Kill the Truth

Chapter 7: Floodwater

The strobe light ripped through the darkness. It was like a powerful flashlight that turned the server room into a crazy confusing mess.

Damian didn't shoot. He didn't have a gun.. He had surprise on his side and he was desperate to survive.

The lead cleaner, blinded by the light shining through his night-vision goggles fired wildly.

The bullets hit the servers making sparks and coolant spill everywhere.

Damian quickly got low and out of the way sliding on the floor.

He crashed into the cleaner's knees making him fall backward.

Before the cleaner could hit the ground Damian used his combat knife finding the gap between the cleaner's heavy chest plate and collar.

The blade went in deep.

The cleaner gasped, his finger slipping off the trigger.

Damian didn't wait to see if the cleaner was okay.

He took the cleaner's gun. Rolled to the side as the other cleaners started firing at where he was last seen.

The strobe light kept flashing making the cleaners look like they were jumping around.

Damian got up behind a row of computer parts.

He aimed with the gun he took not at the cleaners' chest. At his joints.

He fired.

The gun kicked back.

Two cleaners fell away as the bullets broke their kneecaps and hit their unprotected sides.

They screamed as they fell into the spilled coolant.

The other three cleaners got smarter.

They took off their broken goggles. Formed a defensive line moving back toward the big steel doors.

They threw a flashbang grenade into the room.

Damian covered his face and ears.

The grenade went off.

The shockwave hit him hard making his ears ring.

The strobe light. The room went back to the emergency lights.

Through the ringing, Damian heard the cleaners moving toward him.

They were checking the room, row by row.

Damian checked his gun.

He didn't have bullets left.

His chest. His makeshift wound was bleeding a lot.

He needed a distraction.

He looked up at the ceiling.

The big fiber-optic cables and nitrogen cooling lines were above the cleaners' path.

Damian fired a bullet into the main nitrogen pipe.

The pipe burst and a thick cloud of freezing vapor filled the room.

The cleaners stopped, their special vision not working in the fog.

Damian used the fog as cover.

He climbed over a server. Dropped down behind the cleaners.

He was in their spot.

He fired twice taking down the cleaner at the back.

The last two cleaners spun around firing wildly into the fog.

Damian dove forward tackling one cleaner to the ground.

He took the cleaner's gun.

He rolled onto his back just as the last cleaner came out of the fog gun pointed at Damian's chest.

They both fired.

Damian felt a blow to his shoulder spinning him backward.

His bullet hit the cleaner's throat.

The cleaner fell, gurgling.

The vault was silent.

Damian sat against a server, panting.

He looked at his shoulder.

The bullet went through his muscle. Not the bone.

He was bleeding a lot.

He forced himself to stand gritting his teeth against the pain.

He took the cleaners' ammo and medical kit.

He injected himself with morphine feeling the pain

The Architect's final trap was just starting.

A loud groan echoed through the vault.

It wasn't machinery.

It was the sound of pressure.

Water started bubbling up from the floor vents.

The Architect was flooding the level.

The ocean was breaching the perimeter.

The water rose fast swirling around Damian's ankles.

He limped toward the vault doors stepping over the cleaners' bodies.

The corridor outside had flashing lights and alarms.

A computerized voice echoed through the speakers.

Warning. Sub-level compromised. Bulkhead containment protocols initiated. Emergency blast doors sealing in three minutes.

Damian started to run.

He moved with a limp his boots splashing through the rising water.

He followed the emergency arrows to the stairwell.

The water was already at his shins, freezing and heavy with rust and salt.

If the blast doors sealed before he reached the levels he would drown.

He turned a corner. Saw the stairwell entrance.

Two Blackgate guards were trying to open the doors.

They heard him splashing and spun around shotguns raised.

They saw a man in an inmate uniform with a tactical gun.

"Drop the weapon!" the younger guard screamed.

Damian didn't slow down.

"I am not the enemy!" he shouted.

"The doors are jammed because the power grid is shorting out from the flood! Step aside!"

He raised his gun at the locking mechanism and fired, destroying it.

The doors swung loose.

