CHAPTER 5 — The Underground Weapon
09:41... 09:40...
The countdown echoed through every hallway of Blackstone Prison.
Red emergency lights flashed like the heartbeat of a dying giant.
Daniel stared at Marcus in disbelief.
"Millions? What are you talking about?"
Marcus struggled to breathe, blood soaking through his prison uniform.
"Beneath Blackstone... there's a military bunker built during the Cold War."
Daniel's eyes widened.
"I've seen the blueprints. There was no bunker."
"Because every blueprint was fake."
Marcus coughed violently before continuing.
"They converted it years ago."
"Into what?"
Marcus looked directly at his son.
"A biological weapons laboratory."
Daniel felt the room spin.
"No..."
"They engineered viruses that were never supposed to exist."
The governor, still bleeding on the floor, laughed through broken teeth.
"You finally figured it out."
He wiped blood from his mouth.
"Blackstone was never built to hold prisoners."
"It was built to guard the laboratory."
The governor pressed another button on his watch.
Massive steel doors rumbled beneath the prison.
The ground shook violently.
Deep underground, rows of sealed containment chambers slowly unlocked.
Marcus closed his eyes.
"If those chambers open completely..."
"The air ventilation system will spread everything across three states."
Daniel looked at the flash drive in his hand.
"How do we stop it?"
Marcus forced himself to stand.
"The control room."
"It's directly beneath Cell Block D."
Daniel frowned.
"There is no elevator to Cell Block D."
Marcus gave a weak smile.
"There isn't one for prisoners."
He limped toward the old medical ward and pulled away a rusted hospital bed.
Hidden beneath it was a fingerprint scanner.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"You knew this was here?"
Marcus placed his bloody hand against the scanner.
ACCESS DENIED.
Marcus froze.
"No..."
The scanner displayed a message.
UNDERCOVER AGENT STATUS: TERMINATED
His government identity had been erased.
The governor burst into laughter.
"You really thought they forgot about you?"
"They deleted you twenty years ago."
Suddenly...
A female voice echoed through the hallway.
"Secondary clearance accepted."
The hidden door slowly opened.
Daniel turned toward the voice.
Standing in the darkness was a woman wearing a black tactical uniform.
Her face was familiar.
Impossible.
Marcus whispered her name as tears filled his eyes.
"Emily..."
Daniel looked from Marcus to the woman.
"You said my mother was dead."
The woman slowly removed her helmet.
"I was."
She looked at Daniel with trembling eyes.
"To the whole world."
Then she smiled through tears.
"But not to my son."
Before Daniel could move, the bunker doors deep below suddenly burst open.
A cold cloud of white vapor began rising through the ventilation shafts.
The countdown reached...
May you like
05:00
And somewhere beneath the prison, something enormous let out a terrifying metallic roar.
