The office tower was a skeleton of glass and steel. The beacon was on the top floor, but the elevators were dead, and the stairwell was blocked by rubble. Jiang Yuan used his Wall Climb ability to scale the side of the building, his fingers digging into the concrete.
Halfway up, he heard a sound. A human sound.
"Help… please…"
It was a woman's voice, coming from a broken window on the 12th floor. Jiang Yuan hesitated. The beacon was his priority, but he couldn't leave someone to die.
He climbed into the window, finding a young woman huddled in the corner, her leg broken, her face streaked with tears.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
"Jiang Yuan. I'm here to help."
He used the first-aid kit from his backpack to splint her leg, then helped her to her feet. "Can you walk?"
She nodded, leaning on him for support. "My name is Li Na. I was hiding here when the monsters came."
Jiang Yuan helped Li Na to the stairwell, clearing the rubble block by block. It took an hour, but they finally reached the top floor. The beacon was there, a small, red light blinking in the darkness.
[Beacon 2/5 reached. Next beacon: 2 km south. Warning: a large-scale conflict is underway in the commercial district.]
Li Na looked at Jiang Yuan, her eyes filled with fear. "What do we do now?"
Jiang Yuan looked out the window, at the chaos in the commercial district. "We keep going."