Sukkari district, in the underground tunnels
Dr. Gupta wiped the sweat of his brow quickly with one hand, and checked the pulse of his friend, Dr. Faulkerson, with the other. He breathed a sigh of relief. Dr. Faulkerson -- or Ric, as Sameer called him -- still had a strong pulse, although he had been unconscious since he and Colonel Banks went back and pulled him out of the makeshift tent, and into the tunnels, where they hid together with the other orphans, some residents, and allied troops. Some of the residents of the Sukkari district, knowing what al-Assad's men would do had they found them, scurried them off to the underground tunnels. Made by some of the other residents a few months ago to escape from the indiscriminate attacks that tore their homes apart, these tunnels could house a few hundred. There about fifty orphans with them who needed medical care, especially Bara'ah, the little girl Dr. Faulkerson relieved temporarily of her asthma and heart ailment.
While in the tunnel, a government helicopter hovered in a nearby area, and dropped two barrel bombs -- explosives made of oil barrels filled with a mix of high explosives, napalm nitrines, and shrapnel -- and caused even more destruction, thus sealing off the tunnel with hundreds pounds of rubble and debris. Before they dropped the bomb, Sameer heard the troops shout "Allahu Akbar", which meant 'God is greater' in Arabic.
"Bloody bastards," he swore then. "How dare they bring God's name into all this."
While Dr. Gupta attended to his friend in one of the caverns, the orphans were cared in the others by a resident who helped them – Raed -- who also tried to keep Bara'ah as comfortable as possible. So far, the temporary relief provided to her by Dr. Faulkerson hasn't worn off. But the clock was ticking, and the oxygen was slowly running out in the closed off tunnel. They needed to get out fast, thought Sameer. But how?
In the corner of his eye, Sameer saw the other residents who were trapped with his them praying. He looked at his watch. This was probably the only place to say them now, Sameer thought. The mosques, churches, and other places of worship, if not part of the heaps of rubble in the streets by now, were closed, which never happened before in Sukkari. He didn't usually pray, but given the circumstances, and for the sake of his friend, he put his head down in prayer.
"Sometimes, my friend, I wish you'd think of yourself first once in a while," he said, while attending to Dr. Faulkerson. Ric's temporary extraction of the asthma and heart ailment, plus the corona virus strain injected by the soldiers proved to be a potent mix. Sameer witnessed how his friend got himself out of similar scrapes before, but this was different. The Extractor was of no help at this point. He knew that his friend had to get emergency medical attention soon, but he wasn't sure how.
Dr. Faulkerson, before passing out into unconsciousness, whispered to Dr. Gupta that help was coming. Dr. Gupta knew what the doctor referred to, and it was not the allies, and certainly not the rebels who held the district. He knew about Ricn's allegiance to the Benedetto order as an oblate. He must have sent a signal before he lost consciousness, he thought. But he wasn't sure whether they would be found beneath all the rubble.
Sameer, then, heard a whirring sound, as if something was cutting through the rubble. To his surprise, a laser-like slashing shield cut through, clearing the rubble, and filling the tunnel with much-needed air. The shield then, disappeared in a blink of an eye, which led him to think of only one thing.
"The Benedetto order. They've come to save us."
Then, he heard a thunderous roar of engines, which were getting louder and louder. He saw large headlights getting bigger and bigger, until he saw a familiar vehicle. It was a GHE-O Rescue, like the ones they used in the MSF, followed by a fleet of six Marauders. The vehicles stopped at the entrance. The driver of the GHE-O jumped out, and approached Sameer. He noticed that the driver was wearing a bandana and Ray Ban sunglasses, face all dusty, but he could tell that the driver was a woman. Upon reaching them, she took off her sunglasses and knelt beside the two doctors.
"Dr. Gupta," she said. "I'm Dei Maria Hidalgo. We're here to get you all out." She, then, motioned the men from the Marauders to come quickly to help her put Dr. Faulkerson in a stretcher and bring him to the GHE-O.
Sameer noticed the medallion hanging from her neck. "Dei Maria, you are an oblate of the Benedetto order, aren't you?"
He noticed the woman's was slightly surprise at his question, but she answered evenly, "Yes, yes I am. Dr. Faulkerson's keeper, Bishop Nicholas, received his distress call. He alerted the other keepers, including my keeper, Abbot Antony. Luckily, we were able to track down your location. Come on, Dr. Gupta, let's get you out of here."
Some men from the Marauder team ran to where they were, and quickly hoisted Dr. Faulkerson to the stretcher, and brought him up to the GHE-O, while the others led the orphans, residents, and allied soldiers to the Marauder vehicles. Dr. Gupta climbed into the GHE-O beside his friend, and started administering more medical care to Dr. Faulkerson, with the emergency equipment found inside the vehicle. Dei Maria, meanwhile, climbed up the driver's seat and started the engine.
As they began to roll out, Sameer heard a faint coughing. He turned around, and saw his friend's eyes open.
"Sameer..."
"Ric! Thank goodness," Sameer exclaimed, and sighed deeply. "Don't talk. Save your strength. We're getting out of here."
"I told you -- help -- would come," Dr. Faulkerson said in a weak voice, and closed his eyes again.
