Chapter 5 - The Price of Freedom
The reunion was shattered by the sound of sirens—not local police, but the heavy, tactical tone of base response teams. Miller hadn't been the only one watching.
"They're coming for us," Caleb said, his voice instantly shifting from broken to clinical. He stood, his movements efficient, like a machine being reactivated. "Madison, you shouldn't be here. This facility... they don't leave witnesses."
"I'm not leaving you," I said, grabbing his arm. His skin was cold, his pulse thready. "We have the data. The whole world will know what they did to you."
"The world won't care if we're dead," he replied, handing me a small drive he pulled from a hidden panel in his cell. "This is the decryption key for everything. The financial trail, the names, the locations. You have to take it. Titan will lead you out through the ventilation tunnels. I’ll buy you time."
"No!" I shouted, but he was already moving, his tactical instincts taking over. He grabbed a heavy metal pipe from the floor and kicked open the security console, locking the corridor doors behind us.
The next ten minutes were a cacophony of gunfire and the muffled, brutal sounds of a man who had been trained to survive at all costs. Caleb fought with the precision of a ghost. I followed Titan through the vents, the dog leading me with an unnatural, almost supernatural sense of direction.
May you like
We reached the edge of the perimeter fence, the cold air biting at my skin. I looked back. Through the flickering security lights, I saw Caleb standing in the doorway, his silhouette framed by the encroaching shadows of the soldiers. He looked at me one last time, a small, sad smile playing on his lips, and then he closed the heavy steel door from the inside, sealing himself in.
I wanted to run back, but Titan grabbed the hem of my jacket, his growl low and insistent. He pulled me into the forest, into the dark, away from the gunfire and the screaming sirens.
