The reinforced blast door slammed shut behind them with a deep metallic boom.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Only heavy breathing echoed faintly through respirators while dust drifted slowly through the dark underground corridor.
The outside noise vanished almost instantly.
No screaming infected.
No distant roars.
No gunfire echoing across ruined streets.
Just silence.
Cold.
Heavy silence.
Ryan slowly turned his flashlight farther down the corridor ahead.
"…I honestly think this is worse."
One operator beside him quietly answered.
"Agreed."
The underground passage stretched deep beneath Beijing like the throat of some buried machine. Reinforced concrete walls lined both sides of the tunnel while thick utility pipes ran overhead beside damaged cable trays and emergency lighting systems.
Some lights still worked.
Barely.
Dim red emergency lamps flickered weakly every several meters, casting uneven shadows through the corridor.
