Chapter 5 - The Siege of the Fortress
The concussive force of the explosion threw Leo across the room.
Thick gray smoke poured into the master bedroom.
Olivia threw her body over Vincent to protect his chest from falling debris.
She kept one hand firmly gripping the resuscitation bag.
She continued to pump oxygen into his lungs despite the ringing in her ears.
Four heavily armed men stepped through the shattered doorway.
They were dressed in tactical black gear and wore heavy ballistic masks.
They moved with the precision of trained military operators.
"Clear the room," the lead operator ordered in a muffled voice.
They raised their automatic rifles and pointed them at the terrified doctors.
Leo groaned and pushed himself up from the floor.
He fired two rapid shots from his Glock.
The bullets struck the lead operator in the chest plate, knocking him backward into the hallway.
"Get down!" Leo screamed at the medical team.
The doctors hit the floor as a deafening firefight erupted inside the bedroom.
Bullets shredded the expensive wallpaper and shattered the medical monitors.
Olivia huddled behind the heavy oak frame of the bed.
She realized she was going to die in a war she had nothing to do with.
Leo dove behind a thick leather armchair, reloading his weapon in the dark.
"We cannot hold this room!" Leo shouted to Olivia.
"We have to move him right now!"
"He is attached to ten different IV bags!" Olivia screamed back.
"Cut them!" Leo ordered.
"Keep the magnesium and the oxygen."
Olivia pulled a pair of trauma shears from her pocket.
She began cutting the unnecessary tubing, leaving only the critical lifelines attached.
She unlocked the wheels on the heavy hospital bed.
A loyal Costa family guard burst into the room through a hidden panel behind the fireplace.
"Mister Rossi, the secret tunnel is clear!" the guard yelled over the gunfire.
"Help the girl push the bed!" Leo commanded.
The guard grabbed the foot of the bed and pushed it toward the hidden fireplace exit.
Olivia squeezed the resuscitation bag and ran alongside the rolling bed.
They disappeared into the dark, narrow tunnel hidden behind the stone chimney.
Leo fired three more shots to cover their escape before diving into the tunnel himself.
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He slammed the heavy iron door shut and locked it from the inside.
They were trapped in the dark catacombs beneath the fortress.
