Chapter 8 - Blood and Iron
A gunshot deafened the room and echoed violently off the concrete walls.
Rex screamed as his father collapsed onto the floor while a dark pool formed beneath him.
Silas stumbled back and was shocked by the sudden suicidal lunge.
In that split second of distraction Betty moved with lethal precision.
She kicked a stray bullet magazine from the floor directly at Silas’s hand.
It struck the detonator and knocked it out of the old traitor’s grip.
Hale tackled Silas to the ground despite his severe injuries.
"Get your father!" Hale yelled over the chaos.
Rex sprinted forward and slammed into the two armored guards like a freight train.
He crushed one guard’s throat with a brutal elbow strike.
He threw the second guard against the concrete wall and snapped his neck on impact.
Rex fell to his knees beside his bleeding father.
"Dad, hold on," Rex begged as he tore off his leather jacket to apply pressure.
John coughed and a weak smile formed on his blood-stained lips.
"You grew up so strong, Rex," his father whispered.
Behind them the thermal lance finally breached the vault door.
The heavy steel fell inward and Miller’s mercenaries flooded the room.
Hale and Silas were still rolling on the floor while fighting for control of a dropped pistol.
Betty grabbed an assault rifle from the weapon racks and laid down heavy suppressing fire.
"We have to move into the tunnel!" Betty screamed.
Rex picked his father up and carried him bridal style.
He ran past Hale who had just managed to pin Silas to the floor.
Hale raised the pistol and pointed it at his former best friend's chest.
"For my son," Hale said softly.
He pulled the trigger twice and ended Silas Vance forever.
Hale dropped the gun and limped toward the escape tunnel behind Rex and Betty.
They hurried down the dark damp corridor as explosions rocked the bunker above them.
They finally reached an underground garage containing a single armored transport vehicle.
Betty jumped into the driver's seat and hot-wired the engine.
Rex laid his father gently in the back and held his hand tightly.
Hale climbed into the passenger seat with his face pale from blood loss.
The transport smashed through the disguised garage door and burst out into the rainy night.
They had escaped the trap but the war was far from over.
John weakly squeezed Rex’s hand to draw his son's attention.
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"Rex," John gasped as he struggled to breathe.
"The man who gave the order to kill Hale's son wasn't Silas."
