71. Clay
Clay
“He has a detonator,” Hannah shouts.
Detonator.
That psychopath has a detonator.
My vision tunnels red instantly.
“HANNAH!”
I slam both hands against the blast door hard enough pain shoots through my shoulders.
Doesn’t matter.
Nothing matters except getting to her.
Gabriel works frantically at the emergency override panel.
“I can’t break the lock!”
Russ grabs the welding torch from an emergency maintenance station nearby.
“Then melt the damn hinges.”
Finally.
A language I understand.
The reactor warning alarms are screaming nonstop now.
Steam erupts from ruptured ceiling pipes.
The bunker is shaking harder every few seconds.
We’re running out of time.
And Wu’s standing in there alone with Hannah holding a dead man’s switch.
No.
Absolutely not.
Russ cuts into the blast door hinges with violent bursts of white-hot sparks while Gabriel shouts reactor updates over the alarms.
“Core temperature critical!”
“Containment failing!”
I barely hear him.
All I can see is Hannah trapped inside that corridor with the monster who built her nightmares.
The steel begins glowing orange under Russ’s torch.
“Hurry,” I snap.
Russ doesn’t even look at me.
“I am.”
Inside the corridor—
muffled through the steel—
I hear Wu’s voice faintly.
Calm.
Steady.
Insane.
Then Hannah shouting something back.
Another violent tremor nearly knocks us sideways.
Concrete cracks thunder overhead.
The reactor is minutes away from catastrophic breach.
Gabriel checks the monitor again.
His face goes pale.
“Oh God.”
“What now?”
“The blast radius expanded.”
No.
“How bad?”
Gabriel swallows hard.
“If the core fully detonates…”
A pause.
“…this entire section of Bucharest collapses.”
Jesus Christ.
Wu isn’t just trying to erase evidence anymore.
He’s trying to bury a city.
Russ finally kicks the weakened hinge hard.
Metal SCREAMS.
One hinge snaps loose.
Almost there.
Inside the corridor—
another muffled sound.
Then—
gunfire.
My heart literally stops.
“HANNAH!”
I slam the door again with everything I have.
The remaining hinge groans violently.
Russ cuts harder.
“MOVE!”
The final hinge snaps.
Together we drag the damaged blast door sideways just enough to force an opening.
And I’m through before the sparks even settle.
The reactor corridor beyond looks like hell.
Red emergency lights.
Steam clouds.
Cracked concrete.
And at the far end—
Hannah.
Alive.
Thank God.
But Wu stands directly across from her holding the detonator in one hand—
and blood runs down his shoulder.
Gunshot wound.
Hannah shot him.
That’s my girl.
Wu looks toward us entering the corridor.
Not afraid.
Not panicked.
Just disappointed.
“You should have stayed separated.”
Russ raises his rifle instantly.
“Drop it.”
Wu smiles faintly.
“No.”
Hannah’s weapon stays trained directly on his chest.
“He’ll trigger the reactor.”
Gabriel rushes toward the core terminal mounted along the reactor wall.
Massive warning symbols flash across every screen.
CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT
Containment levels collapsing.
Coolant pressure gone.
We are out of time.
Wu notices Gabriel immediately.
“You cannot stop it now.”
Gabriel ignores him and starts typing furiously anyway.
Wu calmly lifts the detonator slightly.
“One signal and the overload accelerates.”
Clay. Think.
Think.
Wu wants control.
Power.
Fear.
He wants everyone frozen while he decides who lives.
Not happening.
I slowly move sideways through the steam-filled corridor.
Keeping his attention on me.
“Hannah was right about you.”
Wu’s eyes shift toward mine.
“You studied humanity your whole life…”
Another step.
“…but you never understood strength.”
Wu tilts his head slightly.
“And what is strength, Clay Vincent?”
Easy.
I glance toward Hannah.
Toward the woman he tried to turn into a weapon.
The woman who chose compassion anyway.
“Choosing people,” I say coldly.
“Even when it hurts.”
Something cold flashes behind Wu’s eyes.
Contempt maybe.
Or jealousy.
Hard to tell with monsters.
The bunker violently lurches again.
Huge cracks split across the reactor corridor ceiling.
Chunks of concrete crash around us.
Gabriel shouts from the terminal:
“I NEED TWO MINUTES!”
We don’t have two minutes.
Wu knows it too.
His thumb slowly shifts against the detonator.
Russ tightens on the trigger instantly.
But none of us have a clean shot.
Too risky.
Too fast.
And Wu smiles because he knows it.
Then softly—
almost conversationally—
he says:
“You know what the fascinating thing about fear is?”
Nobody answers.
Wu’s eyes drift toward Hannah again.
“Eventually… people will always sacrifice someone else to survive.”
No.
Not this time.
Hannah lowers her weapon slightly.
And for one horrifying second I think Wu got inside her head—
Until she quietly says:
“You’re wrong.”
Wu studies her curiously.
Hannah’s voice hardens.
“Because nobody’s sacrificing these children anymore.”
Then she shoots the detonator out of his hand.