passageway

Chapter 14 - The Flash

Shouts of panic and gunfire shattered the port’s silence. The mercenaries fired blindly, blinded by the sudden wall of light. Marcus screamed orders, shielding his eyes with his forearm as the searing glare burned through the darkness of the berth.

Clara moved like a ghost through the blinding brilliance, keeping low to the wet ground. She reached the bollard where Julian knelt, thrusting the phone forward. Julian forced his head up, his blurred eyes opening wide to meet the camera lens alongside Clara’s.

A mechanical chime chimed from the device: BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED. UPLOADING ARCHIVES TO ALL BROADCAST NETWORKS.

Marcus blinked through the glare, spotting Clara beside her father. Rage twisted his face as he leveled his firearm directly at the child. "You ruined everything, Clara!"

A gunshot cracked over the water. But it did not come from Marcus.

Behind them, sirens suddenly wailed across the access roads. Federal tactical vehicles smashed through the security gates, their blue and red lights cutting through the blinding halogen beam. Evelyn turned to flee toward a waiting speedboat, but a squad of federal agents cut her off at the gangway.

Marcus dropped his weapon, his arms raised as spotlights pinned him against the cold steel of a cargo container. Clara threw her arms around Julian’s neck, weeping as his cold hand finally lifted to touch her hair.

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Yet as Lily ran to join them, her foot struck something hard in the shadows behind the bollard.

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