Chapter 16 - The Shield and the Sword
Willa gently laid the sleeping Leo onto the soft, plush sofa in the corner of the panic room, covering him with a heavy blanket.
She walked over to the communication console, immediately pressing the emergency broadcast button.
"Everett, we have a secondary breach," Willa reported, her voice completely calm and incredibly steady.
"Four men are utilizing the western ventilation shafts to access the sub-basement corridors."
Static crackled over the radio for a terrifying second before Everett’s deep, breathless voice answered.
"Lock the secondary steel doors, Willa," Everett commanded urgently over the sound of heavy gunfire.
"Marco and I are falling back to intercept them, but we are pinned down by heavy suppressive fire."
"Do not leave that room under any circumstances."
Willa terminated the connection, her brilliant mind working rapidly.
She knew the reinforced steel door of the panic room could withstand explosives, but the oxygen filtration system could be easily compromised by toxic gas.
She had to neutralize the threat before they even reached the final corridor.
Willa opened the massive emergency medical supply cabinet attached to the panic room wall.
She grabbed a heavy oxygen tank, a large roll of surgical tubing, and several bottles of highly flammable medical-grade alcohol.
She quickly opened the small, armored observation port in the heavy steel door.
The elite squad of mercenaries was slowly advancing down the dark, concrete hallway, completely unaware that they were being hunted by a nurse.
Willa rapidly doused a bundle of sterile gauze in the pure alcohol, shoving it tightly into the metal oxygen tubing.
When the mercenaries were exactly ten feet away from the door, Willa cracked the heavy oxygen valve open to maximum pressure.
She struck a medical flare and tossed it directly into the concentrated stream of pure, highly flammable oxygen venting through the observation port.
A massive, terrifying jet of bright blue and orange fire erupted down the narrow concrete hallway.
The mercenaries shrieked in absolute terror, dropping their weapons as the violent flash-fire completely engulfed their tactical gear.
The intense heat sucked all the remaining oxygen out of the narrow corridor, immediately incapacitating the attackers.
Willa slammed the observation port shut, completely securing the room.
Ten seconds later, Everett and Marco sprinted down the hallway, their weapons raised, entirely ready for a desperate firefight.
Instead, they found the four elite mercenaries completely neutralized, groaning on the floor, their armor melted and heavily charred.
Everett looked at the scorched concrete walls, realizing instantly what his beautiful, brilliant wife had just done.
He pressed his hand against the heavy steel door of the panic room, his heart overflowing with absolute, unconditional devotion.
"I love you, Willa," Everett whispered through the thick metal.
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"I love you too, Everett," Willa’s confident voice echoed back.
"Now go finish the war."
