Chapter 14
The heavy iron door of the bomb shelter shuddered violently as a muffled explosion echoed from the street level above, sending a shower of loose mortar dust cascading down onto the concrete floor.
"They found us!" Miller shouted, drawing his pistol and aiming it directly at the staircase. "How the hell did they track this frequency so fast?"
"The tracker in Barnaby," Arthur realized, striking his palm against his forehead in sudden realization. "The chief didn't just have the bear in his pocket; he brought it right into the precinct's tactical operations room before deploying the sweep teams."
Ellie bolted upright on the cot, rubbing her eyes and whimpering as a second, louder explosion blew the street-level grate completely off its hinges. The acrid smell of smoke and tear gas began to drift down the concrete stairwell, hazing the dim air of the shelter.
"Stay behind me, sweetheart!" Arthur yelled, scooping Ellie into his arms and shielding her small body with his own as he backed into the darkest corner of the room.
Miller stood at the base of the stairs, his Glock raised, his breathing heavy and measured. "Arthur, when they breach this door, take the girl through the old utility drainage pipe behind the furnace. It leads straight down to the subway maintenance tunnels."
"And you?" Arthur asked, his eyes locking onto the younger man's resolute expression.
"I've got two rounds left and a lifetime of bad choices to make up for," Miller smiled grimly, not looking back. "Go."
A deafening roar shattered the heavy iron deadbolt. The reinforced door crashed inward, buckling under a sustained burst of breaching charges. Thick white smoke billowed down the stairs, illuminated by the harsh tactical flashlights of half a dozen armed operatives pouring into the subterranean sanctuary.
"Drop your weapons! Do it now!" a voice roared through the smoke.
"Not today," Miller yelled, firing his final two rounds into the overhead water pipes.
High-pressure water instantly cascaded down the stairwell like a raging waterfall, shorting out the operatives' tactical lights and throwing the room into chaotic darkness and blinding steam.
May you like
"Now, Arthur! Go!" Miller screamed, firing his empty pistol as a club against the first advancing guard.
Arthur didn't hesitate. He grabbed Ellie tightly, scrambling behind the massive brick furnace and tearing away the rusted metal grate covering the narrow drainage tunnel. The sound of shouting, gunfire, and shattering concrete faded behind them as they plunged headfirst into the pitch-black subterranean unknown, guided only by the sound of rushing water and the steady, racing beat of a grandfather's desperate heart.
