CHAPTER 7 — "The Ghost Prisoners Walked Out of the Darkness"
The metallic roar echoed through the underground prison like thunder.
Every mercenary instinctively aimed their rifles toward the dark corridor.
Silence.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
One pair.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
Out of the darkness emerged gaunt men wearing faded prison uniforms from different decades. Some had gray hair, others limped from old injuries, and several still wore rusted identification bracelets that had long ago been removed from official records.
Victor's face turned pale.
"No..."
"They're still alive."
David couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Federal files had listed every one of these men as dead.
Yet here they stood.
Forgotten.
Hidden beneath Blackridge for years.
One elderly prisoner stepped forward, shielding his eyes from the bright lights.
"I've waited nineteen years to see daylight again."
Another whispered,
"They told our families we died."
"They buried empty coffins."
The mercenaries hesitated.
They had expected frightened captives.
Instead, they faced men who had spent years surviving in darkness.
Deputy Warden Hale's smile vanished.
"Fire!"
The first burst of gunfire shattered the silence.
Bullets ricocheted off concrete pillars as David tackled an elderly prisoner to the ground.
Victor roared,
"Move!"
Without thinking, he grabbed a fallen riot shield and threw himself between the gunfire and the defenseless prisoners.
The shield rattled under the impact.
David stared in disbelief.
The man who once ruled through fear was risking his own life for strangers.
One of Hale's mercenaries charged David with a combat knife.
David sidestepped at the last second, redirected the attacker's momentum, and disarmed him with the same calm precision that had shocked Victor days earlier.
Within seconds, the knife clattered across the floor.
Another attacker rushed in.
Then another.
David never lost control.
Every movement was measured.
Every strike stopped the threat without unnecessary brutality.
Victor shouted across the chamber,
"David!"
"They're trying to reach the evidence room!"
David turned.
Behind Hale, two mercenaries were carrying steel cases labeled with prison records.
Thousands of names.
Thousands of crimes.
Thousands of victims.
If those files disappeared...
The truth would disappear with them.
David sprinted after them.
Hale smiled coldly.
"You're too late."
He pressed another button on the remote.
Warning sirens erupted.
A computerized voice echoed through the underground complex.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated."
The entire facility began to shake.
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Concrete dust rained from the ceiling.
The underground prison was about to bury every secret forever.
