The rain drowned out everything--sound, breath, reason. The world was nothing but water and darkness and the pulse of mana still tearing through Alvin's veins as he stumbled across the broken highway, following that faint thread of Xavier's presence.
His heartbeat was erratic. His vision swam. The Grade 2 search had already pushed his body far beyond its limits, but he didn't stop. Couldn't stop.
Xavier was close.Too close to the edge.
Alvin followed the pull through a shattered underpass, past the burned corpse of the level 3 zombie--its ribcage cracked open like a broken furnace. Xavier's work. Even nearly dead, Xavier fought like a demon.
"Idiot…" Alvin breathed, chest tight.
He pushed on.
A collapsed building loomed overhead, half its structure caved in. Beneath the wreckage, sheltered from the storm just barely, Alvin saw it--
A smear of blood. Fresh. Dark. Too much.
His pulse froze.
"Xavier?" he called, voice barely audible.
No answer.
