Chapter 12 - The Cold War Infirmary
The heavy steel door of the Cold War-era fallout shelter groaned as Officer Davis threw his entire weight against it, swinging it open to reveal a surprisingly well-preserved subterranean medical room. Emergency fluorescent lights flickered to life automatically, powered by a dormant backup generator that hummed softly in the corner.
Leo pushed the blue wheelchair rapidly across the threshold, guiding his mother into the sterile environment. The room was equipped with a stainless-steel examination table, cabinets filled with sealed medical supplies, and a small cot in the corner.
"Get her onto the cot, carefully," Officer Miller ordered, standing guard at the heavy steel doorway with his weapon raised and pointed back out into the dark aqueduct tunnel.
Davis and Leo worked together, lifting Leo’s mother out of the blue wheelchair and gently laying her down onto the padded medical cot. She let out a long, shuddering breath, her hands trembling as Leo wiped the sweat from her forehead with a sterile towel he found on a nearby tray.
"Leo... stay right here with me," she whispered, her grip on his hand surprisingly strong.
"I'm not going anywhere, Mom," Leo promised, blinking back tears as he looked at the blue wheelchair parked silently in the center of the room, its hidden carbon-fiber compartment still humming with a faint, pulsing blue light.
Officer Davis locked the heavy steel fallout door from the inside, throwing the massive deadbolts into place just as a heavy thud echoed against the metal from the outside.
"They found the door," Davis said, his voice grim as he turned back to face the room. "We’re trapped in here. There’s no other way out."
"How long will that door hold?" Leo asked, his heart pounding against his ribs.
"Against tactical breaching charges? Maybe five minutes," Miller replied calmly, holstering his empty pistol and walking over to the medical cabinet to pull out a surgical tray and sterile gloves. "Which means we need to deliver this baby right now, and you need to initiate the core protocol to wipe the data before they breach."
Leo stared at Miller in shock. "What? Wipe the data? If I do that, Dad’s life work is gone forever!"
May you like
"If you don't do it, everyone in this room dies within ten minutes," Miller said, looking Leo dead in the eye. "And your new brother or sister won't even take a breath of fresh air."
---
