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“You’re doing great, guys!” John’s encouraging voice came through the comm. “There’s one more life sign in the southeast corner of the building. Looks like ground level or below.”
Gordon glanced at Virgil, wiping the grime from his forehead. His big brother was clearly exhausted, having been doing more than his share of the heavy lifting all day. Gordon’s back twinged, but he ignored it. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, and Virgil was in worse shape. He shot his brother a cocky smile. “I got this, Virgil. Keep my exit clear until I come back.”
He turned and jogged into the building’s interior. As Virgil disappeared behind him, he switched on the lights on his helmet and pulled up the map of the building that John had uploaded to his wrist comm. The tiny red dot flickered, then stabilized, and he quickly mapped his route. Down one flight of stairs, two hallways over, and down again. This shouldn’t take long.
He ran down the stairs, coming up short at the bottom as he stared down the tangled mess of the hallway in front of him. He mentally revised his prediction. This could take a little bit.
He clambered over and under the debris, heading further and further into the hallway. A particularly difficult climb set his back spasming, and he had to stop and breathe though the pain. It faded into a bone-deep ache, which wasn’t much better, but at least it was consistent.
He had been pushing himself too hard recently. Once he got out of here, he’d have to ask John for some downtime. And some for Virgil too. His big brother had been pushing himself just as hard. In fact, why wait until later. He reached up and thumbed the button on his collar. “John?”
No response. That wasn’t like John. The building must be blocking the signal. As if to prove his theory, the little red dot he had been aiming for began to blink and jump, before finally disappearing for good.
He fixed its location in his mind and continued. While IR tech was good, it wasn’t infallible. This would not be the first rescue Gordon had completed without its help. He was a professional. He could handle it.
He rounded the final corner to the last survivor and was unprepared for the sight that greeted him. Blood spread in a pool around the man. Gordon knelt to check for a pulse, but it was gone. He was too late.
He bowed his head in respect for a moment before forcing himself to his feet. The building wasn’t going to wait forever, and he needed to get out. He turned to leave, then staggered into a wall as the building shook around him. His head collided with the concrete, and everything went black.
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When he came to, everything was still black. He tried to reach up to switch on his flashlight, but he couldn’t move.
He tried again. Nothing. He reacted, frantically trying to move anything. Nothing responded. He tried to take deep breaths to quell the rising panic, but it flooded over him. Unable to help himself, he began to hyperventilate, and passed out.
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He was a little more coherent the next time he awoke. Focusing on breathing exercises to control his fear, he concentrated on trying to wiggle one body part at a time, starting with his toes. Each successive failure sent his heart rate spiking, but each time he forced himself to calm before continuing. By the time he completed his evaluation, he was sweating with the effort of maintaining his composure. It wasn’t great news.
He couldn’t feel anything below his waist. The only thing he could move was his fingers, and that was just barely. The pain in his back had blossomed from the usual ache to a burning pain he hadn’t felt since…
Just the thought of his accident was enough to send him spiraling again, and he sent long minutes trying to retain control. The memories of blinding pain, helplessness, long months in the hospital threatened to drown him, and he found himself hyperventilating again.
It was a long time before he could think logically again. The panic in this situation was familiar, and he forced himself through the breathing exercises Virgil had taught him, that were cemented in his mind by months of use.
Virgil would find him.
He just had to hold on.