The industrial hatch bunker didn't open so much as it was forced, the heavy steel screaming against its rusted hinges as Hansen slammed his shoulder into the manual release. The sound echoed up the shaft, a hollow, metallic tolling that heralded the end of a nightmare.
The cold morning air hit them like a physical blow. It was sharp, tasting of salt from the nearby docks. After the suffocating smell of burning chemicals in the lab, the transition was jarring. It was too bright, too quiet, and the world felt disturbingly vast after the claustrophobia of the extraction chamber.
