Chapter 9 - The Vault
The blinking red light on the control panel cast a sinister glow across the steel walls of the vault.
Matteo leaned heavily against Clara, his breathing shallow and ragged from the blood loss.
"What does that flashing light mean?" Clara asked, her voice trembling with rising panic.
Matteo forced his heavy eyes open and looked at the digital timer counting down.
"It means the oxygen scrubbers have reversed, and they are pumping lethal gas into the room," Matteo gasped.
Bianca began to laugh hysterically from the corner of the room where the guards had tied her to a chair.
"I told you I would win, Matteo," Bianca sneered, completely accepting her own death.
"My inside man triggered the protocol the moment you locked the door."
Clara looked at the heavy steel door, knowing it required a twelve-digit code and a retinal scan to open from the inside.
"Give me the code, Matteo," Clara demanded, rushing to the control panel.
Matteo shook his head weakly, sliding down the wall until he sat on the cold floor.
"The retinal scanner is broken, Clara, the door is permanently sealed," he whispered.
The air in the room was already growing thin, carrying a bitter, chemical scent.
Lily began to cough violently, clutching her chest as the toxic gas filled her small lungs.
Clara refused to accept that they were going to die in a metal box after surviving the fire and the ambush.
She frantically searched the room, throwing heavy boxes of cash and weapons aside.
She noticed a small, grated ventilation shaft near the ceiling, barely wide enough for a person.
"Lily, climb on my shoulders," Clara ordered, rushing to the wall beneath the grate.
Clara used a heavy metal paperweight to smash the screws holding the grate in place.
She hoisted her younger sister up, pushing her forcefully into the narrow metal shaft.
"Crawl until you reach the outside, and do not look back," Clara cried.
Lily disappeared into the darkness of the vent, finally safe from the deadly gas.
Clara turned back to Matteo, grabbing his uninjured arm and trying to pull him up.
"I cannot fit in there, Clara, and neither can the dog," Matteo coughed, blood trickling from his lips.
"Leave me, and save yourself," he begged her.
"I told you I am not leaving you," Clara said fiercely.
She looked at Bruno, who was pawing aggressively at the main control panel on the wall.
The dog's heavy paws accidentally smashed the plastic casing covering the emergency manual override wires.
Clara rushed over and stared at the complex web of red, blue, and yellow wires.
She had no idea how to bypass a multi-million dollar security system.
With only ten seconds left on the clock, Clara grabbed the thickest red wire and yanked it violently from the circuit board.
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Sparks showered the room, and the digital timer instantly went completely black.
The heavy steel door hissed loudly and slowly swung open, allowing fresh, cold air to flood the suffocating room.
