An Unfortunate Mix-Up ✔️

Chapter 23: Building Collapse

Kelly Severide takes a deep breath as they arrive on the scene, taking in the sight before him.

When you heard the call over the public address system at the fire station, you never knew what would await you when you arrived. Sure, they told you the type of situation - whether fire or building collapse - but sometimes their words didn't justify what you would come up on. 

As the truck comes to a stop, his eyes analyze every inch of what he is seeing before him. It appeared a full standing house once stood there before their arrival. Instead, it now just a pile of roof shingles, broken bricks, drywall, pipes, and various pieces from what used to be inside the structure. Given the houses surrounding it, it was probably a two-story structure. He began asking himself if it had a basement, eyes scanning off the single house that was his focus for clues at the neighbors.

He jumps out, grabbing his hat as he does so and placing it on his head, knowing any collapse brought risk of more items falling or shifting with ease. He walks over to where Matt Casey stands looking at the situation before him, with a couple other firemen over by the rumble.

"Chicago PD has evacuated the neighboring households just in case they have cracks or issues that cause them to fall next," Matt informs Kelly, only to get a nod in response. That was just standard protocol, nothing new to anyone involved. It would remain in place until a structural engineer was on the scene, and could check the situation out. "A neighbor told me that the house has not been lived in for months, however the past week, they have seen individuals coming and going out of the place. So we may people trapped insi-"

"Did you ask the police for the K9 unit?" Kelly questions, simply following standard protocol. He was in charge of the rescue truck, and knew a dog's nose could smell out someone long before they could probably. It may help in the direction they begin to check through all the rumble first.  

"They are looking to get someone over here as soon as they can." It wasn't quite the answer Kelly was looking for, knowing the cost of valuable seconds being wasted on a scene. "It looks like it was a bombing, too, based on the sound heard by the neighbor before the house came down to this. I know you would normally notify Han-"

"He's too focused on finding Jay, as well as the whole unit." Kelly takes a deep breath, feeling his own worry in wondering where the officer and his friend could be. It wasn't like anyone in the unit to be kidnapped or go missing, let alone more than a day now. It only built up the scenario for bad situations in his mind. "I say we notify the Chicago PD officer in charge of the scene and they can handle it."

"I have my guys started on slowly moving rumble, figuring your guys can give us a hand with that...."

The pair make their way over, watching as their men had all began moving rumble, calling through any crack in the collapse they could find to see if a response from someone could be heard. Kelly had to admit in how spread out everyone was to cover the most area, combined with watching their next move in knowing they could cause it to collapse more - if possible.

Kelly finds a spot, joining in the process, voice bellowing out loudly every couple pieces moved, eyes looking through cracks in curious if a sign could be spotted. It seemed like they'd be there for hours with the rate they were going, but it had to be done - he wasn't about to give up on someone. 

"Hello?!?!" He calls out for what seemed like the hundredth time after being on the scene for a good hour already. While some of the men had given up hope in calling out, he was one of the few who continued following the process. "Anybody down there!?!?"

"Hello?" He hears a very faint response, causing his arm to automatically go up in the air and wave, as he drew attention from everyone else on the scene. 

"Hello? If you can hear me say something, please..." He lays down, pressing his ear against the hole he had formed, hopefully somewhere down the darkness was the source of the voice.

"Kelly?" He feels his blood go cold at the simple response. It was someone that knew his name, and he knew that voice very well. It was a voice that he had heard on the job regularly, and a couple times afterwards when they would see each other at Molly's. "Kelly?" He takes a deep breath, almost thinking he'd been out there too long as there was no way this was happening. Perhaps he was imagining it. Maybe he needed a break, a drink as he had been working hard.

"Jay?" The faces around him perk up more as Gabriela Dawson joins Kelly in the same position, not believing that was the name mentioned. She was almost already set to dial her brother's number.

"Kelly..." Kelly and Gabriela look at each other, smiles forming on their faces immediately in confirmation of what they had heard. "You got to get help us, man. You got to get down here. Alex is bleeding..." 

"We're going to do what we can to get down as quick as we can!" Kelly motions for the whole squad to make their way over the back left corner of the lot where he was, beginning to form a chain of people removing pieces, one by one, from the area, in order to expose what was below. "Someone call the Intelligence Unit and tell them - quickly! We need to make the area big enough to get a stretcher down there. We got to get them out of there quickly."

"Please man. I'm doing...what I can..." Kelly could hear the tiredness in Jay's voice, only imagining what could have happened the past day and a half while he was missing. What had they done to them before this?