Chapter 7 - The Siege of Oakbridge
The pristine halls of Oakbridge turned into a battlefield.
Elena moved like a ghost through the shadows. These weren't street thugs; they were trained paramilitaries, moving in tactical formations. But they were arrogant. They thought they were securing a building full of helpless teenagers. They didn't know they were locked in a cage with an apex predator.
The first two mercenaries breached the library.
Elena dropped from the second-floor mezzanine, her boots catching the first man in the chest. Before he hit the ground, she fired two suppressed shots into the second man's body armor, stunning him long enough to disarm his rifle and knock him unconscious with the stock.
She dragged them into the stacks, taking their radios.
"Breach team two, status," a heavily accented voice crackled over the comms.
Elena pressed the transmit button. "Breach team two is permanently delayed. Turn around and leave, or you die in this school."
A dark chuckle echoed over the radio. "The driver. We heard about you. You are one woman. We are ten. Bring us the Vance boy, and we will let the others live."
"Come and get him," Elena replied, crushing the radio under her heel.
Down in the boiler room, Julian could hear the muffled thuds echoing through the floorboards. He looked at his terrified classmates. He thought about how he had treated Elena. How he had mocked her scars.
"I can't let her do this alone," Julian said, standing up.
"Julian, are you crazy?!" Chloe hissed. "She told us to stay here!"
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"They're here for me," Julian said, his jaw setting. "If I hide, they'll tear the school apart looking for me. They'll kill her."
He grabbed a heavy iron pipe from the scrap pile and unlocked the door.
