Chapter 6 - The Armory Corridor and the Battle for Survival
The heavy emergency doors of the armory corridor hissed shut behind them, sealing off the smoke-filled hallway.
Matteo punched the override code into the biometric keypad with frantic speed.
The thick steel vault door swung open, revealing rows of tactical gear, automated rifles, and ammunition crates.
“Grab a vest,” Luca ordered, tossing a reinforced ceramic plate carrier to Claire before strapping on his own.
Claire caught the heavy vest without hesitation and slid it over her shoulders.
“I don’t need a gun,” Claire said, adjusting the straps.
“I need a clean workspace and your medical bag.”
“You’ll get both once we clear this sector,” Luca replied, racking the slide of a customized tactical shotgun.
Suddenly, the emergency intercom crackled with a burst of static.
A cold, synthesized voice echoed through the corridor speakers.
“Luca, can you hear me?”
The voice belonged to Marco Moretti.
Luca froze, his thumb resting heavily on the safety switch of his weapon.
“Marco,” Luca growled, his voice vibrating with suppressed fury.
“I told you that your time at the top was finished,” Marco’s voice sneered through the tinny speaker.
“You thought you could rule Blackthorn House forever while sitting on a throne built on borrowed time.”
“Surrender the estate keys and walk out the front gates, and I might let your little nurse survive the night.”
“Try taking them yourself, cousin,” Luca snapped back.
“You’re hiding behind a radio transmitter because you don’t have the stomach to face me eye-to-eye.”
“Brave words for a man whose heart is failing by the minute,” Marco laughed coldly before the transmission cut out.
Luca turned to Matteo.
“They know we’re heading for the secondary exit.”
“They’re cutting off every escape route.”
“Not if we use the old drainage tunnels beneath the wine cellar,” Matteo suggested urgently.
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“The blueprints were sealed twenty years ago; Marco won’t even know they exist.”
“Lead the way,” Luca commanded, stepping out into the shadowed corridor with Claire right at his side.
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