The underground facility buzzed with tension. A metallic voice echoed over the intercom:
"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Facility collapse in 20 minutes."
The team froze. Rylan looked at the others, his face grim. "We have to move. Now."
Sana gripped Evelyn's arm, urging her to stand. Evelyn, though weak, nodded and allowed herself to be led. Zara, meanwhile, pulled up the facility's blueprint on her tablet. Her eyes darted across the screen, searching for an escape route.
"This place is a maze," Zara muttered. "But there's a service elevator two levels down. It's our best shot."
The group moved swiftly, but the path wasn't clear. Alarms blared, and red lights flashed as automated defenses activated. Turrets descended from the ceiling, firing at anything that moved.
Rylan led the charge, using a discarded shield to deflect the hail of bullets. "Zara, shut these down!" he shouted.
"I'm trying!" Zara yelled back, fingers flying over her tablet. With a few keystrokes, the turrets powered down, leaving the corridor eerily quiet.
"That was too easy," Sana said, her voice tense.
And she was right. As they turned the corner, they came face-to-face with a squad of Orion's elite guards.
The guards didn't hesitate. Guns blazed, forcing the team to dive for cover. Rylan retaliated, taking out two guards with precision shots. Sana joined in, her movements swift and calculated.
Evelyn crouched behind a console, trembling. Zara huddled next to her, trying to bypass the locks on a door that would lead them closer to the elevator.
"Keep them busy!" Zara called out, her voice tight with concentration.
Rylan threw a smoke grenade, filling the room with a thick gray fog. Using the confusion, he and Sana took down the remaining guards.
"Door's open!" Zara announced.
The group rushed through, slamming the door behind them. But their relief was short-lived. Another announcement crackled through the intercom:
"Fifteen minutes remaining."
As they descended deeper into the facility, Evelyn suddenly stopped. "Wait," she said, her voice barely audible.
"We don't have time for this!" Rylan snapped.
"No, listen to me," Evelyn insisted. "Orion... he's not trying to escape. He's leading us into a trap."
Her words hung in the air like a heavy fog. Zara frowned. "How do you know?"
Evelyn hesitated, then admitted, "Because I helped design this facility. There's no way out through the lower levels. The elevator is a decoy."
"You knew this the whole time?" Sana demanded, her voice sharp with anger.
"I didn't remember until now!" Evelyn protested. "The stress must have triggered something."
Rylan cursed under his breath. "Then where's the real exit?"
Evelyn looked down, guilt written all over her face. "It's back on the upper levels."
Zara groaned. "Fantastic. We've been running in the wrong direction."
The group doubled back, retracing their steps as precious minutes ticked away. The facility seemed to fight them at every turn. Doors sealed shut, forcing Zara to hack into each one. Gas filled certain corridors, and the floor beneath them trembled with distant explosions.
As they reached the upper levels, they found themselves in a massive control room. Screens lined the walls, displaying live feeds of the facility's systems. At the center stood Orion himself, flanked by more guards.
"Ah, you've finally arrived," Orion said, his tone mocking. "I was beginning to think you'd perish in the lower levels."
Rylan raised his gun, but Orion held up a hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. One wrong move, and I can accelerate the self-destruct timer."
"Why are you doing this?" Sana demanded. "What's the point of all this destruction?"
Orion's smile was cold. "You still don't understand, do you? This isn't destruction. It's evolution. When this facility falls, the world will feel its impact. Chaos breeds opportunity."
Zara's eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that could turn the tide in their favor. She spotted a console connected to the main systems and began inching toward it.
Rylan kept Orion distracted. "You think you'll survive this? You're delusional."
"Survive?" Orion chuckled. "Oh, I don't plan to be here when this place collapses. My transport is already waiting. Can you say the same?"
While Orion spoke, Zara reached the console and plugged in her tablet. She whispered into her comm, "Give me 30 seconds. I can override the guards' weapons."
"Make it 20," Rylan replied, eyeing the guards, who looked ready to fire at any moment.
The tension in the room was palpable. Evelyn stood frozen, torn between guilt and fear. Sana positioned herself near Orion, ready to strike if the opportunity arose.
Suddenly, Zara's voice came through the comm. "Done!"
The guards' weapons powered down, leaving them defenseless. Rylan and Sana sprang into action, taking them down in quick succession. Orion, however, wasn't so easily subdued.
He activated a hidden mechanism, causing the floor beneath him to rise. A platform carried him toward an escape hatch in the ceiling.
"Stop him!" Rylan shouted.
Sana lunged forward, grabbing Orion's ankle. He kicked her away, but not before she managed to pull a keycard from his pocket.
"Nice try," Orion sneered as the hatch closed behind him.
With Orion gone, the team focused on finding the real exit. Evelyn pointed to a schematic on one of the screens. "There's a hidden tunnel near the west wing. It leads directly to the surface."
"Then let's move!" Rylan said.
The group sprinted through the facility as the countdown reached its final minutes. Explosions rocked the building, and debris fell around them.
They reached the west wing, only to find the tunnel entrance blocked by rubble. Zara examined the blockage. "We can clear this, but it'll take time."
"We don't have time!" Rylan said, his voice rising in frustration.
As the team scrambled to clear the rubble, a low hum filled the air. Evelyn's eyes widened in horror.
"No... it can't be," she whispered.
"What is it?" Sana asked.
Evelyn pointed to the ceiling, where a red light blinked ominously. "Orion activated the fail-safe. This isn't just a self-destruct. He's rigged the facility to collapse into a sinkhole. If we don't get out in the next two minutes, we're all going down with it."
The team froze, the weight of her words sinking in. Their window of escape was closing fast, and Orion was already long gone.
As they worked furiously to clear the rubble, a deep rumble echoed through the facility. The ceiling began to crack, and the ground beneath them shifted. Would they make it out alive, or was this the end?