Eddie grabbed his feet and pulled, two soldiers shoving at his shoulders. ‘Did you only eat bloody cheeseburgers since coming to America? Suck in that gut!’ The young Chinese popped free with a yelp, falling to the floor. ‘Okay, come on!’

The soldiers started to slip out of the lift. Eddie checked his surroundings. The fiftieth floor was apparently unoccupied, a wall directory devoid of any company names. That was a relief, meaning no civilian casualties; hopefully the other floors were just as empty—

A lightning-bolt crackle – and another burst of earth energy hit the tower.

More glass exploded, the shock wave ripping through the empty offices. A wall blew apart in an eruption of wood and plaster. Eddie reeled from a concussive blast, shielding Macy with his body as debris flew past. Everyone staggered, the floor shaking—

Metal screamed in the elevator shaft.

The whole building swayed – and the vertical tracks buckled as it twisted. Rivets burst from girders with the force of bullets. One punched through the elevator car’s side, tearing a chunk of flesh from a soldier’s thigh.

The man halfway through the gap gasped in fright as the car abruptly fell several inches. The jolt as the emergency brakes caught it pitched him out into the lobby. Eddie pulled him up. ‘Everybody out, now!’ he shouted at those still inside.

The co-pilot rolled fearfully through the now-wider opening. Two soldiers brought the wounded man to the doors. Eddie reached up to guide him through, another Chinese assisting him before moving the injured man clear as the Englishman went to aid the pair still inside—

A pounding bang of splitting steel from above.

The terrifying sound was followed by echoing clangs of metal striking metal – getting louder with each collision. Eddie realised with horror that a broken girder was plunging down the shaft. ‘Get out!’ he yelled at the last two soldiers, meeting their frightened eyes—

The elevator disappeared.

He leapt back as the girder hit it like a giant hammer, ripping it from its cables. The car came off its tracks, emergency brakes clamping uselessly around nothing as it plummeted down the shaft.

Macy screamed. Eddie picked her up – partly to comfort her, but also out of protective urgency. ‘Where are the stairs?’ he asked Cheng.

The young man was still stunned by the soldiers’ fate. ‘They . . . That way,’ he said, pointing. A sign indicated a passage to one side of the elevator bank.

Eddie hurried to it, seeing a door marked with an exit sign. He opened it. A stairwell dropped towards infinity below. ‘Can you run?’ he asked Macy. She nodded. ‘Okay, we’ve got to get to the ground as fast as we can!’ He lowered her to the floor. She needed no more urging to start her descent. He followed, the rocket launcher’s tube banging against his side as he led the remaining Chinese downwards.