Chapter 54: "The Last 10 Minutes"
09:59
09:58
09:57
The red countdown numbers burned across the underground walls like a death sentence.
Emergency alarms screamed through the bunker.
The lights kept flickering violently.
Then—
BOOM.
Another explosion shook the entire structure.
Dust fell from the ceiling instantly.
Maya almost lost balance.
Arman grabbed her wrist immediately.
"Move."
His voice was cold again.
Controlled.
But Maya noticed it.
His hands were shaking slightly.
Not from fear.
From memories.
They ran deeper through the collapsing corridor while emergency sirens echoed endlessly around them.
Every flashing red light made the bunker look more haunted.
More dead.
Maya's heartbeat wouldn't slow down.
Not because of the explosions anymore.
Because of him.
Project Lazarus.
Digital deaths.
Entire lives erased.
And Arman had created it.
The man she trusted…
The man she was slowly falling for…
had once destroyed people for governments.
The thought kept crushing her chest.
Ahead, Arman suddenly stopped near a broken security terminal.
He activated the emergency map quickly.
Static covered most of the screen.
Only one escape route remained open.
Tunnel E-7.
And even that was collapsing slowly.
"We still have a way out," he said quietly.
Maya stared at him.
"You knew innocent people suffered?"
Silence.
Only alarms answered her.
Arman kept staring at the screen.
Then finally—
"Yes."
The word felt heavier than the explosions.
Maya's eyes filled slowly.
"Then why?"
Arman closed his eyes briefly.
As if the answer physically hurt him.
"Because back then…"
His jaw tightened.
"I thought survival mattered more than morality."
Another explosion echoed underground.
The corridor lights flickered again.
Maya looked at him carefully now.
Not as Hidden SEO.
Not as the genius billionaire.
But as a broken man drowning inside his own past.
Arman finally looked toward her.
"You should hate me."
Maya's breathing became uneven.
But before she could answer—
WARNING.
WARNING.
STRUCTURAL FAILURE DETECTED.
The corridor suddenly cracked beneath them.
"RUN!"
Arman pulled Maya instantly.
The floor behind them collapsed into darkness.
Concrete shattered violently downward.
Maya gasped.
They barely escaped before the tunnel disappeared completely.
Both crashed against the emergency wall breathing heavily.
For a moment—
Neither spoke.
Only the countdown continued.
08:12
08:11
08:10
Maya looked at him again.
Sweat. Dust. Blood near his collar.
And still…
he protected her first without hesitation.
Why?
Why would someone who hated himself still save others instinctively?
Arman noticed her staring.
"What?"
Maya whispered softly—
"If you're really a monster…"
A painful pause.
"Why do you keep protecting me?"
Something changed in Arman's expression instantly.
Pain.
Real pain.
Because he didn't know the answer himself.
Suddenly—
A hidden camera above the corridor moved slightly.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
Arman's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Kabir."
Somewhere else inside the bunker—
A dark surveillance room glowed under red emergency lights.
Kabir watched them silently through multiple broken camera feeds.
His expression unreadable.
But his fingers tightened slowly.
Especially when Maya looked at Arman that way.
Like she still believed in him.
Kabir whispered softly to himself—
"You really found someone…"
For one second—
Something painful crossed his face too.
Then it disappeared.
He activated another sequence remotely.
Inside the bunker—
Metal doors suddenly slammed shut ahead of Arman and Maya.
ACCESS DENIED.
Maya stepped back in shock.
"What did he do?!"
Arman moved toward the terminal quickly.
"He's trapping us underground."
The countdown continued.
07:03
07:02
07:01
Arman connected his wrist device directly into the system.
The screen flickered violently.
ACCESS BLOCKED BY ADMINISTRATOR.
Kabir.
Arman's jaw tightened.
"He still uses Black Echo encryption…"
Maya watched him carefully.
"You trained together?"
Arman didn't answer immediately.
Then finally—
"We were raised together."
Maya froze.
Arman kept hacking silently while speaking in a distant voice.
"Black Echo recruited children."
Her eyes widened instantly.
"What?"
"They looked for intelligent kids with unstable lives."
His fingers moved rapidly across the terminal.
"No families. No emotional attachments. No future."
The words sounded personal.
Too personal.
"They turned us into weapons before we even understood morality."
Maya felt chills run through her body.
Suddenly—
So many things about Arman made sense.
The emotional walls.
The silence.
The darkness inside him.
He wasn't born cold.
He was trained to survive without emotions.
The terminal finally unlocked.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The steel door opened slowly.
Arman grabbed Maya's hand again.
"Come on."
But Maya stopped moving.
Arman turned back.
"What happened?"
Her eyes looked shattered.
"Did you ever kill someone?"
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Even the alarms suddenly felt distant.
Arman didn't answer.
And that answer alone terrified her.
He looked away slowly.
"I don't want you to see that version of me."
Maya's chest tightened painfully.
Because for the first time—
Arman sounded afraid.
Not of death.
Of losing her.
Another explosion hit nearby.
The ceiling cracked above them.
Concrete debris crashed down violently.
Arman reacted instantly.
He pulled Maya against himself protectively.
The debris smashed around them.
Dust filled the corridor completely.
Maya froze inside his arms.
His heartbeat was fast.
Strong.
Human.
Not cold.
Not emotionless.
Human.
For a few seconds—
Neither moved.
Then Maya slowly looked up.
Their faces were dangerously close now.
Arman realized it too.
His breathing changed slightly.
Maya whispered softly—
"You keep trying to push me away…"
A pause.
"But every time danger comes…"
Her eyes locked onto his.
"You protect me first."
Arman couldn't speak.
Because she was right.
And that terrified him more than Kabir.
Suddenly—
BOOM.
The emergency wall behind them exploded outward.
