Chapter 8 - THE PRESSURE COOKER
The boiler room was a sweltering, ear-splitting hellscape of colossal metal tanks, intricate valves, and roaring furnaces. The heat was instantly oppressive, plastering Maya’s uniform to her skin.
They bolted the heavy steel door behind them, but they knew it wouldn't hold for long.
"This is a dead end," Sterling gasped, leaning against a railing. He was bleeding from a shrapnel cut on his cheek. "There's no way out of here except the way we came in."
"There is," Maya coughed, wiping soot from her face. "The steam vents. They exhaust out onto the street grate on 5th Avenue. But they’re bolted shut from the inside."
"Can we unbolt them?"
"Not with our hands. And the pressure in these pipes is lethal. If we vent it wrong, we'll boil ourselves alive."
A loud CLANG echoed from the steel door. Sparks began to fly near the hinges. Elias was using a blowtorch to cut his way in.
"You have two minutes, Marcus!" Elias's muffled voice taunted. "Make your peace!"
Maya looked at the massive pressure gauges on the central boiler. A crazy, suicidal idea formed in her head. She had spent months cleaning this room, listening to the maintenance workers complain about the faulty relief valve on Tank 4.
"Governor," Maya said, her eyes wide. "If we overload Tank 4, the pressure will blow the exhaust grate right off the street level. We can climb out."
"And if we're still in the room when it blows?"
"Then we won't have to worry about Elias," she said grimly.
Sterling didn't hesitate. "Tell me what to turn."
Maya ran to the control panel, her fingers flying over the heavy iron wheels. "Close the primary release! Turn the red wheel to the right! Fast!"
Sterling strained against the massive iron wheel, his muscles corded in his neck. The wheel groaned and shut.
The pressure needle on Tank 4 began to rapidly climb into the red zone. The entire room began to shudder. A high-pitched screaming sound emanated from the pipes.
"It's going to blow!" Maya yelled over the din. "Get in the exhaust shaft!"
They squeezed into the narrow, vertical brick shaft just as the steel door to the boiler room gave way. Elias stepped in, a smirk on his face, an assault rifle raised.
May you like
He looked at the boiler. The needle was maxed out.
His smirk vanished. "Oh, shi—"
