Chapter 7 - The Aerosol CountdownThe room erupted into absolute bedlam.
Celeste Morgan screamed at the top of her lungs, ripping off her silk scarf and slapping it over her mouth and nose. Leonard Pike threw his body against the heavy iron shutter, punching the solid metal until his knuckles bled.
“Let us out!” Leonard shrieked, his voice cracking with sheer hysteria. “We didn't do anything! It’s Caldwell you want!”
“The neuro-toxin compound is airborne now,” Vance’s voice boomed over the speakers, cold and merciless. “In an enclosed room with restricted ventilation, full absorption through inhalation occurs within twelve minutes. Symptoms include localized muscular paralysis, followed by respiratory failure. There is no cure once inhaled.”
Maya felt a sudden, sharp tightness in her chest. Was it panic? Or was the invisible gas already working its way through her lungs?
“Thomas!” Richard bellowed, grabbing his assistant by the lapels of his suit, his face contorted in raw terror. “Override the lockdown! Use your phone! Open the shutters!”
Thomas looked down at his screen. He tapped the command sequences rapidly, but the screen flashed a glowing red error message: SYSTEM OVERRIDDEN BY EXTERNAL HOST.
“I can’t,” Thomas said, his steady voice finally giving way to a terrified whisper. “He’s locked out my access. The local server is being commanded from outside.”
“Then break the doors!” Victoria screamed, clutching her throat with both hands, her eyes wide with unadulterated fear. “Maya! Help us!”
Maya sprinted toward the service pantry door. She grabbed the heavy brass handle and threw her entire body weight against it. It didn't budge. The iron deadbolts installed as part of the estate’s high-security panic system had sealed every exit tight.
“Think, Maya, think!” she muttered to herself, her breath coming in fast, shallow gasps.
She looked at the grand room. The iron shutters over the main windows. The locked service door. The stone fireplace where the dark liquid had smashed...
The fireplace.
Maya stopped. Her eyes widened as she stared at the stone hearth behind Richard’s chair.
A draft.
May you like
A faint, steady current of air was causing the embers inside the deep brick chimney to flicker slightly.
“The chimney!” Maya yelled over the screaming of the guests. “The fireplace isn't sealed! It leads directly to the roof chimney flue!”
