Nineteen Minutes to Extinction

Red lights strobed wildly across the shelter, the alarm blaring so loudly that it seemed to drill straight into my skull.

I didn't even bother wiping the sweat off my face. I just ran, hauling my heavy precision welding kit down the hallway toward the heart of the entire shelter: the fusion core.

If it blew, all 30 thousand people here would turn into frozen statues in an instant.

Outside, the temperature sat at -112 degrees. Without the core's heat, no one would last ten minutes.

I was almost at the basement entrance when a woman in a fur coat suddenly stepped out and blocked me.

She was Miranda Dunn, the mistress of Leon Garrett, the guard captain.

In a world where even potatoes were rationed, she still had flawless makeup on.

"Stop right there, Zach! What are you sneaking around with?"

She spread her arms and blocked my path, her eyes sharp and suspicious.

"Move! The core's about to blow. I need to get in there and fix it!" My throat felt raw as I tried to push past her.

Miranda shoved me hard. I stumbled into the wall, and the repair case slammed to the floor with a heavy crash.

"Fix it? Looks more like you're planning to poison us!"

She raised her voice, the sound echoing harshly through the corridor.

"Everyone, come look! Zach's about to dump poison into the vents! I didn't approve a private room for him two days ago, and now he wants us all dead!"

The alarm had already drawn a crowd. Panicked residents filled the hallway. At her shout, dozens of eyes snapped toward me.

"Miranda, have you lost it?" I snapped. "That's liquid metal repair compound, not poison!"

I scrambled up, reaching for the case on the ground.

"Don't move! Hands up!"

A squad of fully armed guards rushed in, led by Leon. He strode over and pulled Miranda into his arms, his gaze turning cold as he looked at me.

"Zach. What do you think you're doing?"

"Captain Garrett, the core pressure's at critical. If we don't fix it now, it'll be too late!"

I pointed at the flashing red numbers on the wall, my voice shaking.

Miranda clung to him, pointing at my case as she shrieked, "He's lying! He said it himself. He wants revenge. He's going to dump poison into the cooling system! He's just bitter I wouldn't give him a private room. Someone like him would do anything!"

Leon let out a cold scoff and waved his hand.

"Hold him down. Search the case."

Two large guards lunged forward and pinned me, slamming my face against the freezing metal door. My glasses hit the floor and shattered under Leon's boot.

"Leon! Look at the panel! That's a core overload warning!"

I struggled, my cheek scraping against the metal until I felt skin break.

Leon flipped open my case and stared at the canisters of silver liquid inside.

"What is this? No labels. Looks like some kind of toxic chemical to me."

He picked one up, like he was about to smash it on the ground.

"Don't! That's high-purity nano repair compound. There are only three cans left in the entire shelter!"

My vision went red.

If the core melted down without it, nothing could save us!

"Zach, you're quite the actor."