Chapter 5 - The Ashes
Elias did not have time to think or breathe.
He aggressively grabbed Adeline and Leo by their jackets and hurled them toward the reinforced steel exit door.
He threw his own heavy body on top of them just as the digital timer hit absolute zero.
The massive explosion shook the very foundation of the cold earth.
Bright flames roared through the armory, incinerating the weapons and turning the concrete walls into dust.
The violent shockwave slammed into the heavy steel door, throwing the three of them into the muddy riverbank outside.
Elias felt his ears ring violently as he struggled desperately to open his eyes.
The secret tunnel system was completely destroyed, buried forever under tons of burning, smoking rubble.
Adeline coughed up dirty mud and desperately checked Leo for any severe injuries.
Miraculously, the heavy steel door and the Kevlar vest had completely saved them from the deadly shrapnel.
Elias slowly pushed himself off the cold mud, his wounded shoulder screaming in absolute pain.
"We have to move before the smoke draws their attention," Elias ordered weakly but firmly.
He led them carefully through the dense woods until they reached a hidden secondary garage near the highway.
Inside sat a dusty but fully fueled black SUV that Rourke did not know existed.
Elias collapsed heavily into the driver's seat and started the roaring engine.
They drove in heavy silence toward the chaotic, glowing lights of the city.
Adeline ripped a piece of her clean shirt and tied it even tighter around Elias's heavily bleeding arm.
"You cannot go to the warehouse in this terrible condition," she pleaded softly with him.
"Bruno is my brother, I will not abandon him like I abandoned Thomas," Elias replied with extreme stubbornness.
He pulled the large vehicle safely into the dark alleyway behind a massive, abandoned gothic church.
This was a strict sanctuary neutral ground that the local syndicates always respected.
"You and Leo stay safely inside the bell tower until I return," Elias instructed them quietly.
He handed Adeline a fully loaded pistol and looked deep into her frightened, beautiful eyes.
"If anyone comes through that door, you shoot to kill immediately."
Adeline nodded bravely, holding the heavy weapon firmly with both hands.
Elias drove away rapidly, leaving them completely hidden in the freezing shadows of the old church.
He arrived at the massive downtown warehouse exactly thirty minutes later.
The large metal doors were blown completely open, and the foul smell of gunpowder filled the air.
Elias gripped his rifle tightly and quietly stepped over the bodies of his fallen men.
He moved cautiously through the dark shipping containers, searching for any sign of his security chief.
He found Bruno securely tied to a wooden chair in the exact center of the loading dock.
Bruno looked badly beaten, bloody, and entirely unconscious.
Elias rushed forward urgently and pulled a sharp combat knife to cut the thick ropes.
Before the cold blade even touched the rope, Bruno slowly lifted his head and smiled brightly.
May you like
"You always were entirely too sentimental, Elias," Bruno chuckled coldly.
A dozen bright laser sights suddenly appeared, pointing directly at Elias's chest from the upper catwalks.
