The source of the terrifying sound was finally right in front of them, and the sight turned their blood to ice. They were standing at the terminus of the central hallway, facing a heavily fortified, massive steel vault door that looked like it belonged in a nuclear facility. The door was actively failing.
The thick steel plating was violently bowing outward into the hallway, its massive iron rivets strained to their absolute limit. A high-velocity, invisible hiss of superheated, chemically charged air was forcefully screaming through the failing rubber gaskets around the frame. The entire steel structure was shifting, groaning, and popping under thousands of pounds of pressure. “We need to get the hell out of here,” Jannik whispered, grabbing Lukas’s arm as the heavy metal frame let out another sharp pop. “This door is a ticking time bomb.”
Lukas hesitated, staring at the thick, spider-webbed glass observation porthole in the center of the door. “We are already here. Let’s just look inside to see what’s causing this before we run. If there’s a major gas leak, we need to know what to tell the authorities.” They stood in the hot, humid corridor, fiercely arguing whether to flee or take one quick look.