Chapter 116: Beneath The Ashes

Emily's world fractured in a burst of dust and noise.

 The explosion roared through the water treatment plant, metal and concrete collapsing in on itself. 

She hit the ground hard, the breath torn from her lungs as the floor beneath her buckled.

For a moment, there was nothing—just a ringing in her ears, a weight pressing down on her chest, and the thick, suffocating taste of dust in her mouth.

Then, sound rushed back in distant gunfire,the groan of metal struggling to hold itself together, avoice—Lena's? Jared's? She couldn't tell.

Emily forced herself to move, every muscle screaming in protest. 

She coughed, dragging in a ragged breath as she pushed off the debris pinning her down. 

A slab of concrete had missed crushing her by inches, propped at an angle against the rusted remains of a catwalk.

She rolled onto her side, blinking against the dust cloud still settling around her. The plant was in ruins.