Chapter 20 - The Lion's Stand
"They’re through the first barrier," Vance said, checking the tactical readouts. "We have three minutes before they breach the inner vault."
"Sterling, does this bunker have an auxiliary exit?" I demanded, turning to the trembling scientist.
"An old drainage culvert beneath the lower waste tanks," Sterling stammered, pulling a heavy iron key from his pocket. "It leads out into the ravine half a mile south. But it’s narrow, steep, and completely unlit."
"Vance, take Lily and Sterling through the culvert," I ordered, grabbing a tactical shotgun and two spare bandoliers from Sterling’s weapons locker.
Vance grabbed my arm, her gaze piercing. "David, you can't hold off an entire tactical team alone. They have body armor, thermal imaging, and automatic weapons. It’s suicide."
"I’m not staying here to die, Vance," I said, racking a shell into the shotgun with a sharp, metallic snap. "I’m staying here to buy you time. If they get through this door without resistance, they’ll catch you in that tunnel within five minutes. Lily will die if she doesn't get that enzyme. You get her to the ravine, take the secondary vehicle Sterling keeps hidden, and make for the rendezvous."
"Dad?"
A tiny, weak voice broke through the tension. Lily had opened her eyes. She reached out, her small fingers brushing against my jacket sleeve. "Don't leave me, Dad. Please."
I knelt down, resting my forehead against hers. I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing the calmest, warmest smile I could muster onto my face. "I am never leaving you, Lily. Even when you can't see me, I am right here. You remember what I told you on your sixth birthday?"
Tears slipped down her flushed cheeks. *"A father’s love is a shield that never breaks,"* she recited softly, her voice trembling.
"That's right, baby," I whispered, kissing her hot forehead. "Nobody breaks the shield. Go with Vance. I will find you. I promise."
Vance gently lifted Lily into her arms, nodding at me with a profound, unspoken respect. "Don't you dare die, Evans. Lily needs her father."
"Move!" I barked.
Sterling unlocked the floor hatch beneath the waste tanks, and the three of them disappeared into the dark shaft, sealing the iron cover behind them.
I stood alone in the center of the subterranean lab. I racked another shell into the chamber, overturned a massive steel workbench to create a barricade, and aimed directly at the blast doors.
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Thirty seconds later, the hydraulic hinges blew inward with a concussive roar.
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