Chapter 5 - INTO THE WILDERNESS
The underground parking structure was a cavernous expanse of concrete and fluorescent lights, filled with the sleek, expensive sports cars of Vance Technologies executives. It was eerily quiet, isolated from the chaos above ground.
Chloe and Julian crouched behind the concrete pillar near the exit of the utility tunnel. Julian was breathing in shallow, raspy gasps, his face slick with sweat. He was losing strength rapidly.
Down the ramp, a white medical transport van with flashing red lights quietly rolled into the garage. It didn't look like a standard city ambulance; it was sleek, unmarked, and armored. The van stopped near the elevator banks. Four men stepped out. They were wearing paramedic jackets, but their posture was rigid, and their hands rested suspiciously near their waistbands.
"There's our ride," Chloe whispered.
"Are you insane?" Julian wheezed. "They have guns. We have a screwdriver."
"We have more than that," Chloe said, her eyes locked on the van. "You still have your smartwatch?"
Julian weakly raised his left wrist. The sleek, custom-designed Vance Tech smartwatch was cracked but glowing. "Yes."
"Give it to me."
Julian didn't argue. He unclasped the watch and handed it to her. Chloe quickly paired the watch to her tablet via Bluetooth. She had noticed earlier that the 'paramedics' had left the van running, likely to keep the medical equipment powered and ready for a quick getaway.
"Vance Tech vehicles are all connected to the central autonomous driving grid, right?" Chloe asked, her fingers flying over the screen.
"Yes, but the manual override..."
"I'm not overriding it. I'm spoofing the proximity sensors," Chloe said, a tight smile forming on her lips. She brought up the frequency emulator on her tablet, a tool she usually used to find clear channels for wireless microphones. She tuned it to the frequency of the van's collision avoidance radar.
"When I say go, you cover your ears," Chloe instructed.
She tapped the screen, blasting a concentrated, high-frequency signal directly at the van's sensors. The van's autonomous safety system instantly registered that it was surrounded by phantom obstacles moving at high speeds.
The van panicked. The automated emergency klaxons blared to life with a deafening screech. The headlights began strobing wildly, and the electronic brakes slammed on and off in rapid succession, causing the heavy vehicle to shudder and bounce on its suspension like a mechanical bull.
The fake paramedics jumped back, drawing their weapons in confusion, aiming at the empty air around the violently shaking van.
"Now!" Chloe yelled.
She didn't run toward the van. She ran toward the wall of high-voltage circuit breakers that powered the garage's electric vehicle charging stations. She grabbed the heavy metal wrench left by a maintenance worker and smashed it into the glass casing of the main breaker box. She yanked the massive red lever down.
The entire parking garage plunged into absolute darkness.
"Blind them!" Julian shouted from the shadows.
Chloe hit the button on the smartwatch, activating the high-intensity distress strobe feature. She threw the watch across the garage, letting it skitter under a row of parked cars. The blinding, pulsating white light disoriented the gunmen, their night vision ruined by the strobing flashes. They began firing wildly at the light, the gunshots echoing deafeningly in the enclosed space.
In the chaos, Chloe ran to Julian, grabbed his uninjured arm, and hauled him toward a sleek, matte-black electric SUV parked near the VIP elevator. It was unlocked—an executive perk.
She shoved Julian into the passenger seat and threw herself behind the wheel. The car started silently with the push of a button. She didn't turn on the headlights. She slammed the accelerator, the electric motors delivering instant, silent torque.
The SUV shot forward in the darkness. As they passed the panicked gunmen, Chloe finally flicked on the high beams, blinding them completely. One of the men dove out of the way, his gun clattering to the concrete. The SUV smashed through the flimsy wooden barrier of the parking exit, launching up the ramp and bursting out into the cool night air.
Chloe didn't slow down. She took a sharp left, tearing onto the private service road that wound up into the Santa Cruz Mountains, leaving the flashing lights of the Vance Technologies campus far behind.
For ten minutes, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the hum of the electric engine and Julian’s ragged breathing. Chloe’s hands were clamped so tightly onto the steering wheel that her knuckles were white. The reality of what she had just done was crashing down on her. She had stolen a car, assaulted security personnel, and was now aiding and abetting the most wanted man in Silicon Valley.
"You drive like a maniac," Julian finally said, his voice weak but laced with a faint trace of amusement.
"I'm from a family of mechanics," Chloe shot back, her eyes glued to the winding, moonlit road. "AV was just the only job that paid enough to keep my sister in school."
"Your sister?"
"Mia. She’s a sophomore at Berkeley. Pre-med." Chloe’s voice cracked slightly. "If I die tonight, or go to prison, she has no one."
Julian was silent for a long moment. He looked out the window at the dark, towering redwood trees. "You shouldn't have warned me, Chloe. You should have walked away. You risked everything for a man you don't even know."
"You employ ten thousand people, Mr. Vance. You build tech that connects the world. Marcus wanted to turn it into a weapon. I couldn't let him win." She glanced at him. "And besides, I don't like bullies."
Julian managed a small, pained smile. "Call me Julian."
Chloe navigated the SUV higher into the mountains, pulling onto an abandoned, overgrown logging road. She drove until the thick canopy of redwood trees completely hid the car from the sky, shielding them from any police or corporate helicopters. She killed the engine, plunging them into the deep, silent darkness of the wilderness.
"We need a plan," Chloe said, turning to him. "You need a doctor, and we need a way to get to San Francisco without Marcus’s army finding us."
"First things first," Julian said, his breathing shallow. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, obsidian-black smartphone. It wasn't a standard Vance Tech model. It looked heavy, almost military-grade. "Burner phone. Hardwired encryption. No GPS tracker."
"Who are you calling? The police?"
"The police are already compromised. Marcus practically owns the local precinct through ‘charitable donations’." Julian’s fingers trembled as he dialed a number. "I'm calling the only person I trust right now. The architect of Genesis."
The phone rang twice before a groggy, heavily accented voice answered. "Julian? Do you know what time it is?"
"Elias," Julian said, his voice strained. "I'm alive. But not for long. Marcus made his move. The bomb, the setup... it was him."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. "Mother of God. I saw the news. They said you were vaporized."
"I jumped. But I'm bleeding out in the woods, and Marcus is locking down the company. He’s going for the military contracts." Julian coughed, a wet splatter of blood hitting his hand. "Elias, I need you to prep the San Francisco node. We need to download the master logs."
"Julian, the node is a fortress. Marcus has already dispatched his private security firm to guard it. He knows the logs are his only vulnerability. You can't just walk in."
"I'm not walking in alone," Julian said, glancing at Chloe. "I have a specialist with me."
Chloe’s eyes widened. She shook her head frantically, mouthing, No, no, no!
"Who?" Elias asked.
"Someone who knows how to break things," Julian said softly. "Send the rendezvous coordinates to this phone. And Elias? Bring a first aid kit. A big one."
Julian hung up the phone and let his head fall back against the leather headrest, his energy entirely spent.
"A specialist?" Chloe squeaked, her panic returning full force. "Julian, I plug in speakers! I don't break into heavily guarded data fortresses!"
"You hacked a proprietary teleprompter in under two minutes, bypassed a biometric lock with a screwdriver, and outsmarted a team of trained killers using a smartwatch and a radio frequency," Julian pointed out, his eyes closed. "You're exactly the specialist I need."
May you like
Chloe stared at him, terrified and overwhelmed. But as she looked at the pale, bleeding billionaire, she realized they were past the point of no return. They were in this together.
"Okay," Chloe breathed, gripping the steering wheel. "Okay. Let's go steal an AI."
