Chapter 7 - The Poisoned Air
A thick, yellowish gas began billowing from the ventilation grates.
Nora coughed, her eyes watering instantly from the chemical burn.
"It’s chlorine gas," Roman shouted, covering his mouth with his torn sleeve.
He grabbed a heavy metal chair and hurled it at the glass window of the control booth.
The reinforced glass didn't even scratch.
Maisie started crying, struggling to breathe as the toxic cloud descended.
Nora looked at Roman, tears streaming down her face.
"Roman, please, I swear I never wanted you dead!" she pleaded.
He stared at her, his jaw clenched in absolute fury.
But the sight of the suffocating child broke his hesitation.
Mafia boss or not, he would not let an innocent child die in his bunker.
"The manual override for the vents is behind that glass," Roman pointed to the booth.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, heavy tungsten block he kept as a paperweight.
"Wrap your jacket around it," Roman instructed Nora.
Nora stripped off her denim jacket, wrapping it tightly around the heavy metal.
They swung it together like a battering ram against the corner of the reinforced window.
A spiderweb crack appeared in the thick glass.
The gas was filling the room fast, making them dizzy and weak.
"Again!" Roman roared.
They swung the makeshift hammer with everything they had left.
The glass shattered inward, collapsing in a cascade of sharp shards.
Nora vaulted through the broken window, cutting her arms on the jagged edges.
She slammed her fist onto the large red emergency purge button on the console.
Massive exhaust fans kicked on immediately, sucking the deadly yellow gas out of the room.
They collapsed on the floor, gasping for clean air.
Maisie’s breathing slowed down, returning to a normal rhythm.
Roman closed his eyes, grateful they had survived another trap.
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Then, the heavy steel vault door they thought was sealed by the explosion began to click.
Someone was opening it from the outside.
