Chapter 2

The second-floor hallway was a chaotic mess of overturned antique tables and shattered vases.

Annetta gripped Clara's hand tightly as two federal agents marched them toward the grand staircase. Annetta's eyes darted upward. The small red light on the dome security camera mounted in the corner suddenly blinked out.

They cut the main power.

The radio on the agent to her left crackled.

"We need backup at the main gates. Press is trying to breach the perimeter."

Both agents turned their heads toward the front of the house for a fraction of a second.

Annetta didn't hesitate. She threw her weight sideways, twisting her ankle inward, and collapsed heavily against the wall near the concealed side door that led to the basement greenhouse. She let out a sharp, breathless groan of pain.

"Get up," the agent snapped, reaching down to grab her arm.

As his hand closed around her bicep, Annetta slid a rigid metal hairpin from her sleeve. She jammed it into the old, rusted mechanical lock of the side door. She twisted it, her fingers cramping as the metal pin bent under the strain. It wouldn't turn. The agent yanked her arm. At that exact second, the heavy thud of a breaching ram hitting the front doors echoed through the floorboards. The vibration shuddered through the wall. The misaligned lock cylinder dropped into place. Click.

Using the momentum of the agent pulling her up, Annetta slammed her shoulder into the door. It gave way. She grabbed Clara and rolled backward into the pitch-black stairwell.

"Hey!" the agent yelled, raising his weapon and lunging after them.

Annetta reached up and yanked the red emergency fire sprinkler lever on the wall.

A deafening hiss filled the narrow space. High-pressure water blasted from the ceiling, creating a thick, blinding wall of spray. The agent cursed, shielding his eyes.

Annetta slammed the inner blast door shut and threw the heavy steel deadbolt. The muffled thud of the agent throwing his weight against the metal echoed down the stairs.

She had ten minutes. Maybe less.

"Hide in the metal cabinet, Clara," Annetta ordered, her clothes soaked and clinging to her skin.

She ran to the back of the basement, her boots splashing in the rising water. She dropped to her knees in front of the climate-controlled seed vault. She pried up a loose floorboard and pulled out a military-grade, EMP-shielded communication terminal.

She flipped the screen open. The harsh green light illuminated her pale, wet face. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, punching in a thirty-two-character alphanumeric password.

Connecting to Satellite Network.

The screen flashed. She was in. The Ark was awake.

Annetta accessed the hidden logistics manifest. She selected the high-grade antibiotics, combat trauma kits, and anti-radiation serums stored in the manor's sub-basement.

She opened a dark web portal. Within seconds, she hired three independent, untraceable shell companies. She issued the orders: Pick up medical waste at the rear service entrance in exactly one hour.

She left the terminal running and sprinted to the greenhouse cultivation area.

She grabbed a heavy wrench and smashed the glass of the temperature-controlled incubator. The thick glass shattered. Sharp shards sliced across her knuckles. Blood dripped down her fingers, mixing with the water from the sprinklers.

She ignored the pain. She swept the sealed vials of cold-resistant wheat, modified soybeans, and drought-resistant seeds into a padded, shock-proof case.

A massive, bone-rattling boom shook the ceiling. Dust rained down on her head. They were using directional explosives on the blast door.

Annetta ran back to the terminal. She pulled up the control interface for a series of abandoned shipping containers hidden deep in a West Virginia mine shaft.

She engaged the solar hibernation systems. The green bars filled the screen. The heat and power grids were now active and waiting.

The blast door groaned. The metal hinges shrieked as they began to tear away from the concrete.

Two minutes.

Annetta opened the offshore cryptocurrency accounts hidden under dummy corporations. She emptied the balances, ran the funds through a tumbling protocol to scramble the ledger, and wired everything into the Ark's operational fund.

The progress bar crawled. 97%. 98%.

Sweat mixed with the water on her forehead. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.

100%.

Annetta ripped the motherboard out of the terminal. She snapped it in half over her knee and tossed the pieces into the industrial acid vat used for hydroponic cleaning.

Thick, acrid white smoke billowed up as the acid ate through the metal and silicon. The digital trail was dead.

The blast door blew inward with a deafening crash.

Four SWAT officers swarmed into the basement, their riot shields raised. Blinding tactical lights pinned Annetta against the stainless steel sink.

She was standing perfectly still, holding her bleeding hand under the running faucet, washing the blood from her knuckles.

An agent charged forward, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and slammed her face-first into the concrete wall. The cold steel of a gun barrel pressed hard against the base of her skull.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" he screamed.

Annetta let out a weak, pathetic whimper. Her body trembled violently.

"I... I just needed her medicine," Annetta cried, her voice cracking with perfect, manufactured terror. "My daughter's asthma inhaler. Please."

Another agent opened the metal cabinet. Clara was huddled inside, shivering. Scattered on the floor next to her were three standard albuterol inhalers Annetta had kicked over earlier.

The lead agent scoffed in disgust.

"Stupid rich bitch," he muttered. "Can't even run away right. Drag them upstairs."

Annetta let her body go limp, allowing the agents to haul her up the stairs by her arms. She kept her head down, her wet hair hiding her face.

In the shadows, the corner of her mouth twitched upward. The seeds were safe. The Ark was funded. They were going to survive.