It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get in, destroy some omnics, get out. No property damage, no innocent deaths, no one gets hurt except the omnics.
There was one omnic left. It seemed to have just stumbled in at the very last moment. Zarya had already told the others to leave; when she noticed the omnic, she thought it would be a piece of cake to take care of it on her own, since she had defeated many others without help.
She was left in shambles once she was done, deep cuts and bullet holes piercing her whole body. With the last available strength that she had left inside after the long fight and the last omnic, she threw the Graviton Surge and lasered him down. With her long track of blood through the building, she curled up into a ball and wondered if this was how her life would end.
At least her friends were safe.
Heavy footsteps echoed off the surrounding buildings. 76 ran through the battlefield, expertly maneuvering past debris and fallen omnics. His gun weighed heavy in his hands, held at the ready. If there was an enemy they missed, he would gun it down. It wouldn't be long before the scum stalking these areas would soon swoop in to loot any valuable pieces from the fallen. Picking the place clean as efficiently like starving vultures descending upon a corpse. They would need to be dealt with eventually; preferably before they got to any sort of weapons.
He had other priorities now.
Zarya was still out there, and unless there was proof that she had died in the line of duty he refused to leave her behind. 76 slowed down his pace after entering the building where they had fought the last of the omnics, knowing that heedlessly running from corridor to corridor would likely lead him further from the Russian rather than bring him closer.
A few more steps in, a corner turned, and there was the blood trail. It was a sight he had grown accustomed to, something that normally would not invoke much emotion in him anymore beside a righteous fury. (He could not afford to let feelings of sadness or sympathy get the upper hand over him. He refused to allow his mind to be clouded by that when he needed to be focused on the mission a hand.) It was the knowledge of who he would find at the end of it that did evoke a sense of dread.
Rushing through the halls he soon found her laying on the ground. 76 knelt beside the curled up body, watching for the rise and fall of her chest, no matter how shallow it might be. All while taking stock of the injuries littering her body. Moving her would be one hell of a task.
“Say something.” His gruff voice was low, almost as gentle as the hand that shook her shoulder.