Chapter 29 - The Breach at Sub-Level 4
The double oak doors of St. Jude’s slammed shut as Margaret, Thomas, and their captive Clara tumbled inside, barring the iron latch just as heavy caliber rounds tore through the ancient wood, splintering oak into deadly shrapnel.
Inside the vaulted sanctuary, Noah was huddled beneath the altar, his hands clamped tightly over his ears. Ethan was standing over him, his shirt torn, clutching an iron candlestick like a club.
“Clara?” Ethan gasped, his eyes wide as he saw his wife in restraints, covered in blood and ash.
“Save the reunion, Ethan!” Thomas roared, dropping behind the stone communion rail and returning fire through the fractured stained glass. “We have at least six black-ops operators surrounding the perimeter. They have thermal scopes, heavy armor, and no rules of engagement!”
“The crypt,” Clara whispered, struggling against her zip-ties. “Under the altar. There’s an underground canal used for bootlegging during Prohibition. It runs under the river and exits into the abandoned rail yard on the south shore.”
Margaret grabbed Clara by the throat, pinning her against the marble baptismal font. “Why should we trust a single word out of your mouth?”
“Because they’re going to burn this chapel to the ground!” Clara shrieked, tears of sheer panic finally breaking through her sociopathic facade. “Look at the windows, Mother! Look at the reflection!”
Margaret glanced up at the clerestory windows.
Outside, two operatives were mounting high-pressure thermobaric canisters onto tripod launchers aimed directly at the chapel’s stained glass. A single detonation inside the enclosed stone structure would consume all oxygen in seconds, collapsing the ceiling and incinerating everyone within.
“Ethan, lift the altar slab!” Margaret ordered, her voice cutting through the panic like a battle horn.
Ethan and Thomas threw their weight against the heavy marble altar, sliding it aside to reveal a narrow stone spiral staircase spiraling down into pitch-black subterranean darkness.
“Get Noah down! Go!” Ethan shoved his son into the opening, then turned to grab Margaret.
“Take Clara,” Margaret commanded. “She’s our only bargaining chip if they follow us down.”
Thomas fired his last three rounds, shattering the optics of the lead contractor outside, and plunged down the staircase behind Ethan.
Margaret grabbed Clara by her collar, dragging her down the steps just as the first thermobaric rocket crashed through the stained glass of the rose window above.
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The world vanished in a catastrophic roar of orange flame, concussive pressure, and flying stone.
***
