The child slipped from her arms.

A small weight. Dropping fast.

Her fingers clawed at empty air, panic breaking through her voice—"No—!"

She didn’t finish it.

Don moved first.

His eyes flicked down, just a fraction—enough.

The air beneath the falling body tightened. Invisible force caught the child mid-drop, stopping him inches above the polished floor.

His small form hung there, suspended, clothes shifting slightly from the abrupt halt, a faint sway following the momentum—

Don didn’t look relieved.

He didn’t have time.

Behind him, the strands still pressed forward, held in place by force that trembled at the edges.

His focus split—one hand maintaining the hair at bay, the other holding the child steady. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Charles saw it.

Saw the save.

His own movement halted for half a second—then shifted. His attention snapped forward again, decision made.

He turned.

And moved.

WOOSH—~

His wings flared wide, catching air within the confined space before snapping tight as he drove forward through the opening.

The damaged doors scraped against his passage—

SKRRR—~

—and he cleared the elevator into the hall beyond.

The corridor outside was pristine.

Polished marble stretched beneath his feet, veined in soft gray.

The walls were paneled in dark wood and glass, inset with soft lighting that cast a warm glow along the length of the hall.

Framed art lined one side—abstract, expensive, untouched by the chaos below.

At the far end—

Glass.

Floor-to-ceiling.

Or what remained of it.

Shattered.

The frame hung jagged, edges lined with fractured shards still clinging stubbornly to the structure. Beyond it—the open city.

And in that opening—

She hovered.

The female infected.

Suspended in the air just beyond the broken wall, her body angled slightly forward as if gravity had forgotten her.

Her hair drifted outward in slow, unnatural motion, strands hanging loose before tightening in small, twitching pulls. Her face—

Blank.

Eyes fixed forward.

Not searching.

Not reacting.

Just... there.

Charles slowed.

Just slightly.

The woman in his arms didn’t see it.

Her head twisted back toward the elevator, eyes wide, breath breaking apart as she saw her child—still suspended in the air beyond reach.

"No—!"

Her voice cracked fully this time.

Inside the elevator—

Don’s attention shifted.

Not to the strands.

Not to the opening.

Up.

His eyes locked onto the ceiling.

A sound—

Heavy.

Close.

THMP—!

The impact hit a second later.

The entire elevator jerked violently, the frame shuddering as something above struck hard enough to rattle the structure. The cables groaned—

SKREEEE—~

—and then—

It dropped.

Fast.

The sudden descent tore the breath from the woman’s lungs.

Her scream cut off into a broken choke as the elevator vanished right before her eyes, her body slamming back against the wall as Charles shifted violently.

As for child—

Still suspended—

The elevator fell with it.

Because Don fell with it.

His control snapped away in the same instant, the telekinetic hold vanishing as the elevator plunged downward out of reach.

Outside—

Charles felt it.

Saw it.

The shift.

The connection gone holding the strands of hair at bay.

And at the same time—

The infected moved.

Her hair shifted.

A subtle pull.

Then—

SNAP—!

The strands redirected, angling toward the empty space where the elevator had been. They lashed backward in a violent burst—

VOOOSH—!

Charles didn’t wait.

His wings flared wide, lifting him sharply upward before snapping forward again as he surged ahead.

The air cracked around him as he accelerated, body angled tight as he drove through the corridor.

The strands struck where he had been—

CRRSH—!

Glass shattered further, the wall tearing apart as the force punched through the frame, fragments scattering across the polished floor in a wide spray.

He was already moving.

But not alone.

The woman—

Still in his grip.

Too slow.

Too exposed.

He felt it instantly.

One hit—

That was all it would take to end her.

He turned sharply.

WOOSH—~

His path broke from the main hall, wings adjusting mid-flight as he cut into a side corridor. His shoulder dipped, pulling the woman closer to his body, shielding her as much as possible.

Behind him—

The infected followed.

Not with hesitation.

Not with delay.

She shifted through the broken opening, her body gliding forward into the building as if the space itself meant nothing.

She reached the entrance of the hall—

Paused—

Just enough.

Charles looked back.

Caught it.

Her hair—

Retracting.

All of it.

From every embedded point.

From the walls.

From the floor.

From the shattered frame.

Pulling inward—

Tightening—

Then—

It surged.

A wave.

Black. Dense. Violent.

The strands shot forward as one mass, tearing through the corridor with overwhelming force—

KRRRRSH—!!

Walls split apart as the impact ripped through them, wood paneling splintering, glass exploding outward, fixtures torn from their mounts as the wave carved a path straight toward him.

The floor cracked under the pressure, marble fracturing in jagged lines as debris lifted and scattered through the air.

The sound followed—

A deep, grinding roar as the structure gave way under the force—

GRRRRNN—!!

Charles pushed harder.

His wings strained, each second forcing more speed as he drove forward, the corridor stretching ahead while destruction chased him from behind. Fragments struck his back—sharp, fast—his suit stretching under the impact as the material resisted, threads pulling tight under stress.

He felt it.

The strain building.

And the woman—

She wouldn’t last.

Not through that.

His jaw tightened.

’Faster.’

The corridor blurred.

The sound behind him grew louder.

Closer.

Relentless.

He didn’t look back again.

He didn’t need to.

It was right there.

And gaining.

——

Inside the elevator—

The drop didn’t slow.

It accelerated.

The cables screamed above, metal grinding against metal as the carriage tore downward through the shaft—

SKRRREEE—~

Don’s stance broke for half a second as the floor shifted beneath him, but his grip didn’t.

The child hung in the air beside him, caught again just as the descent ripped control away.

His body swayed slightly, small limbs loose, the bandage around his torso already darkening.

Don didn’t get a second to adjust.

He tried to look up—

Just a tilt of his head—

But the ceiling responded first.

CRRRAAASH—!

It dented inward violently, metal folding under something heavy forcing through from above. The frame warped, bolts snapping loose as the pressure built—

Then—

It pierced through.