Ron Donaldo: Rise Of The Apex Don

Chapter 10: From the Ashes

The thick, yellow gas rolled across the floor like a deadly snake. It touched Ron’s shoes and started to climb his legs. The air tasted like bitter metal. It burned his throat.

Isabella dropped to her knees. She dropped her gun. She coughed so hard her whole body shook. Tears ran down her face.

"Ron," she choked out. "I cannot breathe. My lungs are burning."

She was a mob boss. She had faced bullets and knives without fear. But this was a slow, invisible death. She was helpless.

Ron did not panic. He did not fall to his knees. His core struggle had always been the same: his brain against the cruelty of the world. Theresa thought he was just a man. She forgot he was a master engineer. She forgot he built machines that changed the world.

"Hold your breath, Isabella," Ron said calmly. "Keep your face near the floor."

Ron ran to the largest black server tower in the center of the room. He did not look at the locked steel door. You cannot fight a steel door with your bare hands. But you can fight it with science.

He grabbed the heavy metal panel on the side of the server and ripped it off. His strong hands pulled the steel until it snapped. Inside, thick cables and glass tubes carried liquid to cool the hot machines.

Ron pulled a small knife from his pocket. He cut the thick power cables. Blue and white sparks exploded in the dark.

"What are you doing?" Isabella cried. Her voice was very weak. The gas was making her dizzy.

"These machines use liquid nitrogen and huge fans to stay cool," Ron shouted over the noise. "If I reverse the fans and boil the liquid, the pressure inside this sealed room will grow. It will grow until the room pops like a balloon."

He grabbed a red wire and a black wire. He stripped the plastic off the ends with his teeth. He twisted the bare wires together.

Instantly, the humming sound of the servers turned into a loud, angry scream.

The huge cooling fans stopped. Then, they started spinning backward. Very fast. They did not pull the hot air out. They pushed more air in. The glass cooling tubes began to boil. White steam mixed with the yellow gas.

The room became incredibly hot. The pressure pushed hard against Ron’s ears. It felt like he was deep underwater.

Creak. Groan.

Ron looked at the heavy steel blast door. The thick metal was actually starting to bend outward. The pressure was looking for a way out.

"Get down!" Ron yelled. He dove onto the floor, covering Isabella’s body with his own. "Cover your ears and open your mouth!"

Three seconds passed. Two. One.

BOOM!

The sound was deafening. The massive steel door did not just open; it ripped off its hinges. It flew down the hallway like a giant metal frisbee and smashed into the far wall.

The pressure released. A huge wave of air, steam, and fire rushed out of the room, sucking the yellow gas out with it.

"Run!" Ron pulled Isabella to her feet.

They ran out of the server room and into the long, brightly lit hallway. Red emergency lights were spinning. Loud fire alarms were ringing everywhere.

"Intruders on the second floor!" a voice yelled from the stairs.

Ron looked down the hall. Five armed security guards were running up the stairs. They raised their guns.

Ron did not stop. He looked at the end of the hallway. There was a large glass window showing the dark, black harbor outside. They were on the second floor, twenty feet above the deep water.

"Jump!" Ron ordered.

He did not wait for Isabella to answer. He grabbed her hand and ran full speed at the glass. They crossed their arms over their faces and leaped.

They crashed through the window. Shards of broken glass flew into the night air like diamonds.

They fell through the cold wind. For a second, there was silence.

CRASH.

They hit the freezing, dark water of the harbor. The cold was a massive shock. It felt like hundreds of icy needles hitting their skin. Ron sank deep into the black water. His clothes were heavy. He kicked his legs hard, fighting his way back to the top.

He broke the surface, taking a huge gasp of fresh air.

"Isabella!" he called out.

A few feet away, Isabella popped up, coughing up sea water. "I am here!" she cried.

They swam together to the muddy shore under Pier 4. They dragged themselves out of the water and collapsed on the cold, wet rocks.

For a long minute, neither of them spoke. They just lay in the mud, breathing heavily. They were cut by the glass. They were soaked and freezing. But they were alive.

Slowly, Ron sat up. He wiped the dirty water from his eyes. He opened his right hand.

Inside his palm was the small, silver hard drive. It was safe. He had held it tight the entire time. It contained the names of the Mayor, the Police Chief, and every dirty politician who had ruined his life.

Ron looked across the water. The Titan Data Center was burning. Bright orange flames shot out of the broken window on the second floor. The fire reflected perfectly on the dark water of the harbor.

Isabella sat up next to him. She shivered in the cold wind. She looked at the burning building, then at the silver hard drive in Ron's hand.

"We have the proof," Isabella whispered, wiping a cut on her cheek. "We can take this to the FBI. We can arrest them." She looked at Ron. "What now?"

Ron slowly stood up. He did not look like an engineer anymore. He did not look like an ex-husband. He wiped a drop of bright red blood from his lip. His blue eyes caught the light of the fire. They were cold, empty, and completely terrifying.

"No," Ron said. His voice was deep and dangerous. "The legal phase is over. I am done playing by their rules."

"What do you mean?" Isabella asked.

"They think they control the city," Ron said, staring at the flames. "Now, I introduce them to the Warlord."

Ron reached into his wet jacket. He pulled out the heavy, waterproof black phone Silas had given him. He stared at the keypad. He was about to dial a number he swore in prison he would never use. The number of the darkest part of the underworld.

He pressed the green button. It rang once.

"Speak," a rough voice answered.

"It is Apex," Ron said softly.

Silence fell on the line. Then, the rough voice spoke again, full of fear and respect. "My King. We have waited five years. What are your orders?"

Ron watched the fire burn the sky.

"Get the heavy armor," Ron commanded. "We are taking the city."

He hung up the phone and walked into the dark.