Chapter 28: The Escape to the River
The subterranean escape tunnel was pitch black, damp, and smelled of stagnant river water. Camila’s heart pounded against her ribs like a sledgehammer as she sprinted down the narrow corridor behind Vance and two remaining tactical operators.
Behind them, muffled explosions rumbled through the earth, indicating that the safe house above had been completely leveled by explosives.
"Keep moving! Don't stop!" Vance urged, guiding her with a tactical flashlight through the winding stone passages until the faint sound of rushing water echoed ahead.
Minutes later, they burst out from a stone archway onto a secluded private pier on the banks of the freezing Swiss river. A waiting high-speed RIB (Rigid-Inflatable Boat) idled silently against the wooden pilings, operated by a trusted tribunal pilot.
"Get in! Now!" Vance shouted, pushing Camila toward the boat as he scanning the tree line behind them for pursuers.
Camila scrambled into the boat, her hands shaking slightly—not from fear, but from a cold, blinding fury that burned hotter than any fire. She looked back toward the dark silhouette of the old town rising above the riverbank, where smoke billowed into the stormy night sky.
They had killed her parents. They had taken her uncle right as she found him. And they thought they had buried her along with him.
"Director," Vance said softly, handing her a satellite communicator as the boat surged away from the pier at breakneck speed, cutting through the dark water. "Where to?"
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Camila wiped a streak of soot and rain from her cheek. She took the communicator, her eyes fixed forward into the dark horizon where the storm clouds were beginning to break.
"Not back to headquarters," Camila said, her voice dropping into a tone of absolute, chilling finality. "To the central server relay of Janus. We’re taking the war to their doorstep."
