Chapter 7 - The Underground Escape
The magnetic locks engaged with a terrifying mechanical boom.
The vault was completely pitch black.
I crawled across the cold floor and pounded my fists against the steel door.
I screamed for my daughter until my throat tasted like blood.
Marcus crawled over to me in the darkness.
"Save your breath."
"This vault is climate-controlled and airtight."
"We only have about twenty minutes of oxygen left before we suffocate."
I collapsed against the wall and began to sob.
Marcus shuffled his tied hands around to the front of his legs.
He reached into his shoe and pulled out a tiny titanium lockpick.
"My father built this vault during the Cold War."
"He never trusted a room he couldn't escape from."
Marcus expertly picked the zip ties and freed his hands.
He felt along the back wall of the vault until he found a loose brick.
He pushed the brick inward, revealing a rusted manual override lever.
Marcus pulled the lever with all his remaining strength.
A square grate in the floor slowly hissed open.
Cold, damp air rushed into the room from the maintenance tunnels below.
"Ladies first," Marcus whispered.
I climbed down the rusty ladder into the narrow dirt tunnel.
Marcus followed right behind me.
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We crawled through the darkness toward the main house foundation.
Suddenly, a deafening gunshot echoed from the floorboards directly above our heads.
