15
The early morning air clung to their skin, damp with mist and the residue of last night's rain. Broken streetlights flickered in the distance, throwing long, skeletal shadows across the empty streets. Every echo of dripping water, every scuff of their shoes, sounded like a warning in the silence. Emma's absence pressed on them like a physical weight, each step heavier than the last.
Adrian flexed his fingers around the crowbar he carried, knuckles whitening, jaw tight. Every second counts. She's waiting. We can't falter now. "Once we go in," he muttered, voice low, "we don't hesitate."
Elena kept pace beside him, her tactical flashlight cutting through the pre-dawn gloom. Her eyes darted to every broken window, every rusted vehicle, every shadow that might hide an enemy. I can't let fear paralyze me. Emma needs us steady. "We find her," she said steadily, the edge of fury sharpening her tone. "We end this."
