The explosion swallowed the world.
Heat slammed into Bianca’s back like a collapsing building.
The corridor behind her vanished in white light.
Concrete shattered.
Steel screamed.
Fire roared through the underground facility like something alive.
Bianca barely had time to throw herself forward before the shockwave hit.
The blast launched her down the hallway hard enough to knock the air from her lungs.
She crashed against concrete painfully, still gripping Maya’s wrist.
For a few seconds— everything became noise.
Rumbling metal.
Screaming children.
The sound of the earth itself breaking apart.
Then darkness.
Not complete darkness.
Emergency lights flickering weakly overhead.
Smoke flooding the corridors.
The Red Room was dying.
Bianca coughed violently, forcing herself upright.
Pain exploded through her shoulder immediately.
“…ow.”
Maya groaned beside her.
Several children lay nearby crying or stunned.
Dust covered everyone completely now.
The hallway ahead had partially collapsed.
Chunks of concrete blocked most of the path.
Behind them— nothing remained.
Only fire.
Only destruction.
Bianca stared at the inferno swallowing the corridor they’d escaped from.
Subject Twelve was gone.
The realization hit strangely hard.
She hadn’t even known his real name.
The system flickered weakly across her vision.
[ Emergency Objective Completed ]
[ Escape The Facility ]
[ Optional Objective Failed ]
Destroy Red Room Data Archives
Bianca blinked at the screen.
“…seriously?”
Now?
THIS was when it wanted to discuss side quests?
The system remained silent.
Rude as always.
Another tremor shook the underground structure violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The reactor alarms screamed overhead again.
REACTOR FAILURE IMMINENT.
FULL STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE EXPECTED.
“Fantastic,” Bianca muttered.
Maya slowly sat up beside her breathing shakily.
“…is he dead?”
Bianca didn’t answer immediately.
Because honestly?
She didn’t know.
What even counted as death after whatever THAT was?
But deep down— she already understood.
People didn’t survive things like that.
Not normal people anyway.
And Subject Twelve had stopped being normal a long time ago.
Bianca pushed herself fully upright ignoring the pain shooting through her body.
“We need to keep moving.”
Several children nearby looked terrified.
One little girl clung tightly to Bianca’s sleeve.
“Are we gonna die?”
The question hit harder than Bianca expected.
She looked down at the trembling child for several long seconds.
Then sighed softly.
“…not today.”
She hoped she wasn’t lying.
The group began moving again through the collapsing underground corridors.
No guards stopped them now.
No instructors screamed orders.
The Red Room’s control was gone.
And somehow— that almost felt stranger than the chaos.
The children moved awkwardly.
Uncertainly.
Like they didn’t know how to function without fear directing every step.
Bianca noticed one boy flinch every time someone spoke too loudly.
Another girl instinctively apologized whenever she bumped into something.
Tiny things.
Broken things.
The Red Room had carved itself deep into all of them.
Bianca hated it.
Smoke thickened the deeper they moved.
Several corridors had already collapsed completely.
Fire spread rapidly through ventilation shafts overhead.
The entire underground facility felt like it was sinking.
Then Maya suddenly stopped walking.
Bianca looked back. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
“What?”
Maya stared toward a nearby hallway silently.
Fear spread slowly across her face.
“No…”
Bianca followed her gaze.
And froze.
Rows of doors lined the hallway.
Small metal doors.
Cells.
Dozens of them.
Children inside pounded weakly against reinforced windows.
Bianca’s stomach dropped.
“Oh no.”
Maya’s breathing turned uneven instantly.
“They locked the lower subjects inside during emergency protocol…”
Bianca stared at her.
“…you’re kidding.”
Maya looked sick.
“They were never meant to survive evacuation.”
For one horrible second—
Bianca genuinely considered simply continuing toward the exit.
Not because she wanted to.
Because survival screamed at her to.
The facility was collapsing.
Every second mattered.
Going back could kill all of them.
Then she looked toward the trapped children behind the reinforced doors.
Terrified faces stared back at her.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Bianca closed her eyes briefly.
“…I hate being a decent person.”
Maya looked like she wanted to cry from stress.
“Bianca—”
“We’re opening them.”
The older boy from earlier stepped forward immediately.
“There’s no time!”
Bianca snapped toward him.
“Then leave.”
Silence.
The boy flinched slightly.
