Chapter 9 - THE STORMING OF SECTOR 4Two hours later.
Saint Matthew’s Hospital was silent, operating on a skeleton holiday staff.
In the underground research wing known as Sector 4—a restricted floor accessible only by executive bio-keycards—Victor Sterling stood behind a thick glass observation wall.
On the medical tables inside sat Emma and Olivia, strapped into leather restraints, surrounded by automated IV pumps and bone-marrow extraction needles.
"Begin the extraction sequence," Victor ordered the lead technician. "We need forty milliliters of bone marrow from each subject before the FDA audit team arrives tomorrow."
Suddenly, the sector’s main heavy blast doors buckled with a deafening metallic CRACK.
Alarm sirens began to wail in violent red bursts.
WARNING: SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 4. HAZMAT LOCKDOWN ENGAGED.
The heavy steel doors blew inward, torn off their hydraulic hinges by an industrial forklift driven straight through the security barrier.
Jack Thompson stepped out of the cab.
He was drenched in snow, soot, and blood. His eyes were cold, dead, and focused entirely on Victor Sterling. In his right hand, he held a high-powered surgical laser unit used for bone-cutting—a tool he had commandeered from the main operating theater above.
"Jack?" Victor gasped, stumbling back against the control console. "How are you alive?!"
"My mother died two hours ago, Victor," Jack said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he stepped over the ruined blast door. "Which means I have nothing left to lose."
May you like
Three armed guards raised their weapons, but Jack didn't hesitate. He slammed the emergency override switch on the main hazmat console.
Instantaneously, the room’s high-pressure fire suppression system triggered, flooding the laboratory with dense, blinding foam and freezing halon gas.
