Kai felt something amiss during this whole ordeal. As if he had forgotten something crucial, the corner of his mind kept replaying everything that happened. And of course, he knew about the nukes and Zeff's plan for them. Two large doors guarded this dangerous place.
But those doors were destroyed. Seriously? he thought, glancing toward the red‑haired troublemaker.
Kai knew only a few could exert that kind of firepower.
"Yeah. I didn't know there were nukes here before. I'd have been more careful if I did," Crimson said with a smile that looked far less apologetic than his words.
Crimson and Bucky led the way, with hostage Kai trailing behind. People from both sides followed their leaders, a fragile line separating their march toward the bunker.
The dim red emergency lighting painted Bucky's uniform in shadow. On his left arm, the insignia of his rank was dulled by soot and dust. In his right hand, he gripped a ring of ancient‑looking security keys—the only thing standing between hundreds of civilians and certain death. The key had a digital code that unlocked the bunker's interface.
Everyone from the infirmary was right behind them, including his sister, somewhere in that crowd.
Some people were still stuck in the quarters, and as much as he disliked leaving them behind, everyone had priorities.
He passed a row of reinforced viewing slits, behind which nuclear warheads sat buried in steel cradles—cold and indifferent. Their mere presence pressed on his chest like a lead weight. He tore his gaze away. That wasn't his mission. Not tonight.
At the sealed bunker gate, a cluster of soldiers stood waiting, rifles slung but eyes restless. Behind him, huddled civilians stood, their faces pale and drawn from days underground.
"Stand clear," Bucky ordered, voice steady though his throat burned with urgency.
He slipped the first key into the terminal, spinning it until the panel screeched awake. Green and amber lights flickered across the console, bathing the concrete walls in a ghostly glow. With a sharp twist, he turned the final release.
Somewhere deep within the machinery, hydraulics groaned like a wounded beast. Then, with a violent shudder, the bunker doors began to part—splitting open with the grinding of steel against steel. The air tasted of rust, dust, and the faint bite of old fuel.
As the gateway widened, a shaft of light spilled through from the opposite side, cutting across the gloom like a lifeline. The people surged forward, drawn to it—mothers clutching children, the injured leaning on the strong.
Crimson and his retinue let Bucky stay in front so he wouldn't try any funny business.
Bucky walked, shoulders squared, eyes scanning both the opening and the shadows beyond. There was relief in seeing people pour out, but no comfort. This was only the first step. The warheads were still behind him, and he knew the enemy would not be far behind either.
"The fire aboveground might reach us before the dead."
Bucky knew about the Plague, and he did not wish to join them in any form.
He muttered under his breath, almost too low to hear, "Get them out… no matter the cost."
Then it happened.
A loud bang echoed through the silence of Area Four, each blast louder as it drew closer. This was followed by the hiss of machinery opening all the doors to the quarters.
"What?"
One of the people left behind saw the door open and stepped out. So did everyone around him. Survivors were emerging from their quarters one by one.
They saw people from the infirmary and soldiers walking into a blasted wall—a wall they hadn't known was hiding something.
"Is that a way out?"
"Why didn't anyone tell us about this? What's happening?"
"Hey, are they escaping without us?"
"WHAT?!"
Doubt grew as they watched soldiers walking with their injured comrades—and perhaps their families.
Valer had released the locks on all quarters. She'd done it when she entered the infirmary. The fearful people who had shut themselves in were now out, along with William and his family. That had been her goal—to surprise the army.
She never trusted the military, and after the truce with Crimson, she lost faith in their ways. They might leave others like William behind as collateral to save themselves. She wanted to use the chaos after opening the bunker to escape with them.
Unknown to Kai, his family truly was there, though circumstances shaped by Zeff had convinced him otherwise.
***
The underground base hung in breathless silence, the stale air thick with the weight of what everyone had just witnessed. Crowds pressed shoulder to shoulder along the dimly lit walls of Area Four, their wide eyes fixed on the soldiers above who had committed the unthinkable. No one spoke. Even the hum of machinery seemed to die away, as if the bunker itself recoiled in disbelief.
For a heartbeat, the mob was frozen—numb, suspended between anger and terror. Faces turned pale under the flicker of emergency lights, some mouths agape, others clenched as though sound itself had left them. Then came the first ripple of motion: a single body shoving forward, desperate to escape. Another followed, then another. Fear, once silent, burst like fire through dry grass.
Suddenly, the silence shattered into pounding footsteps and panicked screams. Men, women, and children surged in every direction, colliding in their desperate flight. The narrow tunnels of the base offered no mercy—corridors choked with bodies as the crowd descended into a frenzy. In their rush, they left behind the bunker's heavy doors, which slammed shut without them, sealing safety away while terror drove them deeper into chaos.
A stampede had begun.
"Quick! Get in, everyone!" Crimson shouted.
He didn't know how it happened—how the quarters opened, and now everyone who had despaired until then could see the bunker, the only way out.
Everyone ran as fast as they could.
Bucky was the most confused of all, but he grabbed his sister from the chair and dashed inside without a second thought. Maybe it was instinct, but he knew that if he stopped to think, it would be too late.
And Crimson could feel it in his gut. He knew what would happen next. Before that, he wanted his people out.
But before anyone came to their senses, the worst scenario unfolded. Kai stood frozen, too stunned by the chaos to move. His invisible friend grabbed him—and dragged him into the bunker.
From the far end of the corridor, the silence broke again—this time with slow, uneven footsteps. Figures emerged from the shadows, their movements jerky and unnatural. The first gasps of recognition spread like contagion: the dead had risen. Hollow eyes and twisted mouths reflected in the dim bunker lights as the zombies advanced, hungry and relentless.
Panic ignited into pure frenzy. People clawed at each other to escape, the mob crushing itself tighter against the sealed doors. Those caught at the rear shrieked in horror as the undead closed in, their cries drowned by pounding boots and the raw, primal sounds of a stampede.
"RUN!!"
"No—someone! Save me!"
"It's the Plague! The Plaguebeast is here!"
In the chaos, the stampede became as deadly as the monsters pouring in. Bodies were thrown down, trampled underfoot, struggling hands vanishing beneath an unstoppable tide of fleeing survivors. Half the crowd never made it through—their screams ended either under the crushing weight of human panic or at the tearing jaws of the approaching horde.
The bunker door groaned as the living forced their way through. With a metal slam, it sealed shut, cutting off the cries of those left behind.
Dust and silence fell over the survivors huddled within, the echoes of death still pounding in their ears.
***