The chopper had not fully touched the ground before Jayden jumped.
The skids were still inches above the fractured pavement when he dropped, landing with a force that cracked the street beneath him. The wind from the spinning blades whipped dust and ash into spirals around him, but he did not notice. He did not hear the pilot shouting something behind him. He did not register the scattered soldiers turning in shock.
His eyes had already found her.
Melinda lay a few meters ahead.
Still.
Too still.
For a second, his mind refused to understand what he was seeing. The world felt distant, muted, as though someone had submerged him underwater. The fires burning around Dominion City flickered in silence. The smoke drifted in slow motion. Even his own heartbeat seemed to vanish.
His heart left his body.
That was the only way to describe it.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
