Chapter 11 - The Inferno at the BorderThe bullet struck the brass pressure valve of the main gas line with a sharp, metallic ring.
BOOM!
A blinding wall of orange flame exploded into the freezing night sky. The blast wave shattered the timber frame of the cabin, throwing mercenaries off their feet and sending burning debris cascading across the snow. The spotlights mounted on the snow-tractors blew out in a shower of sparks, plunging the forest into a chaotic nightmare of smoke, shadows, and roaring fire.
Julian was knocked violently into the snow by his personal bodyguard, his fur-collared coat catching fire at the hem.
"Find them!" Julian shrieked, coughing frantically on the acrid black smoke as he pointed toward the burning ridge. "Kill Lucas! Bring me the boys!"
Behind the cabin, under the cover of the deafening blast, Clara had already pulled the tarp off the industrial snowmobile. She strapped Noah and Mason into the rear cargo seat, while Liam and Ethan squeezed between her arms at the controls.
"Hold on tightly, sweeties!" Clara yelled over the roar of the fire.
She kicked the ignition pedal. The snowmobile’s engine screamed, its rubber tracks digging deep into the icy trail as it shot forward into the dense, dark pine forest toward the Canadian border six miles north.
Behind them, through the smoke and rising embers, a shadowy figure emerged from the burning wreckage of the porch.
It was Lucas.
His face was covered in soot, his uniform torn and bloodied from flying shrapnel, but his eyes burned with relentless, primal fury. He picked up a dropped assault rifle from a fallen mercenary, racked the bolt, and opened fire on the remaining operatives pursuing the snowmobile's tracks.
"Lucas!" Marcus Caldwell shouted from the tree line, firing a three-round burst that kicked up snow at Lucas's feet. "Give it up! You're bleeding out! You can't beat a whole platoon!"
Lucas ducked behind a massive oak tree, returning fire with lethal precision. "I don't need to beat them, Marcus! I just need to keep you here!"
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In the distance, the high-pitched whine of Clara's snowmobile faded into the quiet winter night. Lucas let out a ragged breath, a cold smile touching his bloody lips as he dropped his empty magazine and slid his last clip into place.
He had bought them their escape. Now, he had to survive his own.
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