Bianca immediately regretted her tone.
God.
She sounded angry all the time now.
Maybe trauma really did things to people.
The system flickered softly.
[ Behavioral Shift Detected ]
“Yeah no kidding,” Bianca muttered.
The little girl still holding her sleeve looked up.
“Who are you talking to?”
“Honestly? I’m trying to figure that out too.”
Bianca moved toward the nearest cell door quickly.
Heavy steel.
Electronic lock.
Wonderful.
She looked toward Maya.
“How do we open these?”
Maya swallowed nervously.
“There should be a manual override panel…”
Another violent tremor interrupted her.
The ceiling cracked loudly overhead.
Concrete crashed behind them sealing off part of the hallway completely.
Time was running out.
Fast.
Bianca spotted the control panel beside the security door.
She immediately slammed her fist against it.
Nothing happened.
“…worth trying.”
Maya pushed past her quickly and tore open the damaged wiring panel.
Sparks burst outward.
The girl’s shaking hands moved surprisingly fast across the circuitry.
“You know electronics?”
“Everyone here learns basic systems.”
Right.
Of course they did.
This place trained children like weapons.
The thought made Bianca sick all over again.
Then suddenly— the first cell door clicked open.
A small boy stumbled out immediately before hugging Maya tightly.
The girl froze.
Like she wasn’t used to physical affection.
Slowly— awkwardly— she hugged him back.
Bianca looked away quietly.
Something about that hurt to watch.
More doors unlocked one by one.
Children flooded shakily into the hallway.
Some crying.
Some silent.
Some looking completely numb.
Bianca counted quickly.
Too many.
Way too many.
“How many levels does this place have?”
Maya hesitated. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“…seven.”
Bianca stared at her.
“This place is literally an underground supervillain nightmare.”
Maya blinked.
“…what’s a supervillain?”
Bianca froze.
Then remembered these kids basically hadn’t experienced normal life.
No movies.
No internet.
No stupid memes.
God.
That somehow hurt more.
Another explosion shook the underground complex violently.
Smoke surged through the hallways thicker now.
The reactor was close.
Very close.
Then suddenly— gunfire echoed somewhere ahead.
Everyone froze instantly.
Bianca’s pulse spiked.
Not guards.
Different.
Controlled bursts.
Professional.
Maya whispered fearfully:
“Security team?”
Bianca listened carefully.
Then frowned.
“No…”
The rhythm sounded different somehow.
More precise.
Then voices echoed faintly through the smoke ahead.
Not Russian.
English.
“Clear the corridor!”
“Move!”
“Check for survivors!”
The children immediately panicked harder.
More soldiers.
More cages.
More control.
Bianca felt it too.
Distrust slammed into her chest instantly.
Authority.
Weapons.
Orders.
Her body reacted before logic did.
The system flickered softly.
[ Trauma Response Triggered ]
Bianca clenched her jaw.
“…great.”
Bright tactical lights suddenly cut through the smoke ahead.
Figures emerged through the collapsing hallway wearing black combat armor.
Masks.
Weapons.
Professional movements.
Not Red Room.
Different.
One of the agents immediately spotted the children.
“We found survivors!”
Another voice answered through comms:
“Secure the area. Priority target may still be present.”
Bianca immediately hated the phrase “priority target.”
The lead agent slowly lowered their weapon slightly upon seeing the terrified children.
Then their gaze landed on Bianca.
And paused.
Noticed:
the blood the dust the strange glowing fractures fading weakly around her fingertips
The agent’s posture shifted instantly.
Careful now.
Interested.
Dangerous.
Bianca felt cold crawl down her spine.
Not safety.
Not rescue.
Assessment.
Like they were already evaluating her.
The lead operative stepped forward slowly.
“We’re here to help.”
Bianca laughed once.
A tired broken sound.
“Yeah,” she whispered, “I’m officially never trusting that sentence again.”
Behind the agents— snow drifted softly through the shattered exit above.
Open sky visible beyond the smoke for the first time in what felt like forever.
Freedom was right there.
And somehow—
Bianca still felt trapped again.
Don’t worry guy’s the real chaos is only starting I’ll be offline for Days now so I won’t be able to post chapters due to exam’s.
I wanna thank you all for staying with me this far hope you enjoyed the novel, and make sure you tell me of any errors so I can edit it.