The pounding came like thunder—sharp, desperate, relentless.
BAM.. BAM.. BAM...
The sound tore through the shelter, echoing off the stone walls, jolting Lilly upright like she'd been shot.
She blinked. Her cheeks were damp. Her hands clenched empty air.
The note was gone—folded tight, shoved into her jacket pocket where the words that couldn't scream at her anymore.
Sam was already moving, sliding her sidearm from beneath the table, jaw tight, eyes locked on the rusted stairwell that led to the surface.
Three more pounds. Then a voice.
Low... Male... Cold...
"Open the door, Lilly. Or we blow it open."
Lilly froze.
That voice.
She knew it.
It had haunted her past. Taught her to hide her emotions. Taught her to lie.
And then left her bleeding in the wreckage.
She was on her feet before Sam could speak, crossing the room in a blur, grabbing the small pack by the wall. Her hands moved on instinct—assembling, loading, locking.
"Who is it?" Sam hissed.
Lilly didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
Because the voice came again—closer now, right on the other side.
"Last chance."
Sam's eyes went wide. The blood drained from her face.
Lilly didn't look at her.
Couldn't.
If she did, she'd crumble again.
Instead, she stepped to the door, pressed her back to the cold wall beside it, and mouthed a silent count.
Three...
Two...
One
The metal door exploded inward with a roar, smoke and fire swallowing the room. Shouts followed men flooding inside, armed to the teeth, faces masked.
Lilly moved first. A shot rang out. One man dropped. Sam ducked behind the table, grabbed her backup pistol, and returned fire—no hesitation, no panic.
She wasn't the helpless heiress anymore.
She was something else.
Something lethal.
Gunfire cracked like thunder. Blood hit the walls. Sam dove, rolled, pulled Lilly behind the broken generator.
"We have to run!" Sam shouted.
"No," Lilly snarled, eyes locked on the breaker panel across the room. "We have to find it first."
"What?!"
"There's a name. Alyx found it. It's behind the wall. We can't leave without it."
Another round of bullets sliced through the air.
Lilly didn't flinch.
She was already moving.
Already throwing herself into the fire.
Because whatever was behind that wall?
It was the reason Alyx died.
And the reason they had to survive.