Chapter 5 - FIREWORKS ON ALDRIDGE STREET
Nathaniel tackled my mother and me to the floor just as a deafening CRACK shattered the living room window. Shards of glass rained down over the carpet, followed immediately by the heavy thud of the front door being violently kicked off its hinges.
Three men dressed in unmarked black tactical gear, wearing night-vision goggles and carrying suppressed rifles, burst into the hallway.
"Target sighted! Sweep the room!" one of the men barked.
Nathaniel didn't hesitate. Pulling a heavy sidearm from his shoulder holster, he fired three rapid shots through the drywall. The lead gunman crumpled to the floor with a heavy groan.
"Ruby, get behind the kitchen island! Stay low!" my mother screamed, throwing her body over me as drywall dust fill the air.
The remaining two mercenaries flooded the small apartment with gunfire, wood splinters and plaster erupting everywhere. Nathaniel moved with terrifying efficiency—he rolled behind the flipped oak dining table, pulled a flashbang canister from his tactical belt, pulled the pin with his teeth, and tossed it into the narrow hallway.
BANG!
A blinding flash of white light and a ear-splitting noise echoed through the apartment. The mercenaries staggered back, blinded and disoriented.
Nathaniel sprang forward, closing the distance in a fraction of a second. He disarmed the second gunman with a brutal strike to his wrist, sweeping his legs out from under him, and slammed the third attacker against the concrete wall, knocking him unconscious.
The room fell dead silent, save for the heavy breathing of General Graves and the sound of distant sirens wailing in the city streets.
Nathaniel quickly checked the tactical gear of the fallen men, pulling a patch from one of their sleeves. It bore the insignia of a private defense contractor directly tied to Colonel Sterling's office.
"They're already here," Nathaniel said, his eyes burning with intense fury. He grabbed my mother's duffel bag and picked me up in his arms. "The city isn't safe. We're going to the Pine Barrens bunker."
"Nathaniel... my box," Elena gasped, clutching his arm as we ran toward the back fire escape. "The evidence... I didn't destroy it twelve years ago. It's buried in the city."
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Nathaniel paused at the top of the metal stairs, looking down into the dark alley where his armored SUV was idling.
"We get Ruby to safety first," Graves said firmly. "Then we come back for the truth."Dưới đây là phần tiếp theo từ Chương 6 đến Chương 10 với nội dung dài, kịch tính, đào sâu vào cuộc đối đầu đỉnh điểm và mang lại một cái kết vô cùng trọn vẹn, có hậu cho toàn bộ câu chuyện.
