After several agonizing minutes, Agent Brooks finally emerged from the hole, a fresh smudge of dust across her jacket sleeve. She exhaled a sharp breath to steady herself before turning to face them. “Mr. Woods. Ms. Clarke,” she said, her voice calm but taut as a wire, “we’re going to have to open that door.” Megan’s eyes widened. “Is that even safe?”
Brooks didn’t pretend to know. “We’re taking every precaution we have. But whatever’s behind that door is the source, the engine driving the fungal growth. Leaving it sealed could make things exponentially worse.” “And if we breathe something in?” Daniel asked, the image of spore clouds vivid in his mind. “That’s why you’re staying up here,” Brooks stated, her tone leaving no room for argument. “We’ll be fully suited.” As if on cue, another agent climbed up and hauled a heavy, metallic toolkit clanking toward the opening.
Dr. Halpern stepped forward, now wearing a full respirator mask that obscured the lower half of his face. “We’ll break the seal slowly,” he explained, his voice slightly distorted. “Check the differential air pressure and the spore count. If we detect anything hazardous, we close it immediately and reassess.” A third agent descended with a portable containment curtain, unfolding the flexible, transparent barrier to prevent anything from drifting up into the house.
This wasn’t a drill or some routine inspection. The very air felt charged, and even the agents’ clipped communications carried a low, worried edge they couldn’t fully mask. Daniel reached over and clasped Megan’s cold hand. She didn’t pull away. Below, the agents positioned themselves around the sealed door. Brooks gave a small, sharp nod. “On my count,” she said through the radio, her voice echoing faintly from the hole and the device on her shoulder. “Three… two… one.”
A deep, metallic groan reverberated through the floorboards, a sound of profound strain. Then came a sharp, piercing hiss, followed by the unsettling, wet crackle of pressurized air escaping a space sealed for years. “Seal’s broken,” someone called out, voice strained with effort. “No visible dispersal. Readings are… stable for now.” Megan’s grip tightened painfully around Daniel’s fingers. Below them, metal scraped against metal, hinges screeched in protest, and Halpern’s muffled voice floated upward from behind his mask. “Opening… carefully…”
Then nothing.