Chapter 20 THIRTY SECONDS

Chapter 20 THIRTY SECONDS
Sera's POV

Thirty seconds.

That's all the time Lila had before the execution chamber door sealed and she died.

Thirty seconds while six armed guards surrounded us and Cassia walked away smiling.

I didn't think. I just moved.

My hand grabbed the nearest object, a decorative vase on the table, and threw it at the closest guard's head. It shattered against his helmet. He stumbled.

Kade moved at the same instant. His military training kicked in and he disarmed the second guard in three moves. Grabbed the weapon. Fired.

The shot took down the third guard.

"Go!" Kade shouted at me. "Get to Lila! We'll hold them!"

Damon was already fighting. His fists connected with a guard's jaw. The man went down hard.

Ryker wasn't a fighter but he was smart. He grabbed a chair and swung it at the guards trying to block the door.

I ran.

Out of the common area. Down the corridor. My legs were shaking from the IV crash earlier but I didn't stop.

Twenty seconds.

The execution chamber was three floors down. I hit the stairwell at full speed.

Behind me I heard gunfire. Shouting. The sounds of Kade, Damon, and Ryker fighting six trained guards.

Fighting to buy me time.

I took the stairs two at a time. My bare feet slapped against cold metal. My hospital gown was ridiculous but I didn't care.

Fifteen seconds.

I burst through the door on sublevel two. The execution wing was at the end of the hall.

Two guards stood outside.

I didn't slow down.

The first guard raised his weapon. I ducked under his arm and drove my elbow into his throat. He dropped.

The second guard grabbed me from behind. His arm wrapped around my neck.

I threw my head back. Connected with his nose. Heard the crunch.

He let go.

Ten seconds.

I grabbed his weapon. Didn't know how to use it properly but pointed it at the execution chamber door controls.

"Open it!" I screamed. "Open it now or I start shooting!"

The guard with the broken nose stared at me. Blood ran down his face.

"I can't," he said. "The protocol already started. It's automated."

Five seconds.

No.

I ran to the door. Solid steel. No windows. A digital lock showing a countdown.

00:04

00:03

I slammed my fist against the metal. "Lila!"

00:02

The door clicked.

Then opened.

Lila stumbled out. Her face was tear-streaked. Her hands were bound.

But she was alive.

I caught her before she fell. Held her so tight I thought my ribs would crack.

"You came," Lila sobbed. "They said you were being executed. They said I'd never see you again."

"I'm here," I whispered. "I'm here and we're leaving. Right now."

Footsteps pounded down the corridor behind us.

More guards. Maybe ten of them. Coming fast.

I pulled Lila toward the emergency exit. The one Nova had marked on the extraction coordinates.

We ran together. My sister and me. Just like we'd been running for three years in the Fringe.

The emergency exit led to a maintenance tunnel. Dark. Narrow. Pipes running along the walls.

I heard the guards entering the stairwell behind us.

"This way," I said. Pulled Lila deeper into the tunnel.

We ran in darkness. My hands touched the wall to guide us. Lila's breathing was ragged beside me.

Then I saw light ahead.

Not emergency lighting. Flashlight beams.

Someone was in the tunnel with us.

I pushed Lila behind me. Raised the weapon I'd taken from the guard.

"Don't shoot!" a familiar voice called.

Nova stepped into view. She had three other Wardens with her. All armed. All wearing expressions that said they'd made a choice.

"Commander Voss sent a distress signal," Nova explained quickly. "Said you'd need extraction. These are my people. Wardens who are done serving the Tribunal."

"Where's Kade?" I demanded. "Ryker and Damon?"

"Fighting their way to the rendezvous point," Nova replied. "But Cassia's locked down the entire facility. We have maybe five minutes before she seals all exits and we're trapped."

Lila grabbed my arm. "Sera, I need to tell you something. Before they caught me, I finished uploading the files."

I stared at her. "The broadcast?"

