The circular doorway opened another inch.
A deafening roar erupted from the other side. The black tendrils stretched through the opening, spreading across the chamber like living roots.
“Ryan, close it!” Father shouted.
Ryan raised both hands. Golden energy surrounded his body, but the doorway resisted. The seventh symbol on his chest burned like fire.
“I can’t control it!”
Daniel stepped closer from the other side.
“Don’t fight me, brother. You don’t understand what Father did.”
A sudden wave of memories struck Ryan’s mind.
He saw a hospital room. His mother holding a newborn baby. Father standing beside a machine, crying as doctors carried a small boy toward a glass chamber.
Then he heard Daniel’s voice.
“They didn’t abandon me because I was dangerous. They abandoned me because I remembered the truth.”
Ryan staggered.
“What truth?”
Daniel pointed behind him.
“The organism wasn’t discovered beneath Karachi. It was brought here.”
Father shouted, “That’s enough!”
But Daniel continued.
“Something came from beyond the stars. It entered Earth long before humans existed. Your father found its remains and tried to bring it back to life.”
Meher’s voice crackled through the radio.
“Ryan, I’m detecting a massive energy surge. The infected across Karachi are moving toward the facility!”
Hamza looked at the security monitor.
Thousands of zombies were approaching the underground entrance. Some were crawling along walls, while others climbed over abandoned military vehicles.
“They’re coming for us!”
Zara fired at a tendril approaching her leg.
“Then we need to leave. Now!”
Suddenly, Elias screamed.
The golden hand released him, and he crashed onto the floor. His body was covered in black veins.
“Ryan!” he gasped. “The device! Destroy it!”
Ryan turned toward the control panel. Elias’s metallic device was still connected, feeding energy into the seventh lock.
He rushed forward.
But Daniel stretched his hand through the doorway.
“STOP!”
A black tendril wrapped around Ryan’s wrist.
His golden energy disappeared instantly.
Father grabbed a metal pipe and struck the tendril. It released Ryan, but a second tendril caught Father around the chest.
“Dad!” Ryan shouted.
Father looked at him desperately.
“Listen to me! The only way to close the door is to destroy the original heart!”
Ryan stared at the opening.
“Where is it?”
Father pointed toward Daniel.
“Inside him.”
Daniel’s innocent expression vanished.
His mouth opened unnaturally wide, revealing rows of black teeth.
Behind him, the thousands of connected figures began screaming together.
Then Daniel stepped through the doorway.