Chapter 9 - THE RIDGE SURROUNDED
Arthur struck the operative sharply across the jaw with the handle of the wrench, sending the man slumping unconscious onto the stone floor.
“Julian, get the kids!” Arthur shouted, turning back toward the alcove where the children were huddled in absolute terror.
Julian emerged from the shadows with Rose clutched tightly to his chest, his face white as paper. “What do we do? If they called it in, more are coming!”
“We don't use the front doors,” Arthur said decisively, grabbing a heavy canvas duffel bag from the shelf and tossing several bricks of emergency rations and water bottles inside. “There’s an old drainage culvert behind the boiler room that leads out into the ravine. Move!”
They sprinted through the basement corridor, the sound of heavy boots thudding against the floorboards above signaling that the second wave of operatives had already entered the main manor house.
Arthur shoved open the heavy iron door of the boiler room, the damp smell of stagnant river water and rusted iron hitting them instantly. He pointed toward a narrow concrete pipe half-hidden behind an old coal furnace.
“Go! Into the pipe, now!” Arthur commanded, helping Julian push Maya and Toby into the dark, echoing cylinder before following them inside.
They crawled through the damp concrete tube for what felt like an eternity, the sound of muffled shouts and heavy footsteps echoing through the foundations of the mansion behind them.
When they finally emerged from the culvert into the thick underbrush of the ravine below the ridge, the night sky was lit up by the harsh, sweeping searchlights of two unmarked helicopters hovering silently above the estate.
“They're tearing the house apart,” Julian whispered, holding Rose close as rotor wash whipped the surrounding tree branches into a frenzy.
“Let them,” Arthur said, standing tall in the mud of the ravine, his legs burning with exertion but functioning with absolute precision. “They wanted my house? They can have the empty stone.”
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“Where do we go now?” Maya asked, her teeth chattering from the cold mountain air.
“We go straight to the lion's den,” Arthur said, his eyes fixed on the distant glowing towers of Vance Bio-Tech downtown. “If we run, they'll hunt us forever. Tonight, we end this.”
