Chapter 48 - Blood and Code
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I dove across the open floor, sliding behind a row of metal filing cabinets just as bullets tore through the air where I had been standing. I grabbed Jax by the collar of his jacket and dragged him brutally toward the open floor grate.
"I've got you!" I yelled over the deafening gunfire.
"My bag! Get my bag!" Jax cried out, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
I grabbed the heavy backpack full of hard drives, shoved it down the hole, and pushed Jax in after it. "Elena! We are moving!"
Elena threw a smoke grenade into the center of the warehouse. A thick, blinding cloud of grey smoke instantly filled the room, obscuring the mercenaries' line of sight. She sprinted through the haze, sliding feet-first into the tunnel just as the tactical team breached our position.
I jumped in last, grabbing the heavy iron grate and pulling it shut over our heads.
We waded waist-deep through the freezing, foul-smelling water of the Oakland storm drains. The echo of heavy boots searching the warehouse above us reverberated through the concrete pipes.
"Keep moving," I whispered fiercely, holding my pistol at the ready.
We navigated the labyrinth of dark tunnels for what felt like hours, finally emerging through an outflow pipe that emptied onto a secluded, muddy embankment near the San Francisco Bay. The sun was fully up now.
Jax collapsed into the mud, groaning as blood soaked through his shirt. Elena immediately went to work, ripping a strip of fabric from her jacket to tie a tourniquet around his arm.
"You saved my life," Jax coughed, shivering in the cold morning air. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, metallic thumb drive. "While the Architect was monologuing, I managed to run a reverse trace on his quantum signal."
I grabbed the drive. "Did you get a location?"
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"Not a standard address," Jax panted. "The signal is bouncing off a decommissioned military satellite and routing directly to a deep-sea oil rig in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. International waters. That's his fortress."
I looked out across the grey water of the bay. We finally had a target.
