Mary ran through the streets, seeing the damage that the German pilots had left behind. She could still hear their engines and the whistle of the bombs being dropping, indicating that the pilots were still destroying London. Buildings had been destroyed and fires were rising high. Military personnel was running around the streets, screaming for water or for more men. They were digging through the rubble, probably for injured and dead citizens. Mary wanted to stop to help, but she had to get to William.
"Ma'am, you can't be-"
"I'm looking for someone, please, I can't-"
"Ma'am it's not safe for you to be out here. You need to get to one of the-"
"No, I can't. I'm looking for someone. He was at the army office and I was told that it was hit. I need to know-"
"If he's a soldier, he's out here looking for survivors. There's not much you can do right now, Ma'am."
"No, you don't understand I can't just-"
"Ma'am I won't ask again." Mary sighed, knowing that it would be no use arguing with the military.
"Fine," Mary huffed, turning her back towards the soldiers, who seemed to relax as she turned around, heading back to the tube station, except she didn't go to the station, she turned quickly down an alleyway and towards the military offices, just on a different road. This road was quieter since it had almost no shops, only homes.
As she rounded the corner, she saw the army office. Half of the building was in ruin and the other half, the half that was still standing, was up in flames. She felt her stomach drop as she saw limbs sticking out from the rubble, and bodies burned by the fire. She let out a cry, dropping to her knees, not caring if she'd hurt herself in the process. She couldn't see any chance of William getting out of the building alive. There was no way.
"Will," she whispered to herself, letting a sob out as she felt her heart break. Mary couldn't move. It was like she was numb to everything. There was nothing she could do. She was a nurse, she was supposed to help the wounded, she was supposed to save lives, not sit in a tube station while everyone else dies.
"Ma'am, you can't be here, you need to get somewhere safe."
"No, no, I can help," Mary said as she clumsily got up, wiping the ash off her dress. "I'm a nurse, what can I do to help? Please." She turned, looking at the young soldier who was standing in front of her.
"Miss, I can't-"
"Please, let me help." The soldier sighed, looking around before he nodded.
"Come with me, I'm supposed to be looking for survivors on this street, you can help and then you can use this kit," he passed Mary his medical kit. "To patch them up enough that they'll survive the ride to the hospital."
"When will an ambulance be arriving?"
"They won't be driving around here until the rubble is cleared."
"That could be days." The soldier nodded. "Okay." Mary nodded, allowing the soldier to lead the way. "I never got your name, soldier."
"Dean, Ma'am, Private Dean Shepard." Mary nodded, smiling and holding her hand out for the soldier to shake.
"I'm Mary Blake, nice to meet you."
~~
It felt like days before the sun came up. Mary and Dean worked together to find survivors, Dean pulling them out of the rubble and Mary patching them up. They lost more than they saved, but they did what they could do. They worked their way down the street slowly, calling out to anyone who was able to hear them and then carefully looking through the rubble.
