"Damn it, he's doing this on purpose!" Bill snarled, his voice rising. "Let's do this—smash the door! Once we're inside, everything in there is ours!"
His words electrified the crowd.
Gripping whatever makeshift weapons they had, they struck harder, faster.
Bang—bang—bang!
The blows echoed through the stairwell.
Inside, Richard watched calmly.
When the timing felt right, he pressed a red button.
With a soft mechanical click, a narrow slit opened above the door.
A faint stream of red smoke began to seep out.
At first, no one noticed.
Then, someone sniffed.
"What… what's that smell?—Ah-choo!"
A sudden sneeze.
Then another.
And another.
Soon, people were sneezing uncontrollably—four, five times in a row, their noses itching, burning, impossible to resist.
"What the hell—ah-choo!—ah-choo! Damn it—ah-choo!!"
One after another, they doubled over, eyes watering, noses running, their bodies wracked with relentless sneezing.
Any thought of breaking down the door vanished.
