Chapter 14 - Breaking the Foundation
Trapped beneath tons of rubble, with smoke billowing up from the sub-basement, Ryan refused to give in. Grabbing a heavy steel rebar beam from the collapsed scaffolding, he wedged it into a crack in the concrete slab and threw his entire body weight against it. ""Help me push!"" he screamed to Sarah. Together, with adrenaline fueling their exhausted muscles, they strained against the massive concrete barrier until the foundation cracked with a deafening boom. A shaft of brilliant, warm moonlight broke through the darkness, illuminating the swirling dust and casting long shadows across the ruins. With one final, agonizing heave, Ryan shattered the remaining concrete barrier outward, clearing a path to the cool night air outside. Sarah pushed Leo and Lily through the opening first, tumbling out onto the dew-soaked grass of their backyard as sirens wailed in the distance. Ryan scrambled out right behind them, collapsing onto the grass just as the back half of the house imploded inward in a massive cloud of dust and fire.
As they lay coughing on the lawn, watching their home burn into the night sky, a figure emerged from the tree line, holding a bloodstained old photo and watching them with an unsettling smile.
