On the second floor, hidden behind a fallen cabinet, Emma had built her tiny shelter: a worn blanket, two cans of soup, a bottle of water, and a stuffed bear with one eye missing.
Her whole world.
When Ethan collapsed beside her, shaking violently, tears filled his eyes.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked. “You don’t even know me.”
Emma wrapped the blanket around both of them.
“Because nobody helped me,” she said quietly. “And I promised myself that if I ever had the chance… I would.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
For the first time that night, his breathing slowed.
Outside, sirens echoed through the storm.
Emma didn’t know what they meant.
But soon she would.
Hours later, the sound of helicopters thundered above the city.
Police lights flashed through broken windows.
Emma panicked.
“They’re coming for you,” Ethan whispered weakly.
Suddenly, footsteps thundered through the building.
“Ethan!”
A desperate man’s voice echoed through the halls.
Emma instinctively pulled Ethan behind her.
A tall man burst into the room moments later, soaked from the rain.
When he saw the boy, he froze.
“Ethan…”
The boy’s eyes opened.
“Dad?”
Daniel Walker dropped to his knees beside his son.