Chapter 4 - The Sub-Zero Trap
Victoria took a step back, grabbing the heavy edge of the freezer door with her free hand.
"Victoria, don't!" Mark roared, charging forward across the icy floor.
With a cold, decisive slam, Victoria pulled the heavy steel door shut.
BANG!
The heavy mechanical latch snapped into place from the outside. A second later, the distinct, metallic sound of an external padlock sliding through the handle loop echoed through the thick steel plating.
Darkness descended on the walk-in freezer, broken only by a faint, blue emergency bulb mounted near the ceiling. The heavy roar of the cooling units hummed overhead, pumping sub-zero air into the sealed chamber at double capacity.
"Mark! Mark!" Lucy screamed, scrambling forward on her knees as far as her bound feet would allow.
Mark threw his heavy shoulder against the inside of the door. THUD! The reinforced steel didn't even vibrate. He grabbed the emergency safety plunger—the green plastic button designed to allow trapped workers to open the door from the inside—and jammed his palm against it with all his strength.
Nothing happened. The mechanical linkage outside had been jammed with an iron rod.
"She disabled the safety release!" Mark cursed, striking the metal door with his bare fist until his knuckles bled. "Victoria! Open this door!"
Outside, through the thick insulation, Victoria’s voice came through faint and distorted, like a ghost speaking from another world.
"The health inspector arrives at noon, Mark," she said calmly. "By the time anyone checks the deep freeze for inventory tonight, the temperature will have dropped to minus twenty. A tragic accident... an equipment malfunction. Such a shame about the whole family."
Footsteps echoed away down the kitchen hallway, fading into complete silence.
Inside the freezer, the temperature was already minus ten degrees Celsius. Frost began to bloom across the metal shelves, coating the boxes of frozen produce and seafood in a layer of white ice.
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Toby was shivering uncontrollably, clutching his mother's jacket. "Daddy... it's cold... it's really cold..."
Mark turned away from the door, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He looked at his pale, shivering wife and his small, injured son, realizing with horrifying clarity that they had less than twenty minutes before hypothermia rendered them unconscious.
