Chapter 84 - The Price of Blood
The subterranean passage opened into a vast, cavernous vault where giant stalactites hung from the vaulted ceiling like petrified fangs. Rusted narrow-gauge rail tracks ran through the center of the chamber, disappearing into two pitch-black tunnels heading in opposite directions.
Sitting on a rusted siding was an ancient diesel-powered track inspection car—a heavy iron beast covered in decades of dust and grease, but structurally intact.
"Marcus, check the fuel lines! Elena, get Leo inside the cab!" Alexander commanded, scanning the darkness behind them.
The baying of the hounds was deafening now, accompanied by the heavy splash of combat boots through the underground stream. Emerging from the narrow mouth of the tunnel came three massive Belgian Malinois hounds, their eyes glowing orange in the flashlight beam, followed closely by half a dozen Sovereign mercenaries in full tactical gear.
"Fire!" Alexander ordered.
He and Marcus opened up with their remaining ammunition, dropping two of the beasts before they could leap. The third hound sprang directly at Elena as she hoisted Leo into the railcar’s cab.
Without hesitation, Elena grabbed a rusty iron coupling rod from the railbed and swung with all her strength. The iron connected with a sickening crack, driving the animal away just as a volley of submachine gun fire chewed through the side of the railcar.
"Alexander! The ignition is dead!" Marcus yelled from inside the engine compartment, sparks flying from the open junction box. "The solenoid is jammed with rust!"
Alexander sprinted across the gravel, taking cover beside the engine block. Mercenary bullets ricocheted off the iron plating mere inches from his head. He pulled a hunting knife from his tactical vest, jammed the blade directly across the starter terminals, and shouted, "Hit it now!"
The massive voltage arced through the steel blade, shocking Alexander’s arms with blistering current. The ancient diesel engine shuddered, coughed a violent cloud of black exhaust, and then roared to life with a deafening, rhythmic clatter.
"Get in! Get in!" Elena screamed, reaching out from the open cab door.
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Marcus hauled himself over the tailboard, firing behind him with his sidearm. Alexander grabbed the iron railing, hauling his body up just as a bullet tore through the meat of his left shoulder.
He gasped, nearly slipping into the churning steel wheels below, but Elena’s hands clamped around his wrists with desperate, superhuman strength, pulling him inside as the heavy railcar lurched forward along the downward slope, accelerating into the black abyss of the mountain tunnel.
