Unexpected 1: Trojan Horse

Chapter 11: Denouement

There was a long pause. Hicks held his breath, as the other officers glued their eyes to him. He suddenly felt his shirt soaked with sweat and the heat of a thousand flames!

Fumbling was heard over the talkie and then another voice informed "Put us through the LRAD." this man had a deeper tone, and spoke rapidly, "It's very important! Urgent! NOW!"

"Yes, chief!" called someone from the third fire crew.

"Ladies and gentlemen, officers of all units, we have completed the tunes and extra round-" began Hauser, with solemn tone. All 20 squad officers were glaring at the opening in the third floor, holding their breath. " Commander Hicks and  20 Squad?"

5 second of pure silence. Hicks looked at them but couldn't find any words. All five men were completely muted and motionless. They all inhaled collectively!

"Both officers have been found. ALIVE!"

That last word ignited the crowd to a roar. All members of the squad hugged each other, and many others were seen high-fiving, fist pumping, and shooting smiles. This jubilant scene looked and felt unbelievable. Finally! Good news!

The air felt light again, as everyone came together for the rescue operation. It was hard  to locate the officers, but the real challenge was getting them out. It took them 3 minutes to get the stretchers and the medical bags up through the officers to Hauser and his men.

As they worked to move the pieces of concrete and two other big boulders, which had fallen in the corridor, she mustered all the strength left in her upper body to grab the piece of plastic by the ends and pull her teammate closer to the office space. Captain Hauser couldn't believe how she was able to move twice her weight, on a badly injured leg, which unfortunately looked infected by now.

Street  was wide awake, and in pain. By the time they reached the opening between the office and the hall, she was completely exhausted, falling almost to the floor. Her body was just gassed, both legs were giving in and she was out of breath. Pulling Street, while blowing the whistle and taking in all that smoke was just brutal for her body.

The three men ran to her and Street and immediately relocated them to the office space. "You did an amazing job, Officer Alonso. My full respects to you, ma' am!" Hauser said, as he helped situate Chris on the floor next to him. She impressed him so much, she had done the unthinkable with superhuman strength and poise. The two rescuers checked their vitals, while the captain directed the efforts for the medical supplies. As soon as the packages were received, the men began disassembling  quickly. Just as one of the men moved to help her with the medical supplies and the stretcher, Chris requested, "Please, help him. He needs help now. He's losing a lot of blood. Help him!"

The men pivoted, thinking they would help her down first, while they attended the badly injured male officer. However, they understood her request. Both of their pulses were low, but his was borderline. They needed to move him fast!

***Fifteen minutes later***

All the commotion seemed to be under control. Both officers had been brought down carefully. The plan had worked. The crew sent Street down first. He laid in a blue stretcher with several medical bags on top, as he had his arms stretched to each side of his body. He was awake, but barely. His pulse was very low. Captain ordered for the movement to go very slow, because the patient was in extreme pain and presented a weak pulse. He presented several open wounds, 1st and 2nd degree burns in several areas of the body, possible broken or fractured ribs, and severe head pain and trauma to the lower back and spine, causing immobility in the lower extremities.

The entire group worked together to make sure Officer Street made it down quickly but smoothly, securing his landing in less than 5 minutes. Two EMT units rushed to the stretcher and immediately placed him on a cart and moved him to one of the tents. There, they inserted many cables, administered saline and did their magic.