Chapter 6 - The Ice CellarEthan didn't run. He set an ambush.
As the first three mercenaries burst through the lower door of the watchtower, night-vision goggles glowing green in the storm, Ethan triggered the trap. He severed the heavy iron support cables holding the tower's emergency water tank.
Tonnes of ice and frozen timber crashed down through the staircase, crushing two of the soldiers instantly.
Ethan dropped from the rafters like a phantom, knocking the third soldier to the floor. Before the man could raise his weapon, the she-wolf lunged from the shadows, her jaws locking around the tactical vest, tearing the radio from his throat.
Ethan grabbed the soldier by his collar, pinning him to the floorboards.
"Where is the entrance to Facility 09?" Ethan demanded, jamming the hot barrel of his rifle against the man's chin.
The mercenary coughed blood, laughing weakly through his mask. "You're... you're too late, Ranger. The sheriff is wiping the facility. They're flooding the lower levels with lake water to destroy the evidence... including the girl."
Ethan’s eyes widened with horror.
He didn't waste another second. He struck the soldier across the temple with the butt of his rifle, knocking him unconscious, then turned to the wolf.
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"The lake," Ethan said. "The thin ice... it wasn't a natural thaw. They're pumping heat from the subterranean reactors into the water to melt the ice and drown the evidence!"
The pieces finally fit together. The danger around the frozen lake, the hidden cracks, the sudden warm spots—it was all caused by the secret facility underneath. And right now, Ava was trapped in a chamber that was rapidly filling with icy water.
