𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚 [E.Diaz]

Mercy

Mercy

THE RINGING grew louder the more she stared at her dirty gloves. She was disassociated with the farmhouse bathroom, watching the water wash away the mud down the drain. Her breathing was heavy, and her mind raced. 

Josie slowly looked up at the mirror, glancing at her reflection. Her braid was coming undone, its tangles visible, and her brown eyes were bloodshot red. Her wet hair stuck to the side of her face with a few scrapes of dried blood, unsure how she got them. 

She looked to her wrist, pulling up her jacket sleeve. The obsidian beads of her bracelet cracked, at the edges, a smudge of dirt left on the gold manta ray.

Her breath shuddered, shivering she looked back up. Slowly turning around, her boots on the wood floor creaking, she crept downstairs, Buck pushing past her in a hurry to see his fire captain. 

"Cap, we got to go dig," Buck tells him. Josie crossed her arm following behind him onto the front porch. 

"We don't have a drill buck, even if we can get another one up here, The access road is flooded." Bobby stopped him.  

"Okay, then we dig by hand," Buck suggested.  "Not with all this rain, we could trigger another collapse," Chimney says. 

"How long can he last down there?" Buck asked the man next to him. "Talking 30 feet of wet earth coming right down on top of him." He says. 

A defining silence fell over the crews. Josie knitted her brow seeing their reactions, she looked to Buck for confirmation. 

"Wait you all think he is dead don't you?" He fumed. "Nobody thinks that," Bobby stated, she shook her head. 

"Just don't know how to get him out," Chimney says. Josie's chest rose in anger.  "Nobody's giving up, Alright  we're gonna find him." Hen reasured. 

Josie's grumbled shaking her head, turning on her heel and stomping away. Walking out into the rain with a plan forming in her head. 

If the water was near the pipe she could squeeze herself into it with a tank. The mud splashed against her feet, not bothering to wipe them off climbing into the back of her ambulance searching for an O2 Tank. She growled in frustration tossing items around. 

"Stop! What are you doing?!" A voice shouted to her as she jumped out the back. She looked up and saw the fire captain marching to her, she shook her head. 

"Whatever you think you can do Josie it's a bad idea!" Bobby discouraged her, she rolled her eyes. "You can't stop me, Captain!" She tells him. 

"Yes, I can, You're gonna get yourself killed." He stated. Her eyes wide she turned to face him.  "I don't care!" She exclaimed. 

"I don't, he needs to come home, and I don't care if it kills me to do that." Josie declared.  Bobby shook his head, stepping up to her. "I care," Bobby stated. 

 "You are under my order and I'm telling you to stand down." He reminded her, and she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"I know this is a....personal matter to you." He hesitated at the last end. Josie's eyes darkened looking at the older man, a fire in her stare.