Chapter 6

Alison

The helicopter rotors sliced through the Arctic silence like death's own scythe.

I clutched the baby against my chest. His breathing was so shallow I could barely detect it. Shit, this kid was fading fast!

Caitlin rose to her feet, a smug grin splitting her face. Blood trickled down her forehead, but she couldn't care less. "Colonel Williams has been waiting outside this whole time."

A frigid male voice boomed through a loudspeaker: "Alison Black, you are surrounded. Surrender now and hand over the experiment data."

Experiment data? I let out a bitter laugh. These psychopaths still thought I was here for their goddamn files.

"I don't have your fucking data!" I shouted out the window. "I just want my sister's baby!"

Williams's voice hardened. "Very well. Capture Alison alive. Eliminate the others."

Others? Grant's corpse was sprawled at my feet. Who else did he mean?

Caitlin snatched up a walkie-talkie. "Sir, she doesn't have the data. It's all in the underground lab."

Underground lab... that's where Madison had hidden everything. All the records of their atrocities. No way in hell could I let them get their hands on that.

I tightened my grip on the baby and backed toward the stairs. "You want the evidence? Come and get it!"

"Sir, she's heading for the basement!" Caitlin swung her gun toward me.

But I was quicker. Ten years in the psych ward had taught me one rule: never let an enemy take aim without consequences. I rolled down the stairs as her bullet smashed into the wall behind me, sending stone fragments flying.

"Don't be scared, little guy," I whispered to the infant. "Auntie's got you."

I needed to reach the basement. That's where my traps were. Where I knew every inch of the layout.

I bolted down the stairs with the thunder of boots following close behind. At least ten men—all heavily armed. My shoulder was still leaking blood, and I was nearly out of ammo. But giving up wasn't an option. Not now.

Basement Level 3. Red emergency lights bathed the lab in a hellish glow. The place was a labyrinth—and only Madison and I knew all the hidden passages and exits.

"Fuck! She poured acid across the hallway!" A soldier's scream echoed from behind.

Good. My first trap had worked. But it would only buy me a few minutes at most.

I squeezed into the ventilation duct with the baby, crawling toward the weapons storage room.

"Only two bullets left..." I checked my gun's magazine, my chest tightening. "What now?"

I flipped on the security monitors. Williams was in the ventilation control room. What the hell was that bastard planning?

"Activate the neurotoxin. Everything here disappears in ten minutes." Williams's icy voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

Neurotoxin?!

I watched the feed. A technician hesitated. "Sir, this toxin will seep into the groundwater..."

"Collateral damage. What happened here can never get out." Williams didn't even flinch.

"This psycho is gonna kill the whole damn town!" I snarled. They weren't just hunting me and the baby—they wanted to erase all evidence, even if it meant poisoning innocent civilians!

I had to stop them!

I sprinted to the biosecurity control room. There was an emergency alarm system there. If I could trigger a biohazard alert, I could force outside intervention!

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. They'd picked up my trail.

"She knows the layout. Change tactics." Williams barked over the walkie-talkie.

I crouched behind a lab table with the baby, watching them search in teams. Three men per unit, equipped with thermal scanners. The net was closing.

I had to risk it.

I waited until they turned away, then made a dash for the control room. Bullets whizzed past my head. I rolled to dodge them, finally reaching the control panel.

"Biohazard breach! All personnel evacuate immediately! Repeat—evacuate now!"

A piercing alarm wailed through the facility as red warning lights flashed frantically.

"Goddammit! She triggered the security system!" Williams's furious roar came through the walkie-talkie.

The automatic lockdown kicked in. Heavy security doors began descending, trapping several soldiers in the toxin zone.

"Sir, the toxin's spreading! Requesting immediate evacuation!" Someone hacked into the walkie-talkie, desperate.

"Williams, explain this biohazard alert now!" A stern voice from military command crackled over the radio.

I smiled coldly at the panicking soldiers on the monitor. "Now we're even."

I used the chaos to make my way to the weapons storage room.

Three soldiers tried to block my path, but in the narrow hallway, their numbers meant nothing. I took down two with my last bullets, then grappled with the third.

He outweighed me—but I was fighting for more than just myself. I sank my teeth into his throat, and blood sprayed across my face.

"This is for my sister! For all the innocent people!" I grabbed his weapon and gas mask, then pressed the baby tight against my chest.

"Hang in there, baby. We're almost out..." But the infant's breathing was growing fainter. His tiny face had turned ashen.

Shit, he wasn't going to last much longer!

"She took out three of our men! This woman's more dangerous than we anticipated!" Caitlin screamed over the walkie-talkie.

"Take her down! Dead or alive—just get her!" Williams sounded frantic.

I looked at the dying baby in my arms, remembering Madison's final words: Trust your gut. Don't trust anyone.

"Sis," I brushed the baby's cheek. "Lend me some luck..."

The alarm continued to blare, but I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Williams wouldn't back down. He had manpower, he had firepower. All I had was a stolen rifle, a few magazines, and a baby barely clinging to life.

But I wasn't giving up. Not ever.