CHAPTER 10
1143 Words
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*Chapter 10 - The Breach*
London looked the same.
And nothing like it did 5 days ago.
We crossed back through Dover at 2 AM. In the back of a lorry. Cash to the driver. No questions.
*Cole Bennett and Eliza Hart.* Still ghosts.
Damian hadn’t let go of my hand since Berlin.
Even now, in the dark of the truck, his thumb was tracing circles on my knuckles.
“You sure about this?” I whispered.
“No,” he said. “But we don’t have a choice.”
The lorry stopped. We jumped out into an industrial estate in East London.
Rain. The smell of the Thames. Home.
Damian pulled his hood up. “We need 3 things. A computer. Internet. And someone who can get us into VexCorp’s closed servers.”
“Do we know anyone?”
“One person.” His jaw tightened. “Maybe.”
We walked for an hour. No tubes. Too many cameras.
Ended up in a 24-hour cafe in Shoreditch. Damian ordered two teas. Paid cash.
He pulled out a burner. Dialed a number from memory.
It rang 4 times.
“Who is this?” A woman’s voice. Sharp.
“It’s me.”
“Damian? You’re dead.”
“I’m not. And I need help, Ria.”
Silence. “I can’t. He’ll kill me.”
“They’re going to crash the grid, Ria. Thousands will die. You know what he’s capable of.”
Another silence. Then: “Meet me. One hour. Columbia Road Market. Don’t bring anyone.”
She hung up.
“She’ll help?” I asked.
“She hates him,” Damian said. “She was his CTO for 6 years. He fired her when she questioned Nightfall.”
We waited.
The hour felt like 10.
Damian kept looking at the door. At me. At his hands.
Finally he spoke. “If she says no, we break in physically. VexCorp Tower. Server room on floor 48.”
“That’s suicide.”
“Probably.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “But I’d rather die trying than watch him win.”
“Don’t say that.” I reached across the table and took his hand. “We’re not dying.”
He looked at our joined hands. Then at me. “Deal.”
We left the cafe.
Columbia Road Market at 3 AM was empty. Just stalls covered in tarps and rain.
A woman stood by the flower stall. Early 40s. Sharp suit. Wet hair.
Ria.
Damian stopped 10 feet away. “Ria.”
She looked at him. Then at me. “Who’s this?”
“Eliza. She’s with me.”
Ria’s eyes narrowed. “You leaked the files. You made it worse.”
“We didn’t know about Nightfall,” Damian said. “We need the last folder. The one he didn’t leak.”
“And why should I help you? He ruined me.”
“Because you’re the only person who can stop him without getting people killed.” Damian stepped closer. “Please.”
Ria stared at him for a long time. Then she sighed. “Fine. But not here. My flat. 20 minutes. And if Vant shows up, I’m gone.”
She walked away.
We followed.
Ria’s flat was small. Clean. No photos. No trace of VexCorp except a single award on the shelf, face down.
She booted up 3 laptops. “Okay. Talk fast.”
Damian explained everything. The USB. The leak. Nightfall. Berlin.
Ria listened. Didn’t interrupt. When he finished, she was pale.
“f**k,” she whispered. “I knew it was bad. I didn’t know it was _that_ bad.”
“Can you get in?” I asked.
She cracked her knuckles. “I built the backdoor. He never closed it. Arrogant bastard.”
Her fingers flew. Code filled the screens.
Damian stood behind her. I stood next to him. Close.
10 minutes. 20.
“Got it,” Ria said. “I’m in.”
Folders popped up. Hundreds.
`FINANCE`
`HR`
`PROJECTS`
`NIGHTFALL PROTOCOL`
Damian clicked it.
It wasn’t one file. It was a plan.
Phase 1: Cut power to 3 London boroughs. Blame cyberterrorists.
Phase 2: VexCorp “security grid” goes live. Paid subscription.
Phase 3: Government contract. Permanent control.
And the date.
`INITIATION: 48 HOURS`
“He’s doing it in 2 days,” Damian said. His voice was hollow.
Below that, another file.
`CONTINGENCY: SILENCE TARGETS`
List of names.
Ava Reyes.
Damian Vex.
Mara Okonkwo.
“They’re going to kill us,” I whispered.
Ria closed the laptop. “Okay. We have a problem.”
“What?”
“They know I’m in. The backdoor just sent an alert to his phone.”
Damian was already moving. “We have to go. Now.”
Ria grabbed a USB. “Here. Everything. Get it to the press. To the police. To anyone.”
We ran.
Down the stairs. Into the street.
Headlights. 2 SUVs. Blocking the road.
Vant.
“Split up!” Ria yelled. “I’ll lead them away!”
“No—” Damian started.
“GO!” She jumped into her car and peeled out the other way.
SUVs followed her.
Damian grabbed my hand. “This way.”
We ran through back alleys. Over fences. Through a laundromat.
Sirens behind us.
We didn’t stop until we reached the Thames. Hiding under a bridge.
Both of us soaked. Breathing hard.
Damian pulled out the USB Ria gave us. Held it up.
“We have it,” he said. “Proof. Everything.”
I leaned against the wall. “Ria...”
“I know.” He looked away. “She bought us time.”
Rain dripped on us.
Damian turned to me. “Eliza.”
“Yeah?”
“If we don’t make it out of this—”
“Don’t.” I cut him off. “Don’t do that.”
He nodded. Swallowed. Then he did something I didn’t expect.
He pulled me to him and kissed me.
Not soft like Paris. Not desperate like the shooting.
Real. Certain. Like he’d been holding it in since the train.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine.
“I’m scared too,” he whispered. “But not of him. Of losing you before I tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“That you’re the only good thing that’s ever come out of my name.”
My chest hurt. “Cole...”
He smiled. Sad. “Yeah?”
“Shut up and kiss me again. We have 48 hours to save London.”
He laughed. And he did.
Under the bridge. In the rain. With the world ending in 2 days.
We had the proof.
We had 48 hours.
And for the first time, we had each other.
Now we just had to survive long enough to use it.
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- Writer
