Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Thomas fell to his knees in front of the cage.
"Toby... oh God, Toby..."
Through the rusted iron bars, Thomas saw his eldest son. The eight-year-old boy who had gone missing was now ten. His dark hair was long and matted, his skin pale as marble, his clothes hanging off his malnourished frame. But his eyes—those same deep green eyes—were undeniable.
"Daddy... you came..." Toby sobbed, pushing his face against the cold metal. "I prayed... I prayed you would find me..."
Thomas thrust his hands through the bars, pulling his boy close, crying hysterically as he kissed Toby's forehead, his cheeks, his hands. "I'm here, baby. Daddy's here. I'm never letting you go again."
Goliath approached the cage. The massive dog pressed his snout against the iron bars.
Toby looked at the hound, his tear-filled eyes going wide. "Goliath...? You're alive... you saved me again..."
"He brought me to you, son," Thomas said, his hands working furiously on the cage's heavy padlock with his iron crowbar. "He dragged us all the way here."
CRACK!
The lock snapped. Thomas ripped the door open and pulled Toby into his arms, lifting the light, frail boy off the ground and holding him like he was made of glass.
Around them, the other children in the cages began to cry, reaching their small hands through the bars, pleading for help.
"Please mister! Don't leave us!" "Take us with you!" "The doctor is coming!"
Thomas looked around at the twenty other locked cages. His heart shattered. He couldn't leave them. He couldn't let these monsters destroy any more lives.
"Toby, can you walk?" Thomas asked.
"I... I think so," Toby whimpered.
"Take this," Thomas said, handing Toby the keycard he had stolen from the guard. "Go to the end of the hall. Press the green button to open all the outer doors. I'm going to smash these locks."
Thomas began swinging the crowbar at the cage locks, shattering them one by one. The children poured out into the hallway, crying, holding onto each other in disbelief.
Suddenly, a cold, metallic voice echoed through the PA speakers above:
"Fascinating. The grieving father actually made it inside."
Thomas stopped. He looked up at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling.
"Who are you?!" Thomas raged.
"I am Dr. Mercer," the voice replied smoothly, chillingly calm. "You've ruined a forty-million-dollar shipment, Mr. Miller. But I'm afraid you won't be leaving with your prize. Look behind you."
The heavy steel blast door at the entrance of Sector 4 slammed shut with a thunderous BANG!
Heavy iron gates lowered over the ventilation shafts. The entire room was sealed tight.
Through the reinforced glass of the observation window above the room, a tall, gray-haired man in a immaculate black suit appeared. Beside him stood six heavy mercenaries clad in body armor, carrying submachine guns.
"You see, Thomas," Dr. Mercer said through the intercom, watching them like rats in a maze. "Oakhaven was just our breeding ground. Mayor Vance and Sheriff Cobb were small-time trash, but they provided excellent material. You should be proud. Your son Toby possessed remarkable psychological resilience. He survived two years in our program."
"I'll kill you!" Thomas screamed, slamming his fist against the glass.
"No, you won't," Mercer smiled thinly. "Because in sixty seconds, nerve gas will flood that room. You, your son, and that mutt will sleep forever. A tragic end to a desperate rescue."
Above the cages, heavy valves began to hiss. A thick, yellow-green vapor began pouring into the room from the ceiling vents.
The children began to scream in terror, coughing and falling to the floor.
"DADDY!" Toby cried, clutching Thomas’s leg.
Thomas threw his body against the reinforced blast door, swinging his crowbar with all his strength, but the metal didn't even dent. "NO! NO! OPEN THE DOOR!"
Goliath didn't panic.
The black hound looked up at the yellow gas pouring from the ceiling. Then he turned his head, his sharp eyes locking onto something in the corner of the room: a thick, heavy fuel line feeding the main power generator behind the drywall.
Goliath let out a low, gut-wrenching growl. He didn't run to the door. He didn't try to hide.
He ran to the back wall, leapt onto a metal shelf, and slammed his entire body weight into the exposed gas pipeline.
CRACK!
The iron pipe ruptured. Raw, volatile methane gas roared out of the break, filling the room, mixing with the toxic nerve gas.
Dr. Mercer’s eyes went wide behind the glass window. "What is that beast doing?! STOP HIM!"
Thomas realized instantly what Goliath was doing. The dog was creating an explosion to blow the blast doors off their hinges.
"GOLIATH, NO!" Thomas screamed. "YOU'LL DIE!"
Goliath turned his head back toward Thomas and Toby one last time. His dark eyes were calm. Peaceful. The heavy chain around his neck hung loose. He had fulfilled his promise. He had found the boy. He had brought the father.
Goliath snapped his jaws down on a hanging high-voltage electrical cable near the ruptured pipe.
SPARK!
"DOWN!" Thomas roared, throwing his body over Toby and three nearby children, shielding them with his back.
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BOOOOOOM!
The world exploded into blinding white light and thunderous fire.
