BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

As Sofia and Vasily made their way along the wall to the corner, Lance used the flashing lights of the fire alarm to pick off one, then two, then three of the nearest soldiers with the pistol. In the confusion, none of the other soldiers even noticed what was happening.

“Evacuate,” a soldier said, and everyone in the lab began rushing for the emergency exits at the far end of the lab.

“Wait,” an officer shouted at his men, but Lance waited for the flash of light and then put a bullet in his head too.

As the chaos continued, with scientists and soldiers scrambling for the exits, Lance said to Sofia, “You ready to do this?”

“Yes,” she said, in a tone that left him in no doubt.

Lance reloaded the pistol and handed it to Vasily. “You need to keep this exit clear. That’s our way out.”

Vasily nodded.

Lance and Sofia crawled between the desks toward the first isolation pod. In all the chaos, they were able to move undetected. They made it to the first pod and Sofia opened a panel on the wall, entered a pin code into a digital display, and set a five-minute timer.

They made their way methodically to the next five pods and repeated the same steps, carefully sealing the door behind them each time.

As they left the last pod, they looked up to see a soldier standing right in front of them. The soldier was as shocked as they were, and before he’d even drawn his gun, Lance pulled his knife from its holster and slit his throat.

They were just getting back to Vasily when a torrent of flames filled each of the sealed isolation pods, destroying everything inside. The flames gave the lab an eerie orange glow and in the light, Lance saw that Vasily had shot two soldiers who’d tried to enter through the door.

He looked at Vasily and Sofia.

“Good work.”

They nodded.

“Now let’s get out of here,” Sofia said.

64

Laurel knew it was impossible. Her body no longer had the will to fight. Her limbs were so numb that even thinking of moving them made her tremble in fear.

But it was the only way.

The distance was twelve feet. Twelve feet of rope. The same amount used to hang a man.

If she could climb that rope, she could get to the ventilation shaft. And if she got to the shaft, she could get the cover off and climb into it. And if she got into the shaft, she could get out of whatever building she was in. And if she got out of the building, she could hide somewhere and avoid being found and brought back.