Chapter Four - Heat Comes Through the Walls

When the first chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling, everyone took the same step back. It was not the sound of the whole facility collapsing. It was the sound of metal and concrete expanding past their limits and still trying to hold together. Elliot saw the north ventilation cover glowing red outside the duct frame, like steel left too long in a furnace. Give it ten more minutes and the underground corridor would become a heat shaft. "Seal the medical room outer door first," he said. Sophie blinked. "There are seven people inside." "If we don't seal it, the heat kills twenty outside it." Nobody argued. Carl and Nad hauled the door shut. Mara stayed where she was, staring at the man who had just seized up on the floor.