Chapter 13 - The Price of Blood
Sarah’s fingers found the wound. Her breath hitched. A stray bullet had caught Mark just below his ribcage, tearing a clean channel through his flank.
""Mark... you’re shot,"" she whispered, her voice cracking with terror.
""Glancing blow,"" Mark lied through clenched teeth, pressing a wadded strip of his torn t-shirt into the bleeding flesh. ""Missed the vitals. We keep moving.""
""You’re going to bleed to death in this sewer!""
""Not before I get you across the highway,"" Mark replied, gripping her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. ""Listen to me, Sarah. Two miles east through this tunnel is the old rail yard. There’s an automated relay tower for the freight line. It has an independent fiber connection that isn't monitored by Vanguard.""
He reached into his boot and pulled out a titanium USB drive suspended on a steel chain—the ledger. He pressed it into Sarah’s palm.
""Plug it into the terminal. Hit the red manual override switch. The script runs automatically. It burns Vance’s network to the ground.""
""Come with us,"" she pleaded, tears cutting clean lines through the soot on her cheeks. ""Leo needs his father. I didn't wait two years just to watch you die in the dirt!""
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""I am coming,"" Mark said, summoning every ounce of strength to pull himself upright against the curved concrete. ""I’m going to make sure nobody follows you down this pipe.""
From the mouth of the culvert behind them, the sound of heavy boots splashing into the drainage water echoed through the cylinder.
