Chapter 47: Flames and Ashes
**Jake**
I sense the coming quake minutes before it arrives. My senses tingle, electricity firing all the way up my spine. A massive crash sends me reeling, and I stumble from my seat and to the nearest window.
Outside, the sun has just fallen below the horizon, but a massive cloud of dust obscures any light coming from it. I watch with silent fascination as a plume of fire rises above the dust cloud, swarming over the rooftops around it.
Nathan enters the room, his breathing heavy and his brow drenched with sweat.
“It’s the South Side. They’ve struck the Tower.”
I turn around, horror-struck. “The Tower? Are you sure? Was anyone hurt? What happened?”
“Explosives,” he pants. “It seems they’ve duplicated our work on their own headquarters. The Tower just exploded, damaging several nearby buildings in the process. We’re still waiting on word to see if anyone was still inside, but they should have all been cleared out by now.”
“Do you think this means they didn’t know we moved?”