Chapter 5 - BELOW THE TANK
Nathan ordered everyone away from the controls.
He found an emergency drainage diagram mounted beside the wall.
The chemical tank was not fixed to the floor.
It sat over a freight elevator.
Jason had built a hidden level beneath the workshop.
Cole looked at the exit.
Nathan saw him.
“Do not run.”
Cole stopped.
“I can help.”
“Start by lowering Sarah safely.”
Cole approached the control box.
Jason laughed.
“You don’t know the override code.”
Cole looked at Tyler.
His son entered six numbers.
The emergency light turned green.
The hoist began lifting me.
Slowly.
Every inch felt like breath returning.
Jason watched me rise.
His face hardened.
Then he pulled a remote from his pocket.
Nathan saw it too late.
Jason pressed the button.
The hoist stopped.
The tank lid began sliding open beneath me.
White vapor rolled upward.
I screamed.
Nathan lunged for Jason.
Cole tackled him first.
The remote skidded across the floor.
Michael grabbed it.
“Which button?”
Tyler shouted, “The red one!”
Michael pressed it.
The lid stopped halfway.
Nathan forced Jason’s arms behind his back.
Cole took the remote and raised the sling.
My shoes cleared the tank.
The chain pulled me toward the platform.
Michael and Tyler caught the straps and lowered me onto the concrete.
My legs collapsed.
I wrapped both hands around my belly.
The baby kicked.
I began sobbing.
Nathan knelt beside me.
“Medical team is outside.”
Daniel called my name from the storage room.
I looked toward him.
Eleven years of grief stood between us.
No time to cross it.
A child’s cry came from beneath the tank.
Everyone froze.
Nathan opened the freight elevator controls.
The tank platform rose.
A stairwell appeared below.
Warm yellow light spilled upward.
Nathan and two agents descended.
I tried to follow.
Cole stopped me gently.
“You should stay here.”
I pulled away from him.
“You knew.”
His face filled with shame.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Seven that I saw.”
My stomach tightened.
Michael helped me toward the stairs.
Below the workshop was a clean white corridor.
Not an industrial basement.
A medical facility.
Locked doors lined both sides.
Nathan opened the first.
Inside were three small beds.
Children’s drawings covered the wall.
No children.
The second room contained cameras, files, and shelves of medication.
The third was locked from the inside.
A little girl’s voice whispered,
“Is Jason gone?”
I covered my mouth.
Nathan answered softly.
“Yes.”
The door opened.
A girl around eight years old stepped out.
She looked directly at me.
Then at my pregnant belly.
Her eyes widened.
“You’re Sarah.”
“How do you know my name?”
May you like
She pointed toward the final door.
“The doctor said your baby is the replacement.”
