Chapter 10 - The Fire in the Snow
Before the scarred man could pull the trigger, Daniel lunged forward, throwing a heavy handful of frozen snow and crushed rock straight into the man's eyes. The gunman cursed, swinging his weapon wildly.
"Run, Evelyn! Run into the mill!" Daniel roared, tackling the second guard into the snowbank.
Evelyn didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy iron wrench from her coat pocket—a tool she’d brought for the truck—and swung it with all her strength into the knee of the third guard who was reaching for Daniel. The man collapsed with a sickening crack, howling in pain.
"Inside!" Evelyn pulled Daniel up by his coat collar, and together they burst through the broken wooden side door of the abandoned paper mill, slamming the heavy iron bolt shut behind them.
The interior of the mill was a cavernous tomb of rusted iron machinery, towering wooden catwalks, and deep darkness. It was the very mill where Evelyn's husband Tom had died five years ago. Her heart hammered against her ribs as memory and reality collided.
"They’re right behind us!" Daniel panted, clutching his side where his healed ribs throbbed with pain.
The sound of metal pounding against the exterior door echoed through the hollow building.
"We can't outrun them on foot," Evelyn said, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She looked up at the familiar catwalks hanging thirty feet above the concrete floor. "Follow me. I know this layout better than anyone."
They scrambled up the narrow iron ladder just as the lower doors were kicked open. The scarred man and his remaining accomplice stepped into the facility, their flashlight beams cutting through the freezing dust.
"Pierce!" the scarred man yelled, his voice echoing off the corrugated iron walls. "Mercer offered five million dollars for that drive! You think this broken mill is going to save you?"
Evelyn whispered into Daniel's ear. "The old lumber chute at the far end leads directly to the riverbank trail. If we can reach it, we can slide down to the road."
They crept along the catwalk, but an ancient, rusted bolt gave way under Daniel's foot. Metal screeched.
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"There!" the guard yelled, aiming his weapon upward.
Bullets tore through the wooden floorboards near their feet, sending splintered oak flying into the air.
