Chapter 13 - Fire and Concrete
Alarms began to wail throughout the underground bunker as automated sprinkler systems hissed to life, pumping thick, blinding white smoke into the control room. Coughing violently, Sarah shielded Leo behind her while Ryan tackled his father to the concrete floor, the two men wrestling fiercely amidst the flashing warning lights. ""You can't bury the past, Ryan! The foundation demands a sacrifice!"" the old man laughed maniacally, resisting with unnatural strength before breaking free and vanishing through a hidden revolving bookcase in the back of the room. Ryan scrambled to his feet, coughing smoke, and grabbed Sarah and the children, rushing toward the heavy steel bookcase. Behind them, tongues of orange fire erupted from the automated electrical banks, quickly engulfing the vintage monitors and scorching the concrete walls. They pushed through the rotating bookcase just as the ceiling beams began to groan under the immense pressure of the burning house above.
They emerged into a narrow, crumbling concrete tunnel leading straight upward toward daylight, but as they reached the surface exit, a massive slab of fallen concrete slammed down, sealing the escape route completely shut.
