Chapter 13 - Through the Iron Maze
Clara kicked open an escape hatch cut into the bottom of the train car, dropping into the ballast gravel between the rails beneath the train's undercarriage. Coughing through her mask, Lily lowered Mia down before sliding through the narrow opening herself.
CS gas rolled heavily along the floor of the railcar above them, obscuring the vision of the tactical units who breached the main doors with flashbangs. The concussive blasts reverberated through the steel frame, deafening the girls as they crawled on their bellies through the grease and dirt under the line of cars.
Clara moved with terrifying precision. When two private security guards rounded the end of the train, she neutralized them silently with a stun baton before they could raise their carbines. She stripped their high-visibility vests and threw one over Lily.
""Look like you belong,"" Clara commanded. ""The street outside is packed with local news crews. They think they're covering a hostage rescue. Vanguard can’t shoot us in front of forty civilian camera crews without exposing their own private militia.""
They slipped through a gap in the perimeter fence right into the chaotic glare of the main road. Just as Clara predicted, five different news vans were parked on the median, their microwave satellite masts extended toward the grey sky. Crowds of curious onlookers gathered behind yellow police tape.
May you like
Lily saw her own face plastered on the side of a mobile news vehicle under the headline: “THE DELI ORPHANS: TRAGIC SISTER DUO TRAPPED BY ARMED KIDNAPPER.”
A reporter turned, catching sight of Lily's lilac sweater beneath the oversized security vest. ""It's her!"" the reporter screamed, pointing a microphone. The entire press pack turned like a pack of wolves catching a scent.
