radio.
He looked up through the grate and saw Gabriel lying motionless on the burning catwalk.
