Chapter 6
"Fall back—"
Charles's entire body went numb. Almost instantly, his eyes became bloodshot as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Run!"
Among the chaotic crowd, before Charles could even react, he felt a powerful shove from his side.
The officer beside him used all his strength to push Charles away.
"Officer Howard, go! You have to survive!"
Charles instinctively turned to look, his eyes filled with horror.
The last thing he saw was the peaceful smile on his colleague's familiar face—someone he'd worked alongside day after day.
Caught completely off guard, Charles was shoved far away. Emily was also pushed by an officer beside her, and he stumbled forward and fell toward her.
In the corner, both of them crashed heavily to the ground.
At the same moment, a massive explosion thundered in their ears.
Flames shot skyward. The wooden planks and concrete above were blown apart with a deafening roar, and debris cascaded down, burying the entire underground chamber.
The evil, the blood, the heroism, and the courage of this place were buried beneath tons of rubble.
...
Emily didn't know how long had passed when she struggled to open her eyes.
She tried to move her arm; her entire body was numb and aching.
Her nostrils were filled with dust and the acrid smell of gunpowder. She couldn't help but cough, tasting blood as it rose in her throat.
She lay on her back with Charles collapsed on top of her. He had undoubtedly used his back to shield her from most of the impact.
"Officer Howard... Officer Howard!"
Emily called out to Charles with difficulty, lifting her hands to brush away the dirt, stones, and wooden debris from his back. She could see blood seeping through his uniform.
She instinctively reached out to touch it gently—her palm immediately became stained with blood, warm and wet.
"How can you be bleeding so much... Officer Howard, wake up!" Emily's heart pounded. Ignoring the pain in her own body, she immediately struggled to get up from the ground.
She shook Charles with her hands, but he didn't respond. She then placed her hand near his nose to check his breathing.
His breathing was weak, but Charles wasn't dead. However, his injuries were severe—he was barely hanging on to life.
Emily's anxious heart sank heavily. She collapsed to her knees, drained of strength, looking up at the mountain of rubble.
Except for her and Charles, who had been pushed to safety, all those officers and barely-alive victims were buried beneath.
Everyone... was dead...
Emily squeezed her eyes shut.
Those inhuman criminals had actually rigged explosives!
So many lives, gone in an instant!
Why? Why did this happen?
Emily bit down hard on her lower lip. Her mouth quickly filled with the metallic taste of blood from her bitten lip, but she was completely unaware, forcing herself to calm down.
Now wasn't the time for grief and sorrow.
Charles wasn't dead yet; she had to get him out safely, no matter what!
As long as they were alive, there would be a chance to avenge these innocent people who died.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound nearby. Emily instinctively turned to look and found that Charles, who had been unconscious, was finally slowly opening his eyes.
"You're awake?"
Emily's face lit up with relief as she quickly moved forward to help him sit up.
Charles's gaze was lifeless, staring at the rubble before them in long silence.
Emily felt a dull ache in her chest. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and composed herself.
After a few seconds, she leaned down and supported Charles's arm. "Officer Howard, this place might collapse again at any moment. We need to get back quickly so we can bring rescue teams."
If they dug through the debris, there might still be people waiting desperately for rescue.
Even though they both knew the chances were slim.
Emily stared at the torn holes in Charles's uniform and his bleeding wounds.
She didn't know how severe his injuries were, and delaying further could lead to unknown dangers.
Charles stared blankly as Emily lifted his arm. Despite his heavy mood, he knew this place wasn't safe to linger in.
Just as he was about to use Emily's support to stand up, Charles barely moved his leg when excruciating pain immediately shot through him.
He let out a muffled groan, losing even his remaining strength.
Emily noticed something was wrong. She immediately rolled up Charles's pant leg.
What she saw was a mass of wounds covering his leg.
The force of the explosion had been too powerful. Charles's leg had been too close to the blast site after all.
"Your leg is injured." Emily took off her jacket, tearing it forcefully into strips and deftly binding them around the still-bleeding wounds on Charles's leg.
She turned around and looked at Charles with determination.
"I'll carry you out."
With that, she turned her back to him, grabbing Charles's arm with one hand while supporting herself on the ground with the other, trying to find leverage to lift him onto her back.
Charles was stunned and instinctively tried to pull away, but the movement aggravated his wounds, making him wince.
"You're injured, too. If you force yourself to carry me out, you'll collapse from exhaustion."
Then, neither of them would make it out.
"Officer Howard, you're underestimating me."
Emily gritted her teeth and braced herself against the ground, forcibly pulling Charles onto her back and lifting him up. Being careful not to touch his wounds, her movements were extremely gentle.
"I really never did any physical labor before, and I wasn't very strong."
She let out a self-deprecating laugh. "But after this past year, I'm no longer some delicate princess."
At this point, Charles couldn't say anything more. He just made sure to stay still and not burden Emily.
The underground chamber was pitch black everywhere. Many areas had been blown apart. Emily searched for a way out step by step, finally emerging from the dark, damp passageway.
Finally seeing daylight, Emily was drenched in sweat. Her stamina wasn't the best, and Charles was after all a normal adult man, so carrying him for so long was exhausting.
"Officer Howard, we made it out."
Emily turned her head to look, only to find Charles's head resting limply against her shoulder. He had passed out at some point.
Walking under the blazing sun for about four hours, Emily finally heard some gradually clearer voices.
"Split up and search around here; that's where the signal appeared!"
Police officers in dark uniforms appeared in the distance. The taut string in Emily's mind suddenly snapped, her vision went black, and she collapsed from exhaustion.
...
Her eyelashes fluttered, and a pair of beautiful eyes slowly opened, tinged with exhaustion.
Everything in sight was blindingly white.
"You're finally awake."
Emily turned her head sluggishly, seeing a young nurse standing nearby with a cloth.
"This is... a hospital?"
"Yes."
The young nurse nodded and sighed. "Don't worry, you only have surface injuries. You can be discharged once you finish your IV."
"But the man who was brought in with you is seriously injured. He'll need to rest and recover for quite some time."
Emily looked up and nodded slightly after a long time.
With Charles so seriously injured, she needed to stay and take care of him for a while.