Chapter 4 - The Tunnels
Elias hit the cold concrete floor of the tunnel hard, losing his tight grip on the shotgun.
He groaned loudly in pain as the fresh bullet wound in his shoulder flared with burning agony.
Adeline quickly rushed to his side in the absolute darkness.
"Are you okay?" she whispered frantically, her hands trembling as she touched his wet coat.
"I will absolutely live," Elias grunted, pulling a small tactical flashlight from his belt.
He clicked it on, revealing a long, damp subterranean corridor that stretched deep into the shadows.
This was an old prohibition-era smuggling route that his grandfather had built decades ago.
Only the absolute top members of the crime family knew it even existed.
The terrible fact that they fell into it meant someone had deliberately weakened the greenhouse floor to trap them.
"We need to keep moving before they find the entrance," Elias instructed grimly.
He leaned heavily against the damp brick wall and forcefully made himself walk.
Adeline wrapped her arm securely around his waist, helping support his massive weight.
Leo walked closely behind them, constantly checking over his shoulder in pure fear.
The sound of heavy boots echoing above them meant the ruthless mercenaries were searching the grounds.
Elias knew they desperately needed to reach the backup armory located at the end of the tunnel.
As they walked, Adeline used the medical supplies from her bag to tightly bind his bleeding shoulder.
"Why did Rourke betray you like this?" she asked softly in the dim, dancing light.
"Absolute power makes men do terrible things, Adeline," Elias replied with bitter honesty.
They finally reached a heavy steel door situated at the very end of the long passageway.
Elias punched a secret code aggressively into the rusted numeric keypad.
The door hissed open loudly, revealing a fully stocked underground armory.
Rows of assault weapons, tactical gear, and medical kits lined the thick concrete walls.
"Grab a vest for the boy," Elias commanded as he loaded a heavy assault rifle with fresh ammunition.
Adeline helped Leo put on a lightweight Kevlar vest over his thin jacket.
Suddenly, the radio on Elias's belt crackled to life with aggressive static.
"Elias, it is Bruno, I need backup immediately," the voice of his security chief pleaded.
Bruno Marchetti had been Elias's most fiercely loyal friend since childhood.
"Where are you, Bruno?" Elias demanded fiercely into the radio.
"I am trapped at the downtown warehouse, they are slaughtering our men," Bruno yelled wildly over the sound of heavy gunfire.
The radio feed suddenly cut to a horrifying, absolute dead silence.
Elias loaded his weapon with a dark, genuinely murderous look in his eyes.
He was not going to let another innocent friend die for him today.
He turned purposefully toward the secondary exit of the armory, fully ready for war.
Suddenly, Leo gasped loudly and pointed a shaking finger at the dark corner of the room.
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Sitting quietly on a crate was a massive, ticking time bomb wired directly to the armory's structural pillars.
The digital timer aggressively blinked down to just three seconds.
