Chapter 19 - THE FAITHFUL CODE
Mark’s mind went entirely numb as he stared at the blinking red keypad.
Attempts remaining: 3.
The digital timer ticked down mercilessly: 14:02... 14:01... 14:00...
Out in the hallway, the sound of heavy gunfire began to die down, replaced by the heavy boot steps of reinforcements approaching the lab.
"Jax! Lock the laboratory doors!" Mark shouted over his shoulder without turning around.
Jax slammed the heavy steel security doors shut, throwing a thick iron pipe through the handles to bar entry.
Heavy impacts immediately began pounding against the outside of the door, causing the steel frame to groan.
Mark stared at the keypad, sweating profusely as rainwater and blood dripped off his chin onto the digital buttons.
"What was the date, Victor?!" Mark growled, grabbing his uncle by the lapels and shaking him violently.
"What date did my father trust you with?!"
"He never trusted me, Mark!" Victor spat back, grinning through his blood-stained teeth.
"He only cared about his real family!"
"He locked that box with the only thing he swore he would never forget!"
Mark’s mind raced backward through every fragment of his childhood, every conversation, every hidden piece of evidence.
He remembered the brass key Sarah found in the closet, stamped with 4 - 1 - 9.
He punched in: 0 - 4 - 1 - 9 - 0 - 0.
The keypad emitted a sharp, high-pitched double beep.
RED LIGHT: CODE INVALID. ATTEMPTS REMAINING: 2.
A soft mechanical hiss echoed from inside the safe as a warning valve opened.
"One more mistake, Mark, and the acid floods the tray!" Victor cackled from the floor.
Mark pressed his palm against his forehead, closing his eyes to block out the banging on the door and Victor’s insane laughter.
4 - 1 - 9.
It wasn't a bank box number. It wasn't a locker combination.
It was April 19th.
The exact date his real mother had passed away when he was just a child—the truth Eleanor had spent twenty years trying to hide.
The year was 1998.
With his hand shaking violently, Mark reached out and pressed the sequence into the digital pad:
0 - 4 - 1 - 9 - 9 - 8
For two agonizing seconds, the keypad went completely silent.
Then, a loud, heavy mechanical THUNK echoed deep within the wall.
The glowing red LED light turned a brilliant, solid green.
GREEN LIGHT: ACCESS GRANTED.
The heavy steel vault door unlatched and swung slowly open.
Inside the lined interior lay a single, glass syringe filled with a glowing, thick blue liquid alongside a small medical auto-injector.
Mark snatched the auto-injector without losing a second, turning around just as Victor pulled a concealed scalpel from his sleeve.
Victor lunged forward with a desperate scream, aiming the blade straight for Mark’s neck.
Jax stepped in from the side, swinging his heavy steel chain with devastating power.
The iron links struck Victor squarely across the chest, throwing the old man backward into a glass rack of pressurized chemical vats.
The heavy glass containers shattered upon impact, flooding the floor with volatile acids and corrosive agents.
Victor shrieked in sheer agony as his own chemical creations enveloped him, his cries cut short as the fumes filled his lungs.
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"Mark! We have the cure! Get out!" Jax yelled, kicking the barred door open and firing his shotgun into the hallway.
Mark sprinted past the fallen guards, clutching the auto-injector tightly against his chest as he ran toward the exit.
