PART 12 – Protocol Omega and the Last Turn
"Wait! Where are you driving?" I shouted loudly to the driver up front. "This isn't the road to the federal facility!" The driver didn't answer. He reached for his radio, but no voice came from headquarters, only a soft electronic hiss. My father sat next to me. He looked into the rearview mirror, and his eyes widened with recognition and pure panic.
"Emma, get out of the seat! Now!" Before we could react, the driver slammed on the brakes. The police van skidded with screeching tires across the wet asphalt and came to a halt against the guardrail of an abandoned industrial road. The impact sent my head slamming against the front seat. I heard my father call out, but his voice sounded far away through the ringing in my ears.
The car doors flew open. Two men in black suits – not real police officers, but mercenaries with the characteristic gold watch on their wrists – stood outside. "Get out. Hands up," one of them shouted in broken Italian with a heavy Swiss accent. My father didn't hesitate a second. He grabbed a heavy metal fire extinguisher rolling behind the front seat, kicked the door open, and struck the man reaching inside square in the chest.
"Quick, Emma! Run!" my father yelled as he held back the second man. I didn't hesitate, bolted out of the car, and ran as hard as I could into the open field beside the highway. The drizzle beat against my face, the mud sucked at my boots, but I kept running. Behind me came the sound of a struggle and then... a sharp, dull sound cutting through the mist.
A gunshot. "No!" I screamed, coming to an abrupt stop. I turned around. My father lay on the wet ground near the car. The mercenary stood towering over him, his weapon aimed at my father's chest. My heart stopped. The world around me vanished. All fear, all doubt, all years of loneliness melted away into a single blind wave of anger and courage. I grabbed the USB drive from my pocket, held it in my hand as if it were a weapon, and didn't run away—I walked straight toward the man.
"Leave him alone!" I screamed with a voice that echoed across the empty highway. The man turned around, his face twisted into a cruel smile. He slowly aimed the weapon at me. "You've seen enough, girl. Time to end the story." He pulled the trigger. Yet at that exact moment, the blaring siren of an approaching police car broke through the mist with high beams on, heading straight toward us.