The shockwave threw Maya across the corridor.
"MAYA!"
Arman lunged instantly.
But the broken floor collapsed beneath her.
Maya screamed as her body slipped over the edge into darkness.
At the last second—
Arman caught her hand.
Hard.
His injured arm slammed against the metal edge violently.
Blood instantly spread across his sleeve.
Maya hung above a massive underground shaft.
Far below—
Fire burned through broken electrical systems.
The heat rose upward instantly.
"Arman—!"
"Don't look down!"
His muscles trembled violently trying to hold her.
The metal edge beneath him cracked slowly.
Maya looked up at him in panic.
"You'll fall too!"
"I said don't look down!"
His voice echoed brutally through the corridor.
Sweat dripped down his face.
His injured arm was losing strength fast.
But he refused to let go.
Never her.
Not her.
Maya suddenly realized something terrifying.
Arman genuinely valued her life more than his own.
And that realization shattered every fear inside her.
"Why?" she cried.
"Why are you doing this for me?!"
Arman looked directly into her eyes.
And for the first time—
his emotional walls broke completely.
"Because losing you would destroy me."
Silence.
Even the alarms felt distant now.
Maya's eyes filled instantly.
Arman pulled with everything left in his body.
Finally—
he dragged her back onto solid ground.
Both collapsed breathing heavily.
Maya immediately grabbed his bleeding arm.
"You're hurt!"
"It's nothing."
"It's bleeding!"
"I've survived worse."
But his face had turned pale.
Maya tore part of her sleeve quickly and wrapped his wound carefully.
Her hands trembled while doing it.
Arman watched her silently.
No one had cared for him like this before.
Not in years.
Maybe never.
Maya finally whispered—
"You think you deserve destruction…"
Her voice broke slightly.
"But monsters don't sacrifice themselves for people."
Arman looked away immediately.
Because hearing those words hurt more than any wound.
Far away in the surveillance room—
Kabir watched everything silently.
Especially that moment.
Especially the way Maya touched Arman's injured hand.
Kabir's expression darkened slowly.
Then he whispered quietly—
"You changed him…"
For the first time—
Kabir looked angry at Maya herself.
The countdown dropped lower.
03:44
03:43
03:42
The bunker began collapsing faster now.
Emergency sprinklers activated overhead.
Smoke spread through multiple corridors.
Arman stood again painfully.
"We have to move."
Maya nodded.
But before leaving—
she grabbed his hand first.
This time intentionally.
Arman looked surprised.
Maya held his gaze calmly.
"I still don't know if I can forgive your past."
The words hurt.
He expected that.
But then—
"But I know one thing."
A pause.
"You're not the same person anymore."
Arman felt something dangerous happen inside his chest.
Hope.
And after years in darkness—
hope felt terrifying.
They finally reached the final emergency elevator.
But the doors were already open.
Someone stood inside.
Kabir.
Waiting calmly.
The red emergency lights flashed across his face.
He looked almost unreal inside the darkness.
"You made it farther than expected."
Arman instantly stepped in front of Maya.
Kabir noticed.
And smiled faintly.
"You always do that."
His eyes shifted toward Maya.
"You know what his problem is?"
Maya stayed silent.
Kabir's expression became colder.
"He loves too deeply."
Arman's jaw tightened.
"Kabir…"
"But everyone he loves dies eventually."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Maya noticed it.
That sentence hit Arman somewhere deeply personal.
Kabir stepped out of the elevator slowly.
"Twelve years ago…"
His eyes locked onto Arman.
"You couldn't save her either."
Maya froze.
Arman looked emotionally destroyed instantly.
"Kabir stop."
But Kabir continued calmly—
"She begged you to help her."
Arman's breathing became unstable.
"And Project Lazarus erased her anyway."
"STOP!"
Arman finally snapped.
He punched Kabir violently across the face.
Kabir crashed against the elevator wall laughing.
Actually laughing.
Blood dripped from his mouth slowly.
"There he is…"
His eyes looked insane now.
"The real Ghost."
Maya stared at Arman in shock.
Because for one second—
the darkness inside him looked terrifyingly real.
Kabir smiled through blood.
"You can never escape what we are."
The countdown hit final sixty seconds.
00:59
00:58
00:57
Emergency evacuation lights activated instantly.
Kabir stepped backward into the elevator.
Then looked at Maya one final time.
"Careful loving broken men."
The elevator doors started closing.
"Eventually…"
Kabir smiled faintly.
"They break you too."
The doors shut completely.
Arman ran forward instantly—
but too late.
The elevator disappeared upward.
Leaving only silence behind.
And Maya standing there beside him.
Looking at him differently now.
Not with fear.
Not completely with trust either.
Something more painful.
Understanding.
Then suddenly—
the bunker began collapsing completely.
Arman grabbed Maya's hand.
"RUN!"
The final escape tunnel exploded open ahead of them.
Fire chased them through the underground darkness.
Concrete collapsed behind every step.
The entire Black Vault bunker screamed as it died.
Arman and Maya finally burst out into the cold night air—
just as the underground fortress exploded beneath the city.
BOOOOOOM.
Flames erupted upward behind them.
Both crashed onto the rain-soaked ground breathing heavily.
Alive.
Barely alive.
But then—
Maya slowly looked ahead.
And froze.
Police vehicles surrounded the entire area.
Military drones hovered above.
Media reporters everywhere.
Red and blue lights flashing endlessly.
Snipers positioned across rooftops.
And at the center—
Government Intelligence Division officers waiting silently.
Watching Arman.
Like they had been expecting him.
One officer slowly stepped forward.
Then spoke words that made Maya's blood run cold.
"Arman Khan…"
A pause.
"You are under arrest for crimes connected to Project Lazarus."