"It's queued," Lila said. Her voice was shaking but determined. "Everything. Thorne's confession. The termination statistics. Proof the plague was engineered. It's all ready to go. I just need to send the final activation code."

"Then send it," I said.

"I can't. Not from here. The signal won't reach through the tunnels. I need to get to higher ground. Somewhere with clear transmission."

Nova checked her tactical display. "The roof. The Genesis Center roof has the best signal in the facility."

"That's five floors up," one of Nova's Wardens said. "Through the most heavily guarded areas."

"Then we fight through," I said simply.

Nova looked at me. Really looked at me. This woman who'd served Kade for fifteen years. Who'd chosen rebellion over duty.

"You're sure about this?" she asked. "Once that broadcast goes out, there's no going back. The Tribunal will hunt all of us. We'll be marked as traitors for life."

"We're already traitors," I replied. "Might as well make it count."

Nova smiled. Sharp and dangerous.

"All right then. Let's burn it all down."

We moved through the tunnels fast. Nova knew the layout. She'd been planning this for weeks.

We emerged in a service corridor on sublevel one. Alarms were blaring throughout the facility.

"This way," Nova directed. She led us toward a cargo elevator that would take us straight to the roof.

We were halfway there when we heard them.

Footsteps. Dozens of them. Coming from multiple directions.

"They're boxing us in," one of Nova's Wardens said.

"Then we break through," Nova replied.

The first wave of Tribunal guards rounded the corner.

Nova's people opened fire.

I pushed Lila behind a support column and joined the fight. The stolen weapon felt heavy in my hands but I aimed and fired.

A guard went down.

Then another.

But more kept coming.

"We can't hold this position!" Nova shouted over the gunfire.

That's when I heard it.

A different sound cutting through the chaos.

An explosion.

The wall to our left erupted inward. Debris flew. Smoke filled the corridor.

Through the smoke stepped Kade, Damon, and Ryker.

Kade was bleeding from a cut on his arm. Damon's face had new bruises. Ryker looked terrified but determined.

"You started the party without us?" Damon called out.

"Just getting warmed up," I replied.

Kade assessed the situation in seconds. "Nova, get Sera and Lila to the roof. We'll hold them here."

"Commander, there are too many—"

"That's an order," Kade interrupted. His voice carried absolute authority. "The broadcast matters more than any of us. Get them to the roof."

Nova hesitated. Then nodded.

She grabbed my arm. "Let's move."

"No," I said. "I'm not leaving them."

"Sera," Ryker said. He met my eyes across the smoke-filled corridor. "You told us to trust you. Now you need to trust us. We'll survive. We always do. But Lila needs to get that broadcast out. That's the mission."

Damon fired at advancing guards. "Go save the world, Sera. We'll catch up."

Kade just looked at me. No words. But I saw everything in his eyes.

He was choosing to fight. Choosing to buy us time. Choosing me over his own survival.

"I'm coming back for you," I said. "All three of you."

"We're counting on it," Kade replied.

Nova pulled me and Lila toward the cargo elevator. The doors were closing when I saw them.

Three men fighting impossible odds.

Three men who'd become everything I never expected.

The elevator rose.

We hit the roof access in ninety seconds.

Nova kicked the door open. Night air hit my face. The city sprawled below us. Lights everywhere. People living their lives with no idea what was about to happen.

Lila pulled out a small device. The transmitter she'd been building in secret.

"This is it," she said. "Once I send this code, the broadcast goes out on every emergency channel in Neo-Genesis City. Everyone will see the truth."

"Do it," I said.

Lila's finger hovered over the button.

That's when Cassia's voice echoed across the roof.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

We spun around.

Cassia stood at the roof entrance. She wasn't alone.

Jace Morgan was with her.

And he was holding a weapon pointed directly at Lila's head.

"Hello Sera," Jace said. His voice was empty. Dead. "It's time we finished this. You press that button and I shoot your sister. Simple as that."

Cassia smiled.

"So what will it be, Ms. Ashford? Save humanity or save your sister? You can't have both."