The fire started in the laboratory.
It spread fast. Chemicals that were never meant to meet fire had found it anyway.
The reaction made the flames grow stronger, feeding on every surface they reached. Heat built up in seconds, turning the air thick.
One barrel ruptured near the ventilation duct, and the heat that followed turned the whole underground space into a furnace.
Francis walked out through the main entrance as the first section of the roof caved in.
He did not run. He just moved at a steady pace, leaving the sound of collapsing structure behind him.
Seconds later, the pressure gave way.
BOOM!
Fire burst outward in a wide wave, breaking across everything it reached.
Orange light stretched across the lot, throwing long shadows across the gravel.
He stopped about a hundred meters out and looked back at the scene, admiring his work.
The storage building. The quarters where the workers slept. The main structure where the bikers drank and laughed only hours before.
