Chapter 5 - Unholy Alliance
Officer Ryan, bleeding from a graze on his shoulder, crawled behind the desk alongside Ethan and Claire. The realization of being played washed over the young cop's face. ""What the hell is going on here? Who are these people?"" Ryan demanded, pressing his back against the wood as bullets thudded into it. Ethan pulled a heavy metallic key from his pocket and thrust it into a concealed floor slot. ""They are cleaning up a multi-million-dollar bio-engineering failure—and my son is the only surviving proof,"" Ethan snarled, turning the key. The floor panel hissed open, revealing a dark concrete tunnel leading beneath the estate. Claire looked at Ethan with newfound terror and respect; she finally understood why he had been so frantic with the monitor. The device wasn't malfunctioning—it was counting down to a localized containment purge. ""We have less than two minutes before the automated system vents the entire house,"" Claire whispered pale-faced. Before Ryan could process the warning, a grenade landed right in the center of the room, rolling toward their hiding spot with a smoking fuse.
