Chapter 7 - Breaking the Grid
"Move!" Marcus roared.
He grabbed the metallic briefcase with one hand, grabbed Willa with the other, and shoved her back toward Maya.
A volley of suppressed gunfire chewed through the wooden floorboards, sending wood fragments flying like shrapnel. Marcus threw his body over Maya and Willa, taking the blunt force of the falling debris across his back.
"Out! Back to the garage!" Marcus yelled, pulling a flare from his tactical vest, striking it against the concrete, and tossing it directly into the open crawlspace hatch behind them.
Dense, blinding white smoke instantly filled the narrow subterranean tunnel, choking the sightlines of the shooters above.
They scrambled backward through the dust and smoke, tumbling out through the garage hatch just as the contractors began breaching the interior garage door.
"In the car!" Maya screamed, leaping into the driver's seat and slapping the ignition switch. Engine revved into life.
Marcus threw the heavy briefcase into the trunk and jumped into the front passenger seat just as two armed men burst into the garage, weapons raised.
"Floor it!" Marcus yelled.
Maya slammed her foot onto the gas pedal. The station wagon roared backward, smashing through the flimsy wooden garage doors in a cloud of splinters and shattered glass, bursting out into the alleyway at thirty miles per hour.
Tires screeched as Maya whipped the steering wheel, turning the car around and speeding toward the main road.
Behind them, two heavy black SUVs roared out from the shadows of Cypress Avenue, their high beams blinding Maya in the rearview mirror.
"They're on us!" Maya cried, clutching the wheel as the heavy SUVs began pulling up on both sides of her car.
"Keep it straight!" Marcus ordered. He leaned out of the passenger window holding a tactical glass-breaker tool.
The left SUV swerved violently, slamming its heavy reinforced bumper against the driver's side door of Maya's station wagon. The metal crunched horribly, sending the small car spinning across the slick, rain-slicked asphalt toward an intersection.
"Hold on!" Maya shouted, battling the steering wheel to regain control as the car mounted the curb and crashed into the lawn of the community center.
The two Aegis SUVs pulled up, blocking the street, completely trapping the small station wagon against the brick wall of the park.
Director Vane stepped out of the lead SUV, holding a heavy-caliber pistol, flanked by six armed operatives. The rain had begun to fall, glistening on the dark tarmac of Cypress Avenue.
"It's over, Marcus," Vane said, her voice amplified through a megaphone. "You have nowhere left to run. Hand over the drive, and I might let the girl live."
Marcus looked back at Willa, who was sitting quietly in the backseat, holding her father's yellow umbrella close to her chest like a shield. Then he looked at Maya, her eyes bright with fear, but brimming with an absolute refusal to break.
Marcus opened his door and stepped out into the rain, raising his hands slowly.
"The drive is in the trunk, Vane," Marcus said, his voice echoing through the silent street. "Take it. Just let them drive away."
Vane smiled, stepping forward with two guards. "You always were too sentimental for a soldier, Warrant Officer."
May you like
As Vane reached out to open the trunk, Marcus’s mouth twitched into a cold, ruthless smile.
"I said the drive was in the trunk," Marcus whispered. "I didn't say it was disarmed."
