Chapter 5 - Fire in the Machine
""Down!"" Mark roared, tackling Tommy and sweeping Lily off the couch in one violent motion.
The high glass windows exploded inward as high-caliber rounds shredded the sofa to foam and dust. Sparking sparks leaped from the car lifts and metal workbenches as bullets ricocheted with deafening shrieks.
""They tracked your watch!"" Tommy screamed, pointing at the platinum chronograph on Mark’s wrist. ""The wedding gift she gave you!""
Mark tore the watch from his wrist, threw it against the floor, and stomped it beneath his heel, smashing the casing until the internal GPS chip was crushed.
""Back door leads to the drainage canal!"" Tommy yelled, grabbing a shotgun from beneath the counter. ""I'll cover you! Get the kid out!""
""Not without cutting that chain!"" Mark shouted back, dodging behind a steel tool chest as another volley of rounds blew through the front garage doors.
Tommy grabbed an angle grinder from the bench, flicked the switch, and plunged the spinning abrasive wheel against the steel cuff around Lily’s ankle. Orange sparks showered over Mark’s suit jacket as he held his daughter still, shielding her eyes. The high-pitched whine of cutting steel drowned out the gunfire for three agonizing seconds.
With a sharp snap, the cuff fractured. The heavy chain clattered to the floor, free at last. Lily cried out, but Mark scooped her up immediately, slipping the remaining broken half-cuff off her swollen ankle.
""Go!"" Tommy fired a blast from the shotgun toward the shattered entryway. ""I've got a clean record, they won't kill me! They only want you!""
Mark didn't argue. He kicked open the rear fire exit and burst out into the storm.
The drainage canal ran like an open sewer behind the industrial park, churning with brown, rushing rainwater. Mark slid down the concrete bank, his knees tearing through his trousers, water rising to his waist. The current was fierce, threatening to pull him under, but he held Lily above the waterline with both arms, battling the freezing torrent.
Behind him, an explosion rocked the garage. Flames leaped into the rainy night, illuminating figures silhouetted on the canal ridge—snipers scanning the water with thermal scopes.
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Mark ducked beneath the mouth of a massive concrete culvert pipe, disappearing into the pitch-black labyrinth beneath the city just as a spotlight swept over the surface of the water where he had been standing seconds before.
Deep in the darkness of the sewer, shivering uncontrollably, Mark listened to Lily's shallow breaths. When he touched her cheek, her skin was burning hot with fever.
