The moment Don and Ash stepped back outside the apartment complex, the night air hit them full force.
Cold.
Heavy.
It carried smoke from somewhere deeper within Santos City, along with the distant scent of burning fuel and melted plastic.
Somewhere far off, another explosion rolled across the skyline a few seconds later. Faint. Muffled by distance.
BOOM~
Above them, helicopters moved through the sky.
Don tilted his head slightly as another passed overhead.
His hearing had recovered enough now that he could distinguish the rotor patterns properly.
These weren't Aegis-9 strikers. Not the same heavy mechanical thunder that had carried him and Charles away earlier.
Lighter frames.
Different engines.
But military all the same.
Searchlights swept across the apartment complex from multiple directions, carving through darkness in long white beams.
One crossed over shattered windows several floors above. Another skimmed across blood-stained walls before moving on.
