Profession

Liberty falls

AI Tony tuned into the emergency channel so that I could understand what was going on at the scene as we made our way to the tunnel. When we hit the first emergency vehicles, he stopped, let me get my bag out of the trunk, and skedaddled until I called for a ride. I lugged my kit over to what looked like the command post, identified myself and showed my card that designated me as a certified disaster responder.

"We don't have the scene under control yet, but we need somebody to do triage and help bring the injured out," the commander said. "But we can't spare anybody to protect you. The Avengers are on-scene, hopefully some of the Justice League will show up soon, but the villains are raging around in the main tunnel, that's where the civilians are. The outer two tunnels have been evacuated, there's only minor damage to the other two tunnels, they're closed now too."

I squeezed my bracelet and my armor flowed over me. "I can do this," I said. The commander raised his eyebrows.

"I guess so. Work your way in. Direct those who are ambulatory to move behind our cordon.  Triage the rest. There are three hospitals close-ish, New York Presbyterian, Roosevelt, and Mount Sinai, then three others that are beyond that. Ambulances are on their way. Right now, the fires are small, access is limited, so the firefighters aren't doing much. I'll send a few in with you to act as orderlies and evacuate the ones who can be saved." I nodded. It was going to be hard work, and dangerous for them. I started in with eight firefighters and four stretchers.

Outside the tunnel wasn't too bad, danger-wise. There were a lot of civilians, sensibly sheltering in their pods, but the battle could boil out again, and the police were clearing them out of the way. Injuries were mostly minor and I didn't take the time to treat them, just directed them behind the cordon where they'd be somebody else's problem. There was one serious patient out here, a woman who'd had a heart attack. She'd be ok if she could get to a hospital, and the passenger in her pod helped one of the firefighters take her away. Black smoke billowed out of the tunnel, but I heard cheering behind me and looked up. A streak of gold and red arrowed in and I couldn't help a grim smile. Uncle Tony was here. Villains' butts were about to be kicked.

I received video from him as he streaked inside; he put up markers where there were life signs, which would make it easier for us. A second display put the current fighting--and a couple of pods that had somehow been set on fire, hence the smoke--about a third of the way into the tunnel. I relayed this information to one of the firefighters, who told the command post. Right now it was fairly safe for us, and more firefighters joined us, evacuating those who could walk and leaving me to triage the rest.

Injuries got worse the farther in we got. I ran out of tourniquets quickly and I heard somebody request more. More tourniquets and more pressure dressings. My kit was quickly depleted of these supplies and I left it near the walls after taking the wallet of medications with me. For those with hysterics, I could give small doses of a calming medicine that made it easier for the firefighters to help, administered appropriate medications for other injuries until I ran out. For those who couldn't be saved, I gave them enough painkillers so that their last moments wouldn't be in agony and moved on, grateful that nobody could see my face. Behind us, I could hear antigrav units start moving pods out of the way so first responders could get closer. The fighting went farther toward the New Jersey side, and we worked as fast as we could. The pen I'd been using to write injury and medication codes on foreheads went dry, and I had to use blood instead.

The tunnel was a horrible place to be. Greasy black smoke billowed over us occasionally, depending on the wind, and people were crying and calling for help. Firefighters used their equipment to free people from damaged pods and police officers came in to help evacuate the injured. There were very few people who weren't injured now. Some people didn't want to leave family or friends who were more hurt than they were and had to be picked up and taken away, struggling. In the distance, we could hear the sounds of battle, yelling, and repulsor fire. It was hot, and the firefighters put on their masks to help their breathing, but the police and citizens didn't have this protection. My suit's filters were great and there was temperature control, but even so, I was overly warm. There were a lot of blunt-force trauma, a lot of blood, spine damage and head wounds, broken limbs, but few severed limbs (good news) and no eviscerations.  My suit helped my strength even if it wasn't as good as Uncle Tony's, and I was able to help getting access to trapped and injured people. I had access to the emergency channel that the first responders were using; it was chaotic and loud, but control seemed good for an event like this. We were working as quickly as we could, but every pod had at least one occupant, some several, and everybody had to be assessed, a process that seemed to take a long time with each patient since I had to speak with them, even though my display showed heart rates. It was slow going, and the sounds of battle drove adrenaline which made my hands try to go faster than they could work. I fumbled a lot and tried hard to get my response under control. The farther we got into the tunnel, the more dead people we found. I was scared but determined.