Chapter 9 - The Countdown
The digital timer on the main server console illuminated the dark room with glowing red numbers, starting aggressively at three minutes.
Maya panicked, desperately typing commands to override the lockdown, but Silas had physically severed the connection from his control room.
Ethan grabbed the heavy steel chair Maya had been tied to and smashed it violently against the reinforced glass of the emergency stairwell.
The glass spider-webbed but stubbornly refused to break, designed to withstand hurricane-force impacts.
With only two minutes remaining, Ethan picked up Marcus's dropped pistol and fired three precise shots directly into the weakened center of the glass.
He kicked the shattered pane entirely out of the frame, grabbing Maya's hand and dragging her into the smoke-filled stairwell.
They sprinted upward toward the roof access doors, the deafening blare of the fire alarms drowning out their frantic footsteps.
As they reached the sixty-fifth floor, a frantic, hysterical screaming echoed from a locked storage closet down the hallway.
Ethan stopped entirely in his tracks, recognizing the panicked, desperate voice instantly.
Chloe was begging for someone to let her out, sobbing that Silas had locked her inside when she demanded her final payment.
Maya grabbed Ethan's arm, screaming that they only had forty seconds left and they needed to leave her to burn.
Ethan looked at the heavy metal door, remembering every single terrible thing the woman had done to completely destroy his life.
He aimed the pistol at the electronic lock, closed his eyes, and fired his last remaining bullet.
The door burst open, and Chloe fell to the floor in absolute tears, clutching onto Ethan's leg like a terrified child.
He hoisted her aggressively to her feet, dragging both women up the final flight of stairs as the countdown hit ten seconds.
They burst through the heavy roof access doors, diving violently onto the cold gravel of the building's massive helipad.
A deafening explosion rocked the entire skyscraper, sending a massive plume of fire and shattered glass erupting from the floors below them.
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Through the thick black smoke, a heavy tactical helicopter rapidly descended toward the roof, its searchlights blinding them completely.
Chloe laughed hysterically, crying tears of joy as she yelled that Silas had finally sent his private extraction team to save her.
