Chapter 9 - The Sniper’s Laser
The small, crimson laser dot danced erratically across the white fabric of Arthur’s shirt, right over his heart, before freezing dead center. Arthur’s breath caught in his throat, every muscle in his body locking up with primal dread.
“Get down! Now!” Arthur screamed, lunging forward with reckless abandon to tackle Sarah and Lily into the deep depression of the dry creek bed just as a deafening crack of a high-powered rifle echoed across the suburban neighborhood.
A spray of dirt and shredded grass exploded from the exact spot where Sarah had been standing a fraction of a second earlier. The heavy thud of the bullet slamming into a nearby oak tree sent a shower of splintered bark raining down over them.
Sarah pulled Lily tightly into her chest, pressing the little girl flat against the damp mud of the creek bed while shielding her body with her own. Her eyes were wide with terror, the reality of the threat finally hitting her with terrifying, undeniable force.
“They’re not here to arrest us,” Sarah whispered, her voice trembling violently as she stared at Arthur through the gathering dusk. “They’re here to eliminate us.”
“They want the drive, and they want anyone who knows the algorithm erased,” Arthur said, keeping his head low as he peered cautiously over the edge of the creek bank.
In the distance, the flashing lights of the police cruisers were suddenly plunged into darkness. A chorus of sharp, suppressed gunfire echoed from the front yard, followed by the sound of heavy metal doors slamming shut and tires screeching aggressively on the asphalt. The local police hadn’t arrested the syndicate; the syndicate had neutralized the local authorities.
“We can’t stay here in the open,” Arthur said, his mind racing as he calculated their limited options. “The creek bed leads to the old railway maintenance tunnels about a half-mile down. It’s our only chance to get off the property without being picked off by the sniper.”
Sarah nodded slowly, her initial anger momentarily suppressed by the raw instinct of maternal survival. She clutched the flash drive tightly in her fist, realizing that the small piece of plastic was the only leverage keeping them alive.
“If we make it to the tunnels, where do we go, David?” Sarah asked, using his real name for the first time with a bitter, resigned acceptance. “Who is left in this world that you haven’t betrayed or run away from?”
“There’s one person,” Arthur replied, his voice strained as he helped Sarah lift Lily to her feet. “My former lab assistant, Marcus. He’s been living off the grid in the Cascade foothills for a decade. He’s the only one who can help us decrypt the master file and shut down Prometheus for good.”
May you like
As they crouched low and began running along the muddy floor of the dry creek bed toward the cover of the railway line, a sudden sound froze them in their tracks—the heavy whir of drone rotors buzzing directly overhead in the night sky.
---
