Across the burning city, the air was thick with smoke and tension. Sirens cried in the distance, and tremors occasionally shook the buildings. The sky itself looked bruised—an unnatural shade of red streaked with ash. But Xing Yu didn't care.
He didn't even blink as another explosion rattled the glass behind him as he drove his car
His fingers flew across the cracked screen of his car console, pulling up the local cab network. Eyes bloodshot from stress, he cross-referenced time stamps, license plates, and camera logs from the school vicinity until finally—
There.
Cab number 7329. Driver: Jin Tao.
He snatched his phone.
Dialing…
Nothing. Dead.
He tried again.
Again.
Seven more times.
The tenth try—click the call connected.
"Hello?" came the strained, hoarse voice. The man was panting hard, his voice muffled by background noise and what sounded like wind and flames.
"Hello, is this Jin I'm speaking to?"
