Chapter 10 - The Back-Alley Escape
The heavy crash of a rolling metal supply cart distracted the security guards for a split second, and in that microsecond of hesitation, Evelyn acted. She swung her heavy metal crutch backward, smashing it directly into the glass panel of a wall-mounted fire alarm box.
The shrill, deafening shriek of the emergency alarm tore through the hospital ward, flashing blinding strobe lights down the corridor.
“Grab her!” Marcus shouted, lunging forward, but the crowd of panicked patients and nurses surging out of the examination rooms blocked his path.
Evelyn threw her weight onto her good leg, ignoring the agonizing flare of pain in her sprained ankle, and dove through the swinging double doors marked Staff Only: Authorized Personnel. The doors slammed shut behind her, cutting off the deafening alarm into a dull, rhythmic thud.
She found herself in a sterile, brightly lit laundry labyrinth of long linen carts and towering shelving units. The smell of bleach and hot steam hung heavy in the air.
Footsteps echoed behind her—heavy, fast, and determined. Marcus was right behind her.
Evelyn dragged herself down a narrow service corridor, her bright yellow dress catching on the sharp corner of a wire laundry bin, tearing a large section of the sparkly fabric away. She didn’t stop to look back. She pushed through a pair of heavy swinging rubber doors that opened directly into the cool, damp night air of the hospital loading dock.
Rain had begun to fall, a steady, chilling drizzle that slicked the concrete ramp. A delivery van sat idling near the edge of the platform, its driver standing at the back unloading boxes of medical supplies.
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Evelyn limped desperately toward the van, her breath coming in ragged gasps. As she reached out to grab the bumper, a hand clamped down hard around her shoulder, spinning her around with brutal force.
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