New team

29.Arson

"Penny!" Sam called out, his voice filled with despair.

As soon as he heard the sound of another explosion coming from above, he felt as if his heart had stopped. Paralyzed with fear and guilt, he immediately ran to the stairs. He secured himself by keeping his hand on the railing, but his legs ran up the stairs on their own, easily avoiding the broken boards. He looked at his feet in horror as he made his way through the rather thick smoke. When he felt his hand no longer moving along the railing, he slowed down and began to walk carefully along the wall. He didn't take a few steps until something flashed at him at the end of the corridor. For a moment he thought he was imagining it, but when he stopped and focused, he saw the flash again. Without thinking, he quickened his pace, but stopped, holding his breath.

Penny was lying face down on the wall and floor. Without thinking much, Sam ran up to her and lightly shook her shoulder. The smoke at the end of the hall wasn't as thick, but Sam still had trouble seeing Penny open her eyes.

"Penny! Are you okay?" Sam asked worriedly as he helped Penny sit up.

"Yes, I think so," she nodded reassuringly.

"What about your hand?" Sam pointed. Now that they were sitting on the floor, the smoke no longer obscured his vision, and in the dim light of his own flashlight he saw that the sleeve of Penny's uniform was torn, and even in that light Sam recognized the color of the blood.

"It's just a scratch. I'll be fine," Penny assured.

"If that's what you think" Sam shrugged. He wasn't going to argue with her again, although even a child would see that this wound was a little deeper than a scratch. "Can you get up?" He asked hesitantly after a moment of silence. They were both trained in first aid and knew well not to move the injured person unless necessary. But the fire seemed like the right reason for both of them.

"I can do it," Penny replied confidently. She tried to get up on her own, but slipped.
Sam immediately got back on his feet and offered a helping hand. To his surprise, Penny accepted his help gratefully as he pulled her up with one hand and secured her from behind with the other. For a moment they were so close that when their eyes met, Sam was able to see behind Penny's mask, how the ends of her eyes twitched slightly and her eyes twinkled friendly, just like before.

Sam led Penny slowly towards the stairs. The smoke had cleared a bit now, so Sam didn't have to use his other hand to find his way. So he took advantage of this and pressed the button on the radio, silently begging for someone to get the signal this time.

"Sir, where are you?" After a few tries, he heard Tony's scared voice.

"The question is more, where are you guys?" Sam asked. He knew perfectly well that as a station officer, he first had to know where his team was.

"We managed to get out through the basement," Tony reported. "But when we left, you were gone. Where are you?" Tony repeated.

"Penny and I came in looking for you after the explosion. Now we could use a little help," Sam explained.

"Are you injured?" Tony immediately asked concerned.

"Penny is," Sam replied after having to silence Penny with a glare. "But it's no big deal. We'll try to get to the door, but first someone has to take care of this fire."

"We've got a little problem, sir, with the door," Tony hesitated. "We're trying to open it, but we can't. It must have jammed shut from the inside."

"Try using hydraulic scissors to pry the lock open. If that doesn't work, we'll have to find another way out," Sam explained carefully.

"Roger that, sir! Understood," Tony confirmed. "Over and out".

Tony's voice followed them all the way down the hall to the stairs. When silence fell, Sam was about to help Penny down the stairs when he saw her hesitate. She lowered her eyes for a moment and only after a long moment looked back at him with a silent request.