He cut the twenty-minute drive down to ten, pushing the car to its limits.

The area ahead remained shrouded in smoke and dust, obscuring everything from view. As Vincent’s car neared the outskirts of the explosion’s epicenter, the scene came into view. People were being helped to safety, but the destruction was immense.

Some addicts, too high or weak to escape, were dragging themselves out of the wreckage. The chaos was overwhelming—like something out of a nightmare.

The outer edges of the slum remained mostly intact, with only a few houses collapsing from the tremors. Due to their simple structures, the collapsed buildings didn’t result in any casualties.

But Vincent’s car couldn’t go any further. The debris and wreckage blocked the way. He had no choice but to abandon the car and run.

He sprinted over the rubble, his focus so sharp that he barely registered the debris underfoot. He moved like a man possessed, charging deeper into the wreckage as if the uneven ground didn’t exist.

It took Vincent a full ten minutes of running to reach the heart of the neighborhood, a testament to how vast the area was.

As he pressed on, the severity of the injuries became more apparent. Most of the victims were drug addicts, their bodies too sluggish from the drugs to react swiftly. They had been trapped in the chaos, unable to escape the blast in time.

Vincent ignored everything happening around him as panic overtook him. His only thought was finding Katelyn.

But she had vanished without a trace. No matter how desperately Vincent searched the area, Katelyn remained missing. The only people around were drug users, a few hired guards, and doctors involved in the drug production.

Vincent scoured every corner of the shattered villa. Outside the ruins, he stared numbly at the wreckage before him. His legs shook violently, yet he willed himself to stay upright.

Explore captivating tales at gα?ησν?so

Meanwhile, Jaxen joined the frantic search, peering through the lingering dust clouds for any sign of her. Like Vincent, he found nothing. Had the rubble buried her beneath it all? The thought struck Jaxen, and panic surged through his body, his palms soaking with sweat.

In a quiet whisper, he said, “Katelyn, please tell me you’re alright.” The words weren’t meant for anyone but himself. It seemed that by whispering them, he could make himself believe that Katelyn was safe.

But the devastation told a different story. It seemed inevitable that Katelyn lay beneath the wreckage, perhaps with no trace remaining due to the explosion’s force. The possibility of finding her intact now seemed nearly impossible.

Surrounded by debris, Vincent urgently pulled out his phone and dialed Samuel’s number. “Samuel, I need men here right now. Turn over every stone and plank until Katelyn is found!”

.

.

.