Chapter 10 - THE LOCKDOWNThe corridor lights died.
Emergency lamps flickered.
A mechanical voice announced:
“LOCKDOWN INITIATED.”
Marlo held Poppy's hand.
Elias tried the steel door.
Locked.
Elena pulled open an access panel.
“Thirty seconds.”
“Until what?”
“Until the oxygen system shuts down.”
Marlo's eyes widened.
“What?”
Elena looked at her.
“This place was designed to be sealed.”
“How long?”
“Seven minutes.”
“And then?”
“We suffocate.”
Marlo looked at Poppy.
“Get us out.”
“I am.”
Elias pulled out his phone.
No signal.
“Can you override the system?”
“Not from here.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“I can.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“There is a manual release in the old ventilation shaft.”
Elias stared.
“How do you know?”
“I designed it.”
Silence.
Marlo looked at her mother.
“You designed this place?”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“I helped build the original wing.”
“You worked for them?”
“I thought I was saving children.”
“You were.”
“Not enough.”
Margaret climbed onto a medical cabinet.
She pulled a panel loose.
A narrow shaft opened.
Elena looked at Elias.
“I'll go.”
“No.”
“You're too tall.”
“I've done worse.”
Elena smiled faintly.
“You always did think you were invincible.”
She climbed inside.
Marlo watched.
The shaft rattled.
Then silence.
Five minutes remained.
Poppy began coughing.
Marlo knelt beside her.
“Look at me.”
“Mommy.”
“We're getting out.”
“What if we don't?”
“We will.”
“Promise?”
Marlo swallowed.
“I promise.”
Three minutes.
The ventilation stopped.
The air became thick.
Elias looked at Margaret.
“You knew this was coming.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
She looked at the wall.
A small red light blinked.
Camera.
“We're being watched.”
Marlo looked up.
The speaker crackled.
Victor.
“You should have listened to your mother.”
Elias stepped toward the camera.
“You're trapped too.”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
“Then why are you talking?”
“Because I wanted you to know something.”
“What?”
“You were never the target.”
Elias stopped.
Victor continued.
“Marlo was.”
Marlo's chest tightened.
“Why me?”
“Because you survived.”
“Survived what?”
“Your daughter's birth.”
Marlo shook her head.
“I don't understand.”
Victor's voice softened.
“You think Poppy was the miracle.”
He paused.
“She wasn't.”
“Then what was?”
“You.”
Silence.
Marlo felt dizzy.
Victor continued.
“Your blood saved her.”
“From what?”
“From a condition you were told did not exist.”
Marlo turned toward Poppy.
Her daughter was pale.
“I was pregnant.”
“You weren't.”
Marlo froze.
Victor spoke carefully.
“You were carrying something else.”
The room seemed to disappear.
“What?”
“An engineered embryo.”
Poppy looked up.
“Mommy?”
Marlo's lips trembled.
“You're lying.”
“Ask your mother.”
Marlo looked at Margaret.
Her mother was crying.
The intercom went silent.
Then Elena's voice came from the speaker.
“Marlo.”
The room froze.
Her voice was faint.
“Hear me.”
“What happened?”
“I found the control room.”
“Good.”
“No.”
Elena gasped.
“I found who has the master key.”
“Who?”
A pause.
Then Elena whispered,
“Preston.”
May you like
A gunshot exploded.
The speaker went silent.
