Chapter 4 - The Dead Man's Shadow
Dust and smoke choked the air as Hale pushed a heavy slab of concrete off his chest.
His ears were ringing violently from the blast.
He looked up and saw a massive hole blown completely through the reinforced roof of the bunker.
They had not used an airstrike to hit the base.
They had used a precision tactical team, and the blast was just a breaching charge.
"Mitchell," Hale coughed, searching the darkness frantically.
"I am here," Olivia whispered from the shadows near the corner.
She had somehow managed to rip the iron ring completely out of the concrete floor.
Her hands were still cuffed together, but the heavy chain dangled freely.
Hale stumbled toward her and used a hidden lockpick in his belt to snap the cuffs open.
"We have to move to the underground motor pool," Hale urged, pulling her toward a secondary exit.
They navigated through the crumbling, smoke-filled corridors of Sector Four.
Gunfire echoed from the floors above them as the base security forces engaged the unknown attackers.
They reached a heavy metal grate leading into the subterranean garage and slipped inside.
Hale found a heavy armored transport vehicle sitting in the dark corner.
He smashed the window with the butt of his gun, unlocked the door, and hotwired the ignition.
The massive engine roared to life just as three men in black tactical gear burst into the garage.
The men immediately raised suppressed submachine guns and opened fire.
Bullets rained against the bulletproof glass of the transport as Hale slammed his foot on the gas.
The heavy vehicle smashed through the metal barricade and sped out into the rainy night.
Hale drove recklessly through the winding mountain roads, putting miles between them and the burning military base.
"Who are those men?" Hale demanded, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"They are not government soldiers," Olivia said, inspecting a deep cut on her arm.
"They belong to a private military contractor called Apex."
"How do you know that?" Hale asked, glancing at her suspiciously.
"Because they are the same men who supplied the parasite to my father's unit nine years ago," Olivia revealed.
Hale slammed on the brakes, bringing the heavy vehicle to a screeching halt in the middle of the empty highway.
He turned to her, his face completely drained of color.
"Apex has been defunct for five years," Hale argued.
"Apex was secretly rebuilt three years ago," Olivia corrected him.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bloody, crushed dog tag she had ripped from one of the attackers in the dark.
May you like
She held it up to the dashboard lights so Hale could read the name inscribed on the metal.
The dog tag read: Commander David Mitchell.
