Chapter One — The Break
Chapter One — The Break
The sirens started at 2:13 a.m.
Jack Rainer was already awake, sitting on the edge of the metal cot, counting the seconds between the distant hum of generators. He’d learned the rhythm of this place — the way the lights flickered before a shift change, the way the guards’ boots echoed differently depending on who was on duty. But the sirens… those were new.
A red pulse washed across the concrete walls of his cell.
LOCKDOWN BREACH — SECTOR 7 flashed on the overhead screen.
Jack stood slowly. Breaches didn’t happen here. Not in a facility buried so deep underground that even the air felt manufactured. Not in a place designed to erase people like him.
Then the lights cut out.
For a moment, the world was nothing but darkness and the thud of his heartbeat. A hiss followed — the magnetic locks disengaging. His cell door slid open an inch, then stopped, jammed halfway.
Jack didn’t hesitate. He shoved his shoulder into the gap, forcing the door wide enough to slip through. The corridor outside was lit only by emergency strips glowing along the floor, casting long shadows that made the hallway feel endless.
Somewhere far off, he heard shouting. Boots. A crash.
And then — an explosion that shook dust from the ceiling.
Jack exhaled once, steadying himself.
Someone had cracked the system. Someone had given him a chance.
He wasn’t going to waste it.
He sprinted toward the only thing that mattered now — the faint, blinding light at the far end of the corridor. The first real light he’d seen in months.
The escape had begun.
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