Chapter 7 - Breaking the Seal
The steel arm of the hydraulic hoist slammed into the reinforced pane with a concussive shockwave that vibrated through the floorboards. The glass fractured into a spiderweb of white lines, but the thick poly-composite laminate refused to yield completely.
Marcus swung a fire axe against the weakened center of the web. shards rained outward into the night air as the sudden pressure differential blew a gale of fresh, cold mountain air back into the suffocating room. Sarah gasped, falling to her knees beside Mia and immediately setting up the battery-operated field heater to prep the blue counter-agent.
""Julian, climb through!"" Marcus commanded, hoisting the battered teenager by his waistband and shoving him through the jagged frame into the muddy drainage trench outside.
Julian scrambled onto the embankment, turning back with bleeding hands. ""Mr. Vance, hurry! My father isn't at the stable anymore. He just took the heavy stallion trailer out toward the Championship arena. He knows the authorities are coming. He’s liquidating the prize horses!""
Marcus helped Sarah lift Mia’s limp body through the shattered opening. The little girl groaned weakly, her eyelids fluttering as the cold rain hit her face. Sarah quickly loaded the warmed antidote into a high-pressure injector and pressed it firmly against the girl’s thigh. The mechanical click sounded like a gunshot in the wet night.
For five agonizing seconds, nothing happened. Then Mia’s back arched sharply, her chest heaving as she drew in a deep, ragged breath. The angry purple veins running along her calf began to fade into a dull, mottled gray.
""Her pulse is stabilizing,"" Sarah whispered, letting out a sob of relief. ""The counter-agent is working. But she needs an intensive care unit to flush the toxins completely.""
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Marcus stood tall in the pouring rain, looking toward the distant glow of stadium lights illuminating the private arena atop the hill. The low rumble of an eighty-foot transport truck engine echoed through the valley.
""Take Julian and Mia in the ambulance down the old logging road,"" Marcus said, his voice deadly quiet. ""I have unfinished business at the ring.""
