Page 64 of Victorious: Part 3

But I’m still breathing.

I think.

I drag myself upright, blood streaks my forearm. My vest is scorched, Bear is shouting, deafened, but he’s alive. Warden is returning fire, his aggression relentless.

“Pres, reinforcements are falling back,” Warden calls. “We bought time. But not much.”

Panting for breath, I give my orders. “Fall back to level two. We’re out of time!”

That fucking robotic bitch echoes again over the speakers. “Sterilization in thirty seconds.”

Jesus Christ, I need to up my cardio.

I tilt my head at Warden and Bear, and the three of us take off, sprinting for the elevator when another explosion hits, this one closer, a detonation from the collapsing lower level. Flint’s halfway down the corridor, the evidence bag slung over his shoulder, when a chunk of the ceiling gives way.

A steel beam crashes down in a deafening roar, knocking him flat. The evidence bag skitters across the floor.

“Flint!” I shout.

Axel’s already on the move. “Cover me.”

I lay down fire as Axel dives toward Flint, dragging him by the shoulders while bullets whip through the air around us. Another round of gunfire erupts from a side corridor. Cartel soldiers charge toward us, weapons raised.

Bear and Warden step up, unloading round after round, bodies jerking in recoil as they fight to hold the line.

Axel snatches the evidence bag with one hand and hauls Flintwith the other. I rush to meet him, grabbing Flint’s other arm. Blood trickles from Flint’s temple, where debris caught him. He’s semi-conscious, groaning, the flash drive still clutched in his gloved hand.

“Got you, brother,” I mutter, hoisting him up.

“Fifteen seconds,” someone yells.

“Go,go, GO!”

We bolt for the elevator, half-carrying Flint between us while the rest of the team holds back the tide. Warden tosses a smoke grenade, and the corridor fills with gray haze. Screams echo through the fog.

We reach the shaft. Nitro is hammering the control panel. It groans, lurches, and begins to rise. We drag Flint inside before the scientists rush in behind us, dazed, coughing, bleeding. Some are supported by brothers. Others stumble in on their own.

Gas begins hissing into the lower levels.

“Five… four—”

“Everyone in?” I demand.

Axel does a frantic headcount. “All accounted for.”

“Three…”

The elevator bucks. A thunderous boom echoes from below, the shockwave slamming into us like a fist. The elevator shakes violently. Sparks fly from the console. We drop a foot, then two, before the brakes engage with a metallic shriek. One of the women scientists screams with fear, but the platform resumes its climb, groaning like it’s hauling too much weight.

“Two…”

We breach the surface, all of us diving out and running hard, putting distance between us and the entrance before the earth behind us explodes. A geyser of flame and smoke shoots into the sky. The mining facility collapses inward, cratering into itself like a black hole swallowing the evil inside. Debris rains down,metal shards, burning rubble, while shrapnel pelts the dirt around us as we tumble free of the mine. We hit the sand hard. My shoulder screams. My vision blurs.

The place blew with one second before the gas leak.

But we’re alive.

With all of us lying on the desert floor, the mine shaft burning in the midnight darkness, lighting up the sky like a beacon, I yank my protective helmet off and draw in a deep breath.