Chapter 59 - Breach at Sub-Level Four
The locking mechanism of the tank disengaged with a deafening hydraulic hiss.
Thousands of gallons of warm amniotic fluid cascaded over the dais, sweeping across Daniel's boots. The curved front panel of the tank swung outward on heavy hinges.
Daniel lunged forward, catching the wet, shivering child as he tumbled out of the chamber, ripping the silicone respiratory tubes away with his bare hands. The boy coughed violently, expelling liquid from his lungs, gasping for air against Daniel's chest.
"I’ve got you," Daniel choked out, wrapping his coat around the freezing child. "I’ve got you, son."
On the floor, Leo fell to his knees, panting heavily, his nose bleeding onto the wet grating. "The code... Dad, the code went through. The purge stopped."
*“Purge sequence terminated,”* the automated voice confirmed. But then the tone abruptly shifted to an ear-splitting, dual-tone alarm. *“Structural integrity failure. Outer bulkhead breached. Flooding imminent in sector four.”*
Heavy explosions echoed through the platform above them. The entire floor shuddered violently, throwing Daniel and the children against the console.
"That wasn't an automated failure!" the magistrate yelled, raising his rifle toward the vault entrance. "The surface team just went dark. We have boarders!"
Footsteps pounded down the corridor—heavy, tactical boots splashing through the water that was rapidly rising across the grated floors.
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"Move!" Daniel barked, scooping the newly awakened boy into his left arm while grabbing Leo’s hand with his right. "To the secondary service lift!"
They sprinted toward the rear exit just as the heavy blast doors at the main entrance were blown off their hinges by high-grade thermite, sending a wall of flame and shrapnel tearing through the chamber.
