Chapter 11 - FOUR MINUTES TO LIVE
“Everybody move!”
Lucien grabbed Ava and ran.
Adrian rushed to Evelyn, helping her stand.
Charles struggled behind them, one hand pressed against his gunshot wound.
The first blast hit somewhere below.
The floor jumped.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Ava screamed into Lucien’s shoulder.
“It’s okay.”
It was a lie.
Nothing was okay.
But she needed his voice more than she needed the truth.
“Daddy’s got you.”
They reached the main exit.
Locked.
Lucien kicked the door.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Adrian reached the control panel.
“Electronic lock.”
Lucien looked at the countdown screen.
03:57.
“Open it.”
“I’m trying.”
Charles leaned against the wall.
“There’s another exit.”
Everyone turned.
Lucien stared.
“You might have mentioned that earlier.”
Charles breathed heavily.
“Underground service tunnel.”
“Where?”
Charles pointed toward the rear corridor.
“Sublevel three.”
Adrian shook his head.
“That section collapsed years ago.”
“Part of it.”
Charles looked at Lucien.
“There’s still a maintenance passage.”
A boom shook the building.
03:31.
Lucien picked Ava up.
“Go.”
They ran.
Behind them, Victor stepped from the broken laboratory.
He had recovered the gun.
“Lucien!”
Lucien kept moving.
Victor followed.
“You can’t leave with her!”
Lucien turned while running.
“Watch me.”
Victor fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Lucien.
Adrian pushed Evelyn around a corner.
“Move!”
They reached the stairwell.
Charles stopped.
His face had turned gray.
Lucien looked back.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t make it.”
“You’re coming.”
Charles shook his head.
“Not fast enough.”
Lucien stared at the man he had hated all night.
The father who lied to him.
Controlled him.
Used him.
And now stood bleeding in a dying building.
“Then I carry you.”
Charles almost smiled.
“You always were stubborn.”
Lucien handed Ava to Adrian.
“Take her downstairs.”
Ava grabbed his shirt.
“No!”
“Ava.”
“No, Daddy!”
Lucien crouched.
Her face broke him.
“I’m right behind you.”
“Promise?”
Lucien looked into her eyes.
“I promise.”
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
“Don’t disappear.”
“I won’t.”
Adrian pulled her away.
Lucien turned back to Charles.
“Come on.”
He hooked Charles’s arm over his shoulder.
They started down.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
02:46.
Charles laughed weakly.
“You really should leave me.”
“Shut up.”
“Lucien.”
“I said shut up.”
Another explosion.
The stairwell lights died.
Emergency lamps switched on.
Charles nearly collapsed.
Lucien caught him.
“You spent your whole life telling me to be stronger.”
He dragged him forward.
“Now you don’t get to quit.”
Charles looked at him.
For once, there was no arrogance in his eyes.
Only regret.
“I was a terrible father.”
Lucien said nothing.
“I thought if I made you hard enough, nobody could hurt you.”
Lucien looked at him.
“You were the one hurting me.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Those two words stopped Lucien for half a second.
It was the first apology Charles had ever given without defending himself.
Then footsteps came from above.
Victor.
Lucien pushed Charles down the stairs.
“Move.”
Victor appeared at the landing.
Gun raised.
“Leave him.”
Lucien stepped between them.
Victor laughed.
“You’re willing to die for Charles now?”
“No.”
Lucien stared at him.
“I’m refusing to become you.”
Victor fired.
Lucien pulled Charles down.
The bullet sparked against the railing.
Lucien grabbed a fire extinguisher and hurled it upward.
Victor ducked.
Lucien charged.
The two men collided on the stairs.
Victor punched him.
Lucien slammed him into the railing.
Victor grabbed Lucien’s throat.
“You think Ava chose you?”
Lucien drove his knee into Victor’s stomach.
“She did.”
“She’s four!”
“She knows enough.”
Lucien punched him.
“She knows who makes her feel safe.”
Another punch.
“And it isn’t you.”
Victor staggered.
Lucien kicked the gun away.
It slid down the stairs.
Charles grabbed it.
Victor looked at him.
Charles aimed.
This time, Lucien stopped him.
“No.”
Charles stared.
“He’ll come after her again.”
“Then we stop him without becoming him.”
Victor laughed.
“You really believe that?”
The timer sounded.
01:30.
Lucien looked down the stairwell.
“Move!”
They left Victor behind and continued down.
Sublevel three was almost completely dark.
Adrian stood near a rusted service door.
“It’s jammed!”
Lucien put Charles down.
Together, he and Adrian pulled.
Nothing.
01:04.
Evelyn looked around.
“There has to be another way.”
Charles pointed toward an old electrical box.
“Manual release.”
Adrian ripped the panel open.
Wires.
Switches.
No labels.
“Which one?”
Charles stared.
Then hesitated.
“You don’t remember?” Lucien demanded.
“It’s been eleven years.”
00:47.
Ava began crying.
Lucien knelt beside her.
“Look at me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Are we gonna die?”
Every adult in the hallway went silent.
Lucien held her face gently.
“No.”
He didn’t know if that was true.
But he said it like it was.
“Not tonight.”
00:35.
Adrian yanked one wire.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Victor’s voice came from the darkness behind them.
“Blue.”
Everyone turned.
Victor stood at the end of the corridor.
No gun.
No smile.
Just exhaustion.
“The blue wire releases the tunnel door.”
Adrian stared.
“Why should I trust you?”
Victor looked at Ava.
“Because I don’t want her dead.”
00:22.
Adrian grabbed the blue wire.
Lucien stopped him.
“What if he’s lying?”
00:18.
Victor looked directly at Lucien.
“If I wanted her dead, I would’ve left five minutes ago.”
00:14.
Ava screamed.
“Daddy!”
Lucien made the choice.
“Pull it.”
Adrian yanked the wire.
The service door opened.
“GO!”
Everyone rushed through.
Lucien grabbed Ava.
Evelyn followed.
Adrian dragged Charles.
00:07.
Lucien looked back.
Victor remained inside.
“What are you doing?”
Victor didn’t move.
00:05.
“Victor!”
For the first time, Victor looked almost peaceful.
“There’s one thing Charles never told you.”
00:03.
Lucien stared.
Victor smiled faintly.
“Ava really is your daughter.”
00:02.
The door slammed shut.
May you like
00:01.
The laboratory exploded.
