The water kept rising.
Beyond the rooftops, the zone had become an endless sea of destruction.
Zhu Zheng's rooftop was now an island surrounded by a merciless flood.
The sky churned, thunder growling in the distance.
Below, the once-bustling streets were gone, swallowed by the muddy tide.
Every few minutes, a new wave slammed into the building's edges, spraying cold, filthy water up like a curse.
Meilin whispered to Lili, "Stay close, don't move."
Lili's small hands gripped her mother's shirt. Her eyes were wide with exhaustion and fear.
The three of them huddled near a rusted vent, cold seeping through the thin clothes they had left.
At some point, Zhu Zheng noticed the emergency radio had drowned under a pile of soaked debris.
"No signal," he muttered. He fiddled with the cracked device, but only static hissed back.
"Papa?" Lili's voice broke the silence. "Will they come for us?"
Zhu Zheng swallowed hard.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
