Chapter 71 - The Infiltration of Bay Four
Jared stepped into the bunker, drew his utility knife, and sliced the heavy zip-ties binding Melissa to the valve. She collapsed immediately onto the floor, clutching her numb hands to her chest, trembling so violently her teeth rattled.
"Can you walk?" Jared demanded, his voice devoid of warmth.
"I... I think so," she stammered, looking up at him with a mixture of terror and overwhelming shame. "Jared... Graves told me... he told me it was just oil rights! He said grandfather had an undeclared crude reserve beneath the mountain! He said we’d get twenty million dollars! He said you were holding out on me... that you were keeping all of Dad's money for yourself!"
Jared looked down at her, his expression as hard as the granite bedrock beneath their feet. "You brought mercenaries to my home. You let a man with a crowbar into my shop where my children sleep. You laughed when Noah and Ellie were humiliated on Christmas Day. And now you’ve brought an army into our valley."
"I didn't know!" she wept, grabbing at his pant leg. "I swear to God, Jared, I didn't know what was in the ground!"
"Get up," he said, ripping his leg away from her grip. "If you want to live through this night, you do exactly what I tell you. Graves' men breached the shop floor. The automatic retrieval system is bringing whatever is in Sub-Level Seven up to the surface. If that containment seal opens fully without the primary override, the pressure blowoff will level the entire property."
"What do I do?" she asked, stumbling to her feet, desperate to cling to his survival instinct.
"The manual flood valve behind you," Jared pointed to the massive cast-iron wheel wrapped in chains. "Graves' men set thermite timers on the bypass. If those charges blow, the pressure will reverse into the shop and rupture the core. I need you to hold the manual release lever while I cut the fuses."
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"I can't! I don't have the strength!"
Jared grabbed the collar of her jacket, pulling her face inches from his. "You spent five years destroying this family for money you didn't earn. Tonight, you earn your breath. Grab the lever, Melissa. Now!"
