Chapter 11 - The Sacrifice Play
"Get down!" Mark lunged forward, tackling Sterling to the gravel just as a high-caliber round chipped the parapet where Mark had been standing.
The private contractors weren't interested in negotiating. Sterling was a liability, and any witnesses on that roof were collateral damage. Another shot pinged off the metal hatch frame.
Clara was semi-conscious on the ground, and the baby began to wail again. Mark dragged Sterling behind the concrete bulkhead of the elevator machinery.
"Listen to me, you coward," Mark growled, grabbing Sterling by the lapels. "That hard drive is your death sentence. Give it to me."
"Why?" Sterling cried, tears cutting paths through the soot on his cheeks. "They'll shoot you!"
"They want the drive. I'll draw their fire while you carry Clara and the baby to the window-washing cradle on the north ledge. It has a manual gravity descent line. Do you understand me? You save them, or none of this matters!"
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Sterling looked at the crying infant in his arms, something long buried behind greed and corporate coldness finally flickering in his eyes. He nodded slowly, handing the metallic drive casing to Mark.
Mark checked the chamber of his flare gun, the only weapon he had left. He took a deep breath, looked back at Clara’s unconscious face one last time, and bolted out from the cover into the blinding spotlight.
