905 My Father Told Me Not to Come Home for Christmas So I Wouldn't Overshadow My Brother—Hours Later, National News Exposed the Dark Truth He Tried to Bury / Chapter 53 / 60

Chapter 53 - The Hidden Conduit

"Got it!" Erica hissed, her terminal flashing a bright, solid green.

With a loud, metallic shriek that echoed off the frozen rock face, the rusted pneumatic latches on the station doors violently disengaged. The heavy steel panels drifted open, revealing a steep, vertical shaft plunging into absolute darkness, smelling sharply of ozone and stagnant grease.

"Move!" Jason commanded, shoving Erica inside just as the distant rumble of a vehicle's tires echoed from the lower access road.

Liam slipped through the doorway last, slamming the heavy steel door shut behind them and throwing the manual deadbolt just as the crunch of gravel and crunching snow signaled the arrival of the patrol transport outside.

Inside the shaft, the only illumination came from the faint, blue-white glow of Erica’s terminal screen. Hanging in the center of the vertical drop was an old iron cable car, its glass panels frosted over and coated in decades of grime.

"The manual winch system is up here," Erica said, shining her tactical flashlight toward a heavy cast-iron brake lever mounted to the rock wall. "If we release the gravity brake, the weight of our descent should pull us down the track—provided the steel cable hasn't rusted through the core."

Jason stepped onto the creaking metal floor of the cable car, pulling Erica and Liam inside after him. "We don't have a choice. The patrol unit outside is already checking the perimeter."

Jason grabbed the heavy iron brake lever and pulled hard.

For one agonizing second, nothing happened. The entire structure groaned under a massive weight, a high-pitched screech of metal-on-metal vibrating through the floorboards. Then, with a sudden, stomach-churning drop, the cable car lurched forward and plunged down the cliffside into the abyss.

The wind roared outside the thin glass windows as they plummeted down the sheer rock face, the speed accelerating with every second. Erica gasped, grabbing onto Jason’s arm as the car rattled violently along the frozen guide rails.

"Hold on!" Liam shouted, bracing his shoulder against the interior frame.

With a bone-rattling thud that knocked the wind out of all three of them, the cable car slammed into the lower terminal bumper, the automatic spring brakes engaging just in time to prevent a catastrophic collision.

The dust settled in the cramped interior, mingling with the smell of burnt rubber and cold iron.

Jason pushed open the warped side door of the car, stepping out onto a narrow concrete platform tucked deep beneath the overhang of the main chalet's foundations. A heavy steel fire door marked Utility Access - Level 1 stood ten feet away, illuminated by a single, flickering emergency bulb.

"We're inside," Jason said, chambering a round in his carbine.