Chapter 231: When the World Exploded

THIRD PERSON’S POV.

Damian sprang for the stairs, his boots pounding against the concrete as he took two steps at a time.

His pulse thundered in his ears while his eyes darted to the watch strapped around his wrist.

Two minutes more

He was running out of time. He had to get to Serena.

She had survived too much for him to let her die here. Every instinct in his body refused to accept any other possibility.

He reached the back exit just as a rapid series of beeping sounds echoed through the corridor.

His blood turned cold. “Dominic wasn’t lying,” he muttered under his breath.

The timer on the bombs had almost reached zero.

Damian shoved the heavy steel door open with all his strength and burst outside, only to slam into someone standing directly in his path.

He staggered back. “Jake?” Damian asked, barely slowing down. “Why are you back here?”

Jake grabbed his arm just as  Damian continued running.

“Sir, we’ve detected several explosives around the property,” he said urgently. “My men are trying to deactivate them, but there are too many. And judging from the beeping coming from inside…”

His face paled. “…I’d say we have less than a minute before everything goes up n flames.”

Damian pulled away. “So what?”

Jake tightened his grip. “So we have to get you off this property immediately, sir.”

For the first time since the raid had begun, Damian stopped moving. He slowly turned to Jake, disbelief written all over his face.

“Do you really think I came all this way only to leave my wife here to be blown to bits?”

Jake’s jaw tightened. “No, sir.”

“Good.” Damian yanked his arm free. “Then stop wasting time and help me find her.”

His voice cracked under the weight of panic. “Otherwise, we might as well all die today.”

Without another word, both men sprinted toward the back of the warehouse.

Damian’s heart pounded harder with every step. Please still be here.

Please don’t let me be too late.

The image of Serena flashed through his mind. The way she smiled whenever she caught him staring. The stubborn way she’d cross her arms whenever she was annoyed. The way she’d roll her eyes before secretly laughing at one of his jokes.

He hadn’t fought this hard and torn half the city apart just to lose her now.

He couldn’t.

Once the rounded the corner, Damian froze.

The place where he’d last seen Serena and Cassandra was empty.

His entire body went rigid. “No!”

His voice came out barely above a whisper. “No… no… no…”

He stumbled forward, scanning every direction.  “She was right here!”

His breathing became ragged. “I told Cassandra to let her go when i saw them from the window, they were fighting over the gun”

His mouth rambled on as his eyes searched every shadow.

“Where could they have gone?” Damian’s voice broke.

Jake looked around just as desperately, but every passing second brought another sharp beep from somewhere inside the warehouse.

“Sir!”

Jake grabbed Damian again. “We have to leave. Right now!”

“No!” Damian shoved him away. “She can’t have just disappeared!”

Another series of beeps erupted, faster now. Louder.

Jake looked toward the building before turning back to Damian.

He knew there wasn’t any time left.

“Mrs. Crowne is a survivor,” he said, trying to keep his own fear from showing. “You know that better than anyone. She’ll find a way out.”

He breathed, “but we have to leave, right now.”

Barely seconds after they had furthest away from the building, the world exploded.

A deafening blast tore through the night with enough force to shake the earth beneath their feet.

Heat crashed over them like in waves as fire swallowed the warehouse in an instant.

The explosion hurled Damian and Jake several metres through the air before they crashed violently onto the ground.

The impact drove every ounce of air from Damian’s lungs and for several seconds, everything went silent.

No voices.

No gunfire.

Nothing.

Only an unbearable ringing filled his ears and his vision blurred as dust and ash rained from the sky. Pain radiated through every part of his body.

Damian could barely breathe, barely think.

Somewhere beside him, Jake struggled to push himself upright.

“Sir, are you okay?”

Damian couldn’t hear him though. His entire world had narrowed to one horrifying realization.

The warehouse was gone.

Where a towering concrete building had stood only moments earlier, there was now nothing but twisted steel, burning debris, shattered walls, and an enormous cloud of black smoke.

Ignoring the searing pain shooting through his legs and shoulders, he forced himself to his feet.

He stumbled once, then again. But he kept moving. Every instinct screamed at him to keep searching.

Serena was alive, she had to be.

He climbed over broken concrete and burning rubble, calling her name with everything he had left.

“Serena!” His hoarse voice screeched,

“Serena!” Nothing.

But he refused to stop. “Serena!”

He prayed she would answer. That somehow she’d hear him. That she’d call his name the way she always did.

But the only reply he got back was silence.

Only the groans of injured men, the coughs of survivors and the desperate shouts of rescue teams echoed through the destruction.

Minutes turned into an hour.

One hour became two.

Emergency crews flooded the property. Fire engines screamed through the gates. The Paramedics rushed from one injured victim to another.

Firefighters worked tirelessly, battling the flames before beginning the painstaking task of digging through the collapsed structure.

Every time someone shouted, “We’ve got one!”

Damian’s heart leapt.

Every single time.

He would take a step forward, convinced it was Serena.

Convinced she had survived. Convinced she’d emerge covered in dust, bruised and exhausted, but alive.

But every single time his hope was crushed.

It was never her.

As the hours crawled by, hope slowly became something Damian had to force himself to hold onto.

Yet he refused to completely let go.

Because accepting anything else would destroy him.

Jake remained close by, never allowing Damian out of his sight.

Several times he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Nothing felt sufficient way in this moment.

There were no words capable of easing this kind of fear.

Finally, unable to bear Damian standing there alone in the ash any longer, Jake stepped beside him.

“Sir…” His voice was gentle this time.

“Would you like to wait inside the vehicle while the firefighters finish searching?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d asked nor was it the second.

For nearly five minutes he had repeated the same question, hoping eventually Damian would acknowledge him.

But Damian stood completely motionless, staring into the smoking ruins as though his soul had been buried somewhere beneath them.

Jake wasn’t even sure he’d heard him.

Then finally, slowly, Damian shook his head. His eyes never leaving the rubble.

“I have to be here when they find her.” He whispered.

Jake swallowed the lump in his throat but he quietly nodded and stood beside his boss in silence.

If nothing else, Damian shouldn’t have to endure this alone.

Quietly, Jake slipped his phone from his pocket. After staring at the screen for several long seconds, he finally typed a message to Oscar.

JAKE: I don’t think Mrs. Crowne made it out alive.