Chapter 7 - The Blind Transport
I gripped the cold, heavy steel of the suppressed pistol, my hands shaking uncontrollably in the absolute darkness of the armored van.
I had never held a real gun in my life.
I was a single mother who clipped coupons and worried about the price of school supplies.
But as the van violently turned a sharp corner, the terrifying image of Viktor touching my daughter's face burned vividly in my mind.
I checked the safety mechanism, mimicking what I had seen in movies, and firmly clicked it off.
I pressed my back against the metal wall, waiting for the inevitable moment the doors would open.
The drive felt like it lasted for agonizing hours, the sounds of the city gradually fading into quiet, empty roads.
Finally, the van screeched to a sudden, jarring halt.
I heard the heavy sound of boots crunching on gravel outside.
"Grab the woman," a gruff voice ordered.
"The boss wants her secured in the basement before he arrives."
The heavy locking bar on the back doors loudly clanked open.
The doors swung wide, revealing a blindingly bright floodlight.
I didn't hesitate. I didn't think.
I simply raised the pistol and squeezed the trigger.
The suppressed weapon let out a sharp, quiet pfft, and the first bodyguard collapsed instantly, clutching his leg in agony.
The second bodyguard yelled in surprise, fumbling frantically to unholster his weapon.
I fired again, entirely blind in the harsh light.
The bullet shattered the floodlight above his head, plunging the immediate area back into darkness and showering him in sparking glass.
I didn't wait to see if he recovered.
I leaped out of the back of the van and bolted blindly into the freezing night.
I scrambled over a rusted chain-link fence, tearing my jeans and scraping my hands raw.
I found myself standing in the middle of a massive, abandoned train yard.
Rows of decaying, graffiti-covered train cars stretched out like metal ghosts in the moonlight.
I ducked behind the closest rusted wheel just as angry flashlight beams began sweeping the area behind me.
"Find her!" the uninjured bodyguard roared furiously.
"If she gets away, Viktor will kill us both!"
I pressed my hands over my mouth to muffle my heavy, panicked breathing.
I needed to find a way to contact Arthur and tell him not to walk into the Vanguard trap.
But I had no phone, no car, and absolutely no idea where I actually was.
Suddenly, a cold, metallic hand clamped firmly over my shoulder from behind.
I spun around, wildly raising the pistol to fire.
But the person standing behind me wasn't one of Viktor's men.
It was a woman wearing a sleek, highly advanced tactical suit that seemed to blend perfectly into the shadows.
She calmly reached out and pushed the barrel of my gun down with impossible strength.
"You really need to improve your trigger discipline, Sarah," the woman said softly.
I stared at her in absolute, paralyzing confusion.
"My name isn't Sarah," I whispered defensively.
"I know," the mysterious woman replied, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips.
"But your name isn't actually what matters right now."
She tapped a glowing digital interface on her wrist gauntlet.
"What matters is that Vanguard Innovations didn't build that artificial intelligence."
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"They stole it from my company five years ago."
"And I am here to finally take it back."
