Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
"Put this on right now before your lungs melt, Grandpa," Marcus shouted over the hissing vents.
Elias did not hesitate and threw himself onto the cold stone floor to grab the mask.
He strapped the rubber seal over his face and took a deep breath of clean oxygen.
Marcus grabbed the old man by his gray uniform and dragged him down into the dark sewer tunnel.
The heavy iron grate slammed shut above them just as the arena filled entirely with lethal green smoke.
Julian pounded furiously on the reinforced glass above when he realized his target had escaped.
Elias leaned against the damp brick wall of the tunnel and caught his breath.
"Why would the most feared man in Blackgate risk his life for me?" Elias asked through the muffled mask.
Marcus shined a stolen heavy-duty flashlight down the disgusting drainage corridor.
"Julian Cross murdered my younger brother on the outside three weeks ago," Marcus growled with pure hatred.
"I got myself thrown into solitary hoping to find the Warden's secret basement so I could kill him."
Elias realized they were two sides of the exact same coin.
"Julian has a private security force in the upper levels," Elias warned as he stood up straight.
"Then we will have to break them all in half," Marcus replied while cracking his massive knuckles.
They navigated the maze of underground pipes until they found a rusty maintenance ladder.
Elias climbed first and used his tactical expertise to quietly pop the lock on the access hatch.
They emerged into the pristine white hallways of the prison's executive administration wing.
The blaring red lights of a facility-wide lockdown flashed rhythmically across the walls.
"Julian locked down the entire grid to trap us," Elias whispered as he checked the nearest corner.
Two heavily armed mercenaries in tactical gear were patrolling the corridor with assault rifles raised.
Marcus did not wait for a strategy and simply charged out of the shadows like an angry bull.
He tackled the first guard through a heavy wooden door and shattered it into hundreds of splinters.
Elias swept the legs of the second guard and knocked him unconscious with a swift kick to the temple.
They grabbed the discarded rifles and moved swiftly toward the Warden's main office.
Elias kicked the mahogany doors open while aiming his weapon directly at the desk.
But Warden Hayes was not sitting in his luxurious leather chair.
The Warden was hanging from the ceiling fan with a thick wire wrapped tightly around his neck.
A computerized voice echoed from the office intercom system.
"Attention all units, Commander Thorne and Inmate Vance have just assassinated the Warden."
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The steel security shutters on the windows suddenly rolled up to reveal the prison courtyard.
Dozens of FBI SWAT snipers were positioned on the exterior walls with their red laser sights pointing directly into the office.
