CHAPTER 37: AMBUSH IN THE CITY!

The ruins had gone quiet again.

They moved through a block of collapsed apartments, windows staring down like sockets in a skull. The air carried the faint tang of ash and rust, and the stink of wet brick.

Reid set a slower pace, his injuries still making each step a calculated effort.

Kara stayed close to him, her spear balanced across her shoulders. Holt’s eyes darted constantly, checking shadows, rooftops, and alley mouths.

Jonas brought up the rear, while Travis was just ahead of him, muttering about how cities always made him feel smaller than he liked to admit. His voice was low, trying to lighten the silence.

"Whole damn world ends," Travis whispered, "and skyscrapers still make me feel like a bug".

Jonas smirked. "That’s because you are a bug," he laughed. "Just one that cooks badly."

Travis shoved his shoulder. "I’m telling you, if I ever get flour and eggs again, you’ll beg me for pancakes."

Jonas chuckled, big and warm, the kind of laugh that cut through the ruins.

That laugh was the last thing before the world detonated.

BAM!

The blast came from behind, a concussive thump that ripped the street into fire and shards. It was a buried charge; it was placed so perfectly on their path and camouflaged that Holt didn’t detect it before it detonated.

The world detonated as shrapnel screamed overhead, severing their way back. Dust and smoke rolled over them.

"Contact!" Reid barked, his Rifle snapping up.

Overhead, windows shattered as Rifles cracked from above, disciplined bursts cutting at the formation.

Bam... bam... bam...

Bullets sparked off stone as soon as they made contact. Resonance grenades bounced into the street, bursting into plumes of shimmering fog that warped sight, making alleys stretch and twist.

"Cover!" Holt snapped, dragging Mira behind a burnt-out sedan. He leaned out, rifle already spitting back in sharp, controlled shots.

Shapes moved in the fog. They tried to track them but they were too many, too fast, flanking with practiced ease.

Voices called short, military hand signals cutting the air. Whoever they were, they weren’t scavenger gangs. This was a unit, and they were disciplined.

Jonas shoved Travis down behind him just as a shot cracked, and that was when it happened...

BAM!

A bullet meant for Travis punched into Jonas’s chest instead, burying deep.

He staggered, breath tearing from his lungs, then roared as a spear of Rift Energy slammed into his side. The second hit followed, fast and brutal.

His regeneration screamed against the damage, tissue knitting, then failing under the overload as his body failed him.

"Jonas!" Kara screamed, spear flashing as she lunged to cover his flank.

Jonas coughed blood but still rose, his chest slick, with eyes blazing. "Move your ass, Travis!" he bellowed, shoving the cook toward cover.

The Wheel in Ethan’s skull spun like a storm, improvisations flaring in a blur. Too many options, and none was fast enough.

He gritted his teeth, paralyzed between choices.

Jonas didn’t wait.

He surged forward, hammering into the first silhouette that lunged through the smoke. His fist caved ribs like wet plaster as soon as it made contact, the man crumpling into the pavement.

A second rushed, blade glowing faint with Rift power. Jonas took the cut across his shoulder, blood spraying, and still drove a knee into the attacker’s stomach, folding him in half.

"Stay on him!" Holt barked, snapping two clean shots at a third silhouette.

The enemy melted behind cover with practiced precision.

"They’re coordinated, military doctrine!" Holt shouted.

"Ex-military," Reid spat, grim recognition in his voice as he traded fire, body trembling from both strain and fury. "They’re running a kill box!"

Another volley screamed down from the rooftops.

In response, Mira flung her hands wide, gale-force wind scattering dust and shoving debris into the path of the rounds as sparks lit the fog. Still, a bullet tore past Jonas’s side, grazing deep.

He stumbled, dropped to a knee, then forced himself upright again with a howl. Blood soaked him, his regeneration already flagging.

Then out of the haze came a voice, deep and commanding, amplified by Rift resonance. It reverberated, calm and certain.

"Confirmed Awakened contacts. One team; pin them, bleed them. Don’t waste ammo, aim for organs. Drop priority on the big one".

The words sent a chill down Ethan’s spine. Whoever led this wasn’t improvising. This was doctrine, ruthless and practiced.

Jonas roared back into the smoke, hammering forward.

He grabbed a masked attacker by the collar and smashed him through a car window, glass exploding. Another blade caught him across the back; Jonas spun and broke the wielder’s arm before his legs buckled.

"Jonas, fall back!" Kara shouted, voice breaking.

He didn’t. He couldn’t. From the moment that he took that first shot to the chest, he knew that he was over, and all that remained in his head was to buy his companions a window of opportunity to escape.

He planted himself in the kill box, blood slicking his fists as he kept the enemy’s eyes on him.

"Ethan, do something!" Travis begged, crawling behind the cover of a shattered sign. His voice cracked, raw with terror.

The Wheel spun, screamed, options flashing...

~----~

[Improvised Barrier: Resin Shield – F Rank]

...

[Improvised Gear: Flashburst Grenade – F Rank]

...

[Improvised Skill: Phantom Dash – F Rank]

...

[...]

~----~

Too many options, and Ethan didn’t see any option that could heal Jonas’s injury. And then... too late.

"Jonas...," Ethan tried, but the word broke.

Mira’s wind surged again, throwing rubble to block a line of fire, but her hands shook too hard. Holt fired, precision perfect, but he was counting bullets and they had too many targets.

Reid’s body finally gave out as his Rifle dipped, sweat soaking his pale face.

Desperate, Kara recklessly launched into the fog, her spear a blur but the attackers were everywhere, shadows on rooftops, alleys, and doorframes.

And Jonas... Jonas was the one taking it all.

Bam... bam... bam...

Another burst of gunfire punched three more holes through Jonas’s side. His chest heaved as he coughed blood. His muscles tore, regenerated, then tore again, like his body couldn’t decide which way to fail.

Blood poured, soaking the ground around him. His roar cracked into a ragged growl in the fog.

He looked back once, eyes meeting Travis’s who was scared, small, and curled behind cover.

"Live, dammit!" Jonas bellowed. "Don’t you dare waste me!"

Then he surged again, body breaking but still moving, smashing through two more attackers in a final charge.

But, in the end, Jonas may be an Awakener but he was no superman. The bullets finally tore him apart as his regeneration failed to keep up.

He collapsed, hammer still clenched, breath gurgling in his chest.

The Wheel in Ethan’s head chimed, flat and merciless.

DING!

~----~

[WARNING: Jonas Hale – Vital Signs Critical!]

[Estimated Survival Time: 00:20]

~---~

Kara screamed his name again, cutting through the gunfire. Travis’s voice cracked into a sob. Mira’s wind went wild, while Holt swore once, bitter and sharp.

Reid’s voice was a rasp of fury. "Hold the line!"

But Ethan only saw Jonas bleeding out, seconds ticking away.

Jonas wasn’t going to survive twenty seconds.