Chapter 12 — THE TOMB
Deep within the Appalachian Mountains, Rachel awoke to absolute darkness.
The gentle hum of the Alpha Bunker’s air filtration system, a constant white noise since she arrived, had completely stopped. The sudden silence was suffocating.
"Mommy?" Lucy's voice trembled from the bed beside her. "Why is it so dark?"
Rachel’s heart hammered against her ribs. She reached out, finding her daughter's small hand and squeezing it tightly. "It's okay, baby. The power probably just went out because of the storm."
She knew that was a lie. The Alpha Bunker had three redundant geothermal generators. It didn't lose power from a storm.
The heavy metal door to their quarters opened, and the red glow of a chemical light stick cut through the darkness. Sarah, the combat medic, stepped inside. She held a suppressed Sig Sauer pistol in her right hand.
"Rachel," Sarah said quietly, her voice stripped of any bedside manner. "We have a massive problem."
Rachel swung her legs out of the bed, her protective instincts overriding her exhaustion. "What’s happening?"
"The main blast doors are still sealed, but we just lost all external communications. The mainframe is reading a complete system override," Sarah explained, moving to the corner of the room to lock the deadbolt. "Someone used an administrative bypass from the outside. They shut down the power, and they just opened the primary exhaust vents on the surface."
"Can they get in through the vents?" Rachel asked, terror creeping into her throat.
"No, the shafts are too small for a person," Sarah shook her head. "But they don't need to come in. They are pumping heavy carbon monoxide into the ventilation system. They are trying to smoke us out. We have less than twenty minutes before the air in here becomes toxic."
Rachel felt a wave of dizziness, though whether from panic or the beginning of the gas, she couldn't tell. She looked at Lucy, who was clutching a stuffed bear, watching the adults with wide, terrified eyes.
They want us to open the blast doors. They want us to walk right into their hands.
"Where is the guard?" Rachel asked.
"Corporal Jenkins is at the main console trying to manually reboot the air scrubbers, but it’s a hardware lockout," Sarah said.
Rachel closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe. She was the daughter of Admiral Thomas Hale. She had grown up reading tactical manuals instead of fairy tales. She knew how this bunker was designed.
"The blueprints," Rachel said suddenly, her eyes snapping open. "Dad designed the retrofits for this bunker ten years ago. It’s built on top of an old 1950s fallout shelter. The new vents are compromised, but the old mechanical shafts... they bypass the digital system entirely."
Sarah looked at her, a spark of hope in the red light. "Where is the access panel?"
"Sub-level three," Rachel said, grabbing her shoes. "The water filtration room. If we can get into the old shaft, it leads to a service hatch two miles down the mountain. But we have to move now."
A sudden, deafening BOOM echoed through the bunker.
The floor shook violently, knocking Rachel to her knees. Dust rained down from the concrete ceiling.
"They aren't waiting for the gas!" Sarah yelled over the ringing in their ears. "They're blowing the main blast doors with C4!"
Rachel scrambled to her feet, scooping Lucy into her arms despite the heavy ache in her pregnant belly.
"Move!" Rachel screamed.
They bolted out of the quarters and into the main corridor just as a second explosion rocked the facility. The heavy steel of the primary entrance groaned and buckled inward under the immense pressure of the shaped charges.
Down the hall, Corporal Jenkins raised his rifle, taking cover behind the command console. "Go! Get to sub-level three! I'll hold them off!"
"Jenkins, come with us!" Sarah yelled.
"Get the VIPs out of here, Doc! That's an order!" Jenkins roared back, racking the bolt of his weapon.
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Rachel cast one last look at the brave young soldier. She knew he was buying them time with his life. She turned and ran toward the emergency stairwell, holding her daughter tighter than she ever had before.
Behind them, the blast doors blew wide open, and the staccato roar of automatic gunfire filled the bunker.
