Chapter 13 - The Midnight Evacuation
The hospital hallway outside my recovery suite suddenly plunged into pitch blackness as the emergency backup generators hummed and died with a heavy, metallic groan. The automated security locks on the doors clicked open, disengaging every electronic safeguard in the building under a localized power grid failure.
Through the dim, flickering amber glow of the battery-powered exit signs, I watched three figures in matte-black tactical gear silently step past the nurse’s station, carrying suppressed automatic rifles.
“They didn't wait until tomorrow morning,” I whispered, my blood running cold as I scooped my sleeping newborn out of the bassinet and clutched her fiercely against my chest.
Agent Reeves didn't panic; years of federal field work had forged his nerves into steel. He drew his service pistol, racked the slide with a sharp metallic clack, and shoved me toward the private bathroom connecting to the service stairwell.
“Move, Claire! Now!” Reeves barked, positioning himself defensively across the room's threshold. “They’ve cut the hospital’s primary power grid and jammed local cell signals. Use the freight elevator shaft behind the maintenance door; it leads directly down to the underground laundry loading bay where my backup unit is waiting.”
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“I’m not leaving you here to face them alone!” I hissed, tears of frustration stinging my eyes.
“You aren't leaving alone, you’re protecting your daughter!” Reeves shouted back, firing two precise warning shots through the doorway as the first tactical operative lunged into the room. “Go! I’ll buy you sixty seconds, and sixty seconds is all you need!”
