Chapter 7 - The Blast
""Cover your eyes!"" Julian yelled, diving across the room to shield Olivia and Lucy.
A blinding magnesium flash erupted with an ear-splitting detonation, rattling the cabin's timber frame and shattering the remaining glass in the windows. Julian’s vision whited out, an intense ringing ringing through his ears like an electric drill.
Through the haze of smoke, the front door swung wide on broken hinges. A masked operative stepped through, weapon drawn, aiming straight for Julian’s head.
Driven entirely by adrenaline, Julian raised the shotgun and pulled the front trigger. The deafening roar of the twelve-gauge buckshot ripped through the smoky air. The blast caught the contractor squarely in the ballistic vest, the tremendous kinetic force throwing the man backward off the porch and into the snowdrifts below.
Julian scrambled up, grabbing the second shell’s trigger as the second operative rounded the doorway. But the man was faster; he swept Julian’s legs with a heavy combat boot, sending the shotgun spinning across the floor.
Julian hit the timber floor hard, the breath knocked out of his lungs. The contractor pinned him with a knee to his sternum, cold steel pressing against Julian's temple.
""Target secured,"" the man spoke into his shoulder radio. ""Bring the transport.""
""Stop!""
The tiny scream cut through the smoke.
The operative paused, his eyes narrowing through his balaclava. Lucy stood by the stone fireplace, holding a burning oak branch plucked straight from the embers, its tip glowing with bright red fire. Her tiny face was smeared with soot, her hands shaking violently, but her gaze was resolute.
""Get off my dad,"" Lucy cried, her voice trembling with raw ferocity. ""Get off him or I burn everything down!""
The contractor hesitated, his eyes darting to the dry cedar paneling of the walls. In that split second of distraction, Olivia swung an antique iron fire poker with every ounce of strength left in her frail body.
The heavy iron connected with the side of the man’s helmet with a resounding chime. The contractor grunted, his balance broken. Julian seized the opening, throwing the man off his chest and driving a brutal elbow into his throat. The operative collapsed, gasping for air.
Julian scrambled to his feet, snatching the operative’s dropped radio and sidearm. He swept Lucy into one arm and helped Olivia toward the back kitchen door.
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""We run,"" Julian panted. ""Now!""
They burst out into the biting winter storm just as the radio on the floor crackled to life with Victoria's icy voice: ""Eliminate Julian if necessary. Just bring me the girl.""
