Chapter 632: Chapter 632: Persistence (Part 2)

As Don fell, his mind moved just as quickly.

Augmented overlays flickered across his vision—angles, vectors, structural points below.

His battlefield scan highlighted options, pathways, weak points he could use—

Most out of reach.

Too far.

Nothing to anchor to.

No surface to redirect from.

Absolutely nothing.

His teeth ground together.

’Damn it—’ he thought, before adjusting his angle slightly, preparing to force something—to risk a direct push midair—

BOOM—!

Then, a sound cracked through the air above him.

Sharp. Clean. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Gunfire.

His ear twitched.

Then—

Two rounds tore past him.

Close enough that he felt the disturbance as they split the air, cutting downward at a steep angle.

They struck.

One punched through the female infected’s collarbone—flesh bursting outward in a spray that scattered into the wind.

The second drove through her chest—straight through, exiting in a violent burst from her back.

Her body jerked.

Not from pain.

From impact.

Her descent stuttered for a fraction of a second before gravity reclaimed her again.

Above, figures leaned over the edge—officers who weren’t too badly hurt, rifles braced, adjusting as they tracked moving targets mid-fall.

Their shots weren’t perfect.

Couldn’t be.

Not with this angle.

Not in motion.

But it was enough.

Then—

Another sound.

Air displaced.

Fast.

Don couldn’t turn his head—

But he felt it.

A blur passed him.

Charles.

He dropped in from above in a tight, controlled dive, body tucked in, wings pulled close to reduce drag.

His descent was faster than Don’s, his path angled directly toward the infected.

No hesitation.

He slammed into her.

CRASH—!

The impact hit her square in the chest, folding her midair for a split second before her body was driven downward harder, her fall accelerating violently from the added force.

Charles pulled through.

He snapped out of the dive and yanked himself upward—

Wings spreading wide—

But the moment he did—

It showed.

The injured one.

It bent.

Not fully.

But enough.

The feathers along that side trembled violently, the structure unable to hold steady after the sudden deceleration.

His body wavered midair, balance breaking as one side failed to match the other.

His face tightened instantly.

Teeth clenched.

Eyes narrowed against the strain.

Still—

He pushed.

Both wings drove forward despite the instability, forcing motion through pain, forcing control where it wanted to fail.

Feathers launched.

Dozens.

They shot forward in a spread pattern, cutting through the air ahead of the falling infected.

Below—

She hit.

BOOOOOOM—!!

The street cratered under the impact.

Concrete shattered outward in a violent ring, debris blasting up in all directions as the force of her landing drove deep into the ground.

The shockwave rolled outward, flipping loose debris, cracking nearby surfaces, sending smaller fragments skittering across the street.

Her body—

Didn’t hold.

Her legs shattered on contact, bones breaking through flesh in jagged bursts as the force crushed them inward.

Her hands followed—fingers snapping, palms collapsing under the pressure as they tried to brace against impact.

Her chest—

Her head—

Remained.

Barely.

Her hair had moved at the last moment, wrapping inward, layering over those areas just enough to absorb the worst of it.

Still—

The damage showed.

Her chest caved slightly, structure warped.

Her head twisted at an angle that didn’t align cleanly anymore.

Then—

The feathers arrived.

Before the dust could settle.

Before she could move.

They struck.

THK—THK—THK—!

One drove through her shoulder, pinning it into the broken ground beneath.

Another pierced her ruined thigh, anchoring it in place.

More followed—through her arm, her side, the concrete around her—embedding deep enough to hold.

None hit her neck.

None hit her head.

But it didn’t matter.

She was pinned.

Completely.

Her body twitched once—

Then stilled.

Above—

Don didn’t hesitate.

The moment he saw it—

He acted.

His telekinesis surged outward again, this time fully focused.

Her hair.

All of it.

He locked it down.

Forced it still.

From this distance, it wasn’t easy to do.

It resisted.

Hard.

The strain hit immediately.

His vision tightened as pressure built behind his eyes. Blood pushed forward, vessels reacting under the force of exertion.

A thin line spilled from his nose, trailing backward into the rushing air. His eyes reddened, veins standing out as he forced control over something that didn’t want to be controlled.

But he held it.

Didn’t let go.

Not even slightly.

Because now—

He had a clear shot.

The ground rushed up to meet him.

Fast.

His body angled downward.

His fist pulled back.

Every muscle in his arm tightened, drawing power into a single point.

His teeth clenched hard enough to hurt.

And he drove himself down like a hammer.

Air tore past him, pressure building against his face as his descent pushed faster and faster.

His teeth ground together, jaw locked tight as strain crawled through his skull.

His vision wavered—not fully gone, but unstable enough to blur the edges of everything below.

Still—

He held.

His grip on her hair didn’t loosen.

Not even slightly.

The moment came fast.

Too fast for hesitation.

He reached her.

And his fist came down.

Everything he had behind it—force, weight, momentum—drove straight into her exposed head and neck.

CRRAAASH—!!

The impact swallowed the moment whole.

There was no clear sight of contact—only the result.

The street detonated beneath them.

Concrete shattered outward in a violent ring, chunks of asphalt and stone blasted up into the air as the force drove deep into the ground.

A shockwave tore across the surface, cracking already damaged roads even further, splitting them open in jagged lines that spread in all directions.

Nearby buildings reacted instantly.

Windows burst outward, glass shattering in waves as the pressure hit them. Frames bent.

Loose debris ripped free from weakened structures and thrown outward.

Dust followed.

Thick.

Heavy.

It surged upward from the impact point, swallowing Don and the infected in seconds, turning the entire street into a churning cloud of debris and dusty air.

Fragments rained back down through it—small pieces at first, then larger chunks striking the ground with heavy, uneven impacts.

Within it—

Nothing could be seen.

Only the aftermath echoing outward.