Chapter 8 - The Decoy Strategy
Officer Miller gave a subtle nod, communicating a silent plan to Davis without a single spoken word. Miller slowly stepped out of the recessed alcove, keeping his body low and his service pistol raised toward the approaching flashlight beam.
"Hold your fire!" Miller shouted down the tunnel, pitching his voice to echo convincingly. "I'm unarmed! Let the woman and the kid go, and we can talk about the asset!"
A harsh laugh echoed back through the damp corridor. "You’re in no position to negotiate, Miller. Send the boy and the wheelchair forward first."
Back in the alcove, Officer Davis grabbed Leo by the shoulder, pulling him down to eye level.
"Listen to me carefully," Davis whispered fiercely, his eyes wide with intensity. "When I tell you to run, you grab the handles of this blue wheelchair and you push your mother down the right-hand tunnel as fast as you possibly can. Do not look back, do not stop for anything."
"What about you and Miller?" Leo asked, his voice trembling as he clutched his light blue polo shirt.
"We’re going to give you thirty seconds," Davis replied, pressing a heavy steel cylinder into Leo's palm—a heavy smoke grenade with the pin already half-pulled. "When you reach the bend, pull this pin and throw it behind you. It will blind their thermal optics and give you cover."
Before Leo could argue, Officer Miller fired two warning shots down the tunnel, shattering the silence with deafening cracks that echoed violently against the brickwork.
"Now! Go!" Miller roared.
Officer Davis shoved the blue wheelchair hard out of the alcove, sending it hurtling down the right-hand passage with Leo sprinting desperately behind it. Gunfire erupted from the darkness ahead, sending a hail of ricocheting bullets sparking off the brick walls as Miller returned fire with disciplined, rapid shots.
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Leo gripped the rubber handles of the chair, his legs pumping with adrenaline as he pushed his pregnant mother through the murky darkness, the sounds of battle fading rapidly behind them as they plunged deeper into the uncharted aqueduct.
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