Ethan’s gaze flicked between feeds again, calculating angles, distances, and arrival times.The third wave wasn’t probing.It was committing.
This was the part where staying became suicide.
He rose from the chair and keyed the release.
The safe room door slid open soundlessly, and Ethan stepped into the hall, boots quiet against concrete.He took the stairs two at a time, heartbeat steady despite the fact that every gun in the house was about to turn on him.
They were waiting at the bottom.
Niko front and center.Tane, Victor, Kael, and Drew flanking.Weapons trained.
Ethan lifted both hands slowly.
“Relax,” he said calmly.“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be standing.”
No one lowered their gun.
“There are more coming,” Ethan continued.“East side.Heavier kit.You’ve got maybe ninety seconds before they’re inside the perimeter.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.“Then we make a stand.”
Ethan shook his head once.“Or we leave.”
He turned, pressed his palm to a seamless section of wall, and stepped back as it split open.
A stairwell descended into light.
Not rough.Not improvised.Concrete walls, embedded lighting, visible airflow vents, humming softly.Professional.Permanent.
Niko stared at it.
Ethan said.“Runs two klicks to a hardened exit and armored transport.”
"Bro," Keanu said in a voice that rang with awe."I think he might actually be Batman."
Ethan looked at him over his shoulder as he went down the stairs."No, I'm more like Tony Stark.Now, let’s get out of here.I really don't feel up to a big fight right now."
No one argued.Not because they trusted him, he was sure, but because the math was undeniable.
They moved.
The tunnel swallowed them quickly, the door sealing behind with a muted thud.The air was cool, clean.Footsteps echoed softly as they moved at a controlled jog.
“Jesus,” Tane muttered.“I think we should have one of these.”
“Same,” Keanu agreed.“We should totally put a bar in ours.”
Ethan almost smiled.
They slowed near a massive steel door embedded in the tunnel wall.Ethan stepped through it, pushed a button so that it slid closed behind them, then pulled the tablet from his pocket and tapped a sequence.
The ground shuddered.
A low concussion rolled through the tunnel, followed by another.And another.
"Fuck," Kael said, "did you just blow that sweet ass tunnel?"
Ethan nodded.The men all shared a look, then stared at him.Not knowing what to say or do in that situation, he simply turned and followed the tunnel out.They reached the exit and slowed, the tunnel opening out into a reinforced observation bay cut into the hillside.A wide blast window looked back toward the property.
