Chapter 9: The Loading Bay Ambush
The rear loading bay was a cavernous concrete dock shadowed by massive iron garage doors that opened directly onto an overgrown access road. The cold rain blew in through the gaps in the corrugated metal, dampening the concrete floor and making it dangerously slick.
Elena pushed open the side door of the rusted white delivery van, the rusted hinges groaning in protest. She reached inside the cab, jamming the master key into the ignition and turning it twice. The diesel engine sputtered, coughed black smoke into the confined space of the bay, and finally roared to life with a deep, vibrating rumble that shook the steering wheel.
"Get in, quickly!" Elena yelled over the roar of the motor, shifting the heavy gear lever into neutral.
Arthur opened the side passenger door, carefully lifting Lily inside and strapping her securely into the worn bench seat with an old lap belt. Before he could climb in behind her, a blinding beam of white light suddenly cut through the gloom of the loading bay.
Headlights. Two heavy-duty black SUVs had broken through the perimeter fence, their massive tires crushing the rusted barbed wire as they roared directly toward the loading dock, high beams blindingly bright in the damp night air.
"Ambush!" Elena shouted from the driver's seat, slamming her foot down on the accelerator.
The delivery van surged forward just as a volley of heavy impacts struck the rear metal doors. Gunfire. The sharp, deafening cracks of silenced rounds pierced the air, puncturing the sheet metal of the van with a flurry of sparks and tearing through the wooden pallets stacked near the exit.
May you like
"Keep your head down, Lily!" Arthur yelled, diving into the passenger seat and pulling the heavy door shut as the van rocketed out of the loading bay and onto the muddy access road.
The SUVs pursued them aggressively, their powerful engines whining as they tried to box the delivery van in against the perimeter wall. Elena gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity, her eyes fixed on the narrow exit gate ahead. She didn't brake; instead, she slammed the van directly into the rusted chain-link gate, sending metal posts snapping like toothpicks as they broke through to the open highway beyond.
