Chapter202 The Emergency Passage

Chapter202 The Emergency Passage
Third Person POV
Steven drove his knee into another attacker's gut and pressed the communicator at his ear.
"They're inside." He kept his voice low and level. "Hold the top floor. Don't let anyone near the room."
--
Down the hallway, inside the room.
Andrew stood at the door, listening to the sounds of fighting outside.
He pressed his ear against the thick wood for a few seconds. The footsteps and impacts were moving closer. Steven's people were being pushed back.
He turned to Emma. "They're coming for this room."
Emma let go of Klaus and crossed to the door. She twisted the lock and threw the deadbolt, then moved to the wall and switched off the remaining lights, leaving the room in complete darkness.
Klaus had been lying against the headboard working through the pain. When the sounds outside got closer, his eyes opened. He pushed himself upright.
Emma stepped back to the bed and pressed her hand to his shoulder, trying to ease him back down.
"Don't move," she said quietly.
Klaus didn't listen. He caught her wrist.
"What's happening out there?"
"Grayson's people."
Andrew was already at the storage cabinet in the far corner. He pulled open the bottom drawer and took out a syringe loaded with a high-concentration sedative, which he dropped into his pocket. Then he reached back in for a black handgun, loaded the magazine with a practiced motion, and racked the slide.
He held the gun at his side, barrel toward the floor, and looked at Emma.
"Get behind the bed. Into the back corner."
The sounds outside were closer now. Steven's line had clearly fallen back to just outside the door. The fight was right there.
The door shook. A single violent impact. Dust sifted down from the wall. The medical monitors rattled and shrieked.
A second impact followed, heavier than the first. The metal framing of the lock started to bend.
Andrew looked at the door, made his call.
"We go through the back."
Emma stared at him.
Andrew dropped his voice. "There's an emergency passage behind the critical care unit. It connects to the old ward. I can get you out that way. Steven's people can hold longer if they're not trying to protect this room."
Before Emma could respond, Klaus was already off the bed.
He pulled Emma behind him in one motion.
"Stay close to me." His eyes stayed on the shaking door. "I'll keep you safe."
Emma stumbled half a step back, her shoulders hitting his arm. Something in her chest gave a sharp pull.
Grayson's men were seconds from breaking through. And the first thing Klaus had done when he stood up was put himself between her and the door.
Andrew moved to the far wall, to the row of storage cabinets. He felt along the edge of the wall, found a plain valve, and turned it hard.
A grinding sound. The narrow service door beside it swung open, the kind used to bring oxygen tanks and old equipment in and out. Behind it was a dark, tight passage.
Stale air rolled out, heavy with dust and the smell of a space that had been sealed for years.
"Go." Andrew stepped aside. "I'll cover the rear."
He motioned for Emma to take the lead.
Klaus stepped into the passage first. Then he reached back, took Emma's wrist, and drew her up beside him.
Emma followed him in.
Andrew took one last look at the door, now one hit away from giving out, and slipped into the passage. He pulled the service door shut behind him and drove the bolt home.
Darkness. Complete.
No lights, only the faint green glow of an emergency exit sign far ahead, barely touching the floor.
The walls were close. Two people walking side by side would brush the rough concrete with their shoulders.
Klaus's breathing was labored. He felt his way forward through the dark.
His steps were unsteady. Every stride took effort. He wasn't moving fast.
Emma listened to him struggling for breath and knew his strength was draining.
She started to reach her free hand toward his side to help take some of his weight.
Before she got there, Klaus released her wrist and took her hand instead.
His palm was burning and soaked through.
He kept walking, and he didn't let go.
Emma stayed at his side, feeling the heat and pressure of his grip against her skin.
For the first time, she understood it clearly. Even with no memory left, he was still protecting her.
The three of them moved through the narrow passage.
The sounds of fighting fell away, swallowed by the thick walls.
The air turned colder. The dust on the floor grew thicker.
About ten minutes later, the passage ended. They stepped through into the old ward.
This wing had been shut down for years.
The corridor was long and empty. Cardboard boxes and discarded medical equipment littered the floor. The paint had peeled from the walls in wide sheets, leaving bare concrete. The silence was absolute.
Andrew came through last.
He had just pulled the door shut when footsteps reached them from the far end of the corridor.
Steady. Unhurried. The sharp tap of leather soles on tile.
Klaus stopped.
His grip on Emma's hand locked tight. He pulled her behind him and fixed his eyes on the far end of the hallway.
Andrew spun, raised his gun with both hands, and trained it on the direction of the sound.
The emergency light at the end of the corridor blinked twice. Several figures stepped out of the shadows.
The one in front wore a long charcoal overcoat and walked with a black cane.
Four men in black suits followed behind him, each holding a suppressed handgun at their side, movements perfectly synchronized.
Grayson stopped. He stood just a few meters away. The corridor held its silence.
"Alpha." His voice was easy. "Where exactly are you planning to take Emma?"