"Go!" Damian yelled, pushing the guards through the threshold.

They scrambled up the stairs just as the bulkheads slammed down sealing the levels.

Damian collapsed onto the landing, water dripping from his clothes.

He was safe, from the flood. Trapped in a prison falling apart.

The older guard kept his shotgun leveled at Damian's chest.

"You are the terrorist, Damian Cross. You blew up the bunker in the city."

Damian looked up pale and drawn.

He tossed his gun onto the floor and held up his empty hands.

"The men who want me dead just flooded your prison. They are going to kill everyone to cover their tracks. You have a radio. Call the warden. Tell him to evacuate the blocks."

The radio is dead the younger guard stammered.

Damian closed his eyes.

The Architect had thought of everything.

"Take me to the warden's office " Damian said, pushing himself to his feet.

The older guard growled.

"Then shoot me " Damian replied, his voice hollow.

". If you do you will never get off this island. I am the one who knows how to bypass the localized security grid. Take me to the warden."

The older guard stared at him weighing the blood-soaked inmate against the reality of the groaning metal bulkheads.

He slowly lowered the shotgun.

"Walk in front of us " the guard ordered.

"Keep your hands where I can see them."

They climbed for ten minutes. They walked past the flooded parts. They entered the office block. The emergency lights made shadows on the floor. The prison was in chaos. People in cells were screaming. They were scared of the alarms and the shaking building. A few guards were running around. They were trying to open electronic gates with crowbars.

They reached the warden's office. The door was locked. Damian didn't wait. He kicked the door open. He stepped inside.

The office was empty. The warden had probably run to the roof to get out. Damian went to the desk. He swept papers and monitors to the floor. He found a locked panel. He used his knife to open it. There was a red phone inside. It was a line to the mainland.

He picked up the phone. He heard a dial tone. He dialed a number he had memorized. The line rang twice.

"Damian?" a voice said. It was Elara. She sounded scared and upset. "Is that you? I lost your signal. The prison grid is down. There's a problem at Blackgate."

"I am alive " Damian said. He was leaning on the desk. "The virus worked. The main computer is dead.. The Architect flooded the basement."

"Damian listen " Elara said. She was breathing heavily. "When you put in the drive the Architect talked to you. He thought his connection was secret.. Because the virus was already working his protection was weak. I found out where he is."

"Where is he?" Damian asked. He gripped the phone tightly.

"He is not in Ashbourne " Elara said. "He is at an estate on the northern cliffs. It is fifty miles outside the city. The property belongs to a company.. The security grid matches the bunker you destroyed. It is him."

"Give me the coordinates " Damian said.

Elara gave him the longitude and latitude. "I am sending them to a GPS device.. Damian how are you going to get there? You are stuck on an island. The water is freezing. The authorities are sending a team to catch you."

"I am going to catch a ride " Damian said. He looked out the window. He saw three boats coming to the island. They had searchlights on.

"I will contact you when I reach the mainland " Damian said. He hung up the phone.

He turned to the two guards standing in the doorway. They were looking at the boats.

"They are here to save us " one guard said.

"They are not here to save you " Damian said. "They are here to catch me. If they find you with me they will think you are a problem. They will shoot you."

"What do we do?" the older guard asked.

"Give me your uniform " Damian said.

Ten minutes later Damian walked out of the office block. He was wearing the guard's uniform. He had a riot helmet on. He carried a shotgun.

He walked to the gates. The federal agents were coming in. They had rifles.

"Area secure!" Damian shouted. "The lower levels are flooded! The warden is trapped! We need help!"

The agents didn't question him. They followed him.

Damian walked to the pier. He saw the boats. He got on one of them. The pilot was alone.

"Hey!" the pilot said. "You can't be here."

Damian didn't talk. He hit the pilot with the shotgun. The pilot fell.

Damian cut the ropes. He started the boat. It sped away, from the island.

Damian looked back at Blackgate Penitentiary. The lower levels were underwater. The emergency lights were dying.

He turned north. He was. Tired.. He had a boat and a plan. He had a target.

The Architect was waiting.