Work Text:
They say that some people can tell when something catastrophic is about to happen.
But I couldn’t.
l had been walking along this corridor. My mind had been wandering around on its’ own. I’d been trying to cover up a yawn and reached for my phone.
But then it all happened within a split-second.
There was a deafening sound, the ground shook uncontrollably and then the ceiling came crashing down.
When I came to it, I was lying on the floor. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious. The hallway in front of me was blocked by big rubble pieces and there was dust everywhere. There was a big hole in the roof above me and sunlight came in.
Once I’d stopped coughing from the dust, I checked my body. I had several cuts and bruises, but only one thing seemed to be more serious. There was a pretty deep cut on my left arm and a lot of blood was coming from it. I pressed my right hand on it, then I saw a blue scarf lying around somewhere.
I stumbled toward it, picked it up and tried to place it around my arm. Since I could only use my right hand and my mouth, it took me a while, but I managed to make some sort of tourniquet out of the scarf. The bleeding seemed to stop.
My feet were a little bit shaky, so I sat down on a piece of concrete and leaned against the wall. Now I padded my pocket and gladly, my phone was still there and still working. I dialed 911 and just a second later I heard a soft voice ask: “911, what’s your emergency?”
I answered: “Hello. There was an explosion on Main Street and now I’m trapped inside the upper floor hallway. Could you please send someone?”
The woman replied: “Of course, first responders are already on their way. Can you tell me your name and if you are hurt in any way?”
“Yes, my name is y/n.”
“Hello y/n, my name is Grace.”
“Well, I’m a bit shaken, and I have a pretty bad cut on my left upper arm, but I stopped the bleeding. I think.”
Grace sounded surprised. “You stopped the bleeding? How?”
I laughed. “I used a scarf as a tourniquet, but I don’t know if it’s really tight enough.”
“Okay, y/n, that’s great work. I hear that Austin Fire and Rescue are just arriving at the scene and it seems like your one of the only ones that didn’t make it out. Can you look around for me an see if there’s a room number so that I can give them your exact location?”
I looked around and answered: “Yes, I’m next to room 562. But finding me won’t be too hard. There’s a huge hole in the roof and I can see the sky.”
For a few moments Grace was silent, because she had to talk to the first responders at the scene. As my level of adrenaline seemed to sink, I started to really feel the cut on my arm. And just as I was staring at the sun above to pray, several heads came into view. My adrenaline rushed back and I used my good arm to wave.
“Hello, I’m down here!”, I screamed a little more desperate than I’d thought.
One of the men shouted back: “Austin FD, we’re here to rescue you! Please stay where you are!”
“I’m not going anywhere.”, I mumbled to myself as I witnessed one person being lowered down to me on a rope. At first I thought he was a firefighter, but once he landed on the floor, I actually saw that he was a paramedic. He separated himself from the rope and came over to me.
“Hello y/n, my name is TK. I’m just going to check on your arm before we get you up on that rope.”
“Thank you.”, I smiled and he took a brief look at me before he focused on my arm.
“That’s a pretty nice tourniquet you made there, good job on that one. But I’m afraid it didn’t stop the bleeding completely, so I’m gonna have to pull it a little tighter.”
“Okay.”, I just answered.
He looked at me. “This is going to hurt.”
I just nodded, trying my best to be brave. Then he pulled hard on both ends of the scarf and pain shot through my arm. I sucked the air in and groaned.
“Sorry.”, he said once he was done.
“It’s okay.”
“Alright, let’s get out of here.” He offered me a hand and I got up, still a little bit shaky on my feet.
And then we heard it.
There was a very loud cracking sound and a tear was forming on the ground. We looked at each other and somehow we both knew: This floor will break any second.
TK was looking at the dangling rope for a second and then he looked at me. He had to make a choice and he only had a split-second to make it.
Without hesitation he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight while the floor opened up and swallowed us whole.
“TK? TK, answer me!”
The voice of a man over a radio woke awoke me.
I was laying on the floor and once again there was dust everywhere.
There was only the worst sound there could be at the moment: silence.
I forced myself to stand up, even though I grew a little tired.
“TK? Where are you?”, I asked, but there was no reply.
I could barely see anything with all the dust. And the roof was blocked so there was very little light in here. Then I heard the radio again.
“TK, please respond. Are you ok?”
So I just stumbled in the direction of the radio sound until I reached TK. He was laying on the floor and a huge rubble piece was laying on top of his left arm and parts of his chest.
I kneeled next to him and shook him a bit.
“TK? TK, wake up! Are you ok?”
But he didn’t respond. I heard the man’s voice again over the radio, and I saw the radio-cord, but it seemed to be under the rubble and I couldn’t reach it.
I had absolutely zero clue what to do now.
And then I heard my own ringtone.
My phone! It had to be here somewhere!
After a few seconds of panicked searching, I found it in all this mess and answered it.
Grace’s voice was greeting me once again. “y/n, I’m so glad you’re ok! Just wait one second, I’m gonna connect fire captain Strand to our line.”
There was a sound and then the man from the radio asked: “Hello y/n. Can you tell me what happened? Where is TK, is he okay?”
I got back to TK and replied: “The floor just opened up and we fell through, I don’t know how far. TK is lying next to me. I can feel a pulse, but he’s not waking up when I call him. And there’s this big rubble piece on his left side, so he couldn’t get up even if he was awake.”
“Okay, thank you y/n.”, Captain Strand said, “Can you tell me anything that could tell us where you are?”
I turned my flashlight on and looked around the room. There wasn’t any room sign and I didn’t recognize this room either. There seemed to be a small hole, through which a person could fit, but I wasn’t going to leave TK here alone. I told Captain Strand everything I’d just noticed.
“Okay, we’re just going to search for you. I’m giving you over to Captain Vega, she will tell you how you can help TK.”
“Okay.”, I just said, surprised by the calmness in my voice.
Just as promised, the voice of a woman talked to me over the phone. “Hello y/n, my name is Tommy Vega and I need you to help me help TK.”
“Okay. What do I need to do?”
“You said there was something on his arm and chest. Can you still reach the middle of his chest?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now I need you to open his paramedic jacket.”
I opened the zipper of his jacked and he was wearing a white shirt underneath that was really dirty now. “Got it.”, I commented.
“Great. Now you have to make a fist. Then place your knuckles on his sternum. That is the line in the middle of his chest.”
“Okay.” I did what she said.
“Now you’ll need to push your knuckles very hard on that line.”
“But isn’t that going to hurt him?”, I asked and hesitated.
“Yes, honey, but that’s what we need to do. The pain you’ll inflict is going to tell us if he is just unconscious or if it’s something worse.”
“Okay…”, I said a little unsure. Then I mumbled silently: “I’m sorry.”, and then I pushed my knuckles hard into hist chest and moved my hand upward.
Thank god he woke up, coughing and groaning.
“He’s awake!”, I screamed.
TK tried to get up and then realized that he was pinned under all this concrete. He looked at me and asked: “What happened?”
“We fell through the floor and you saved my life.”, I explained.
Before he could answer, Captain Vega interrupted. “TK, can you hear me?”
He looked at the phone lying next to him on the floor. “Yeah, I’m good Cap.”
“I know it’s hard to tell, but can you asses your trapped arm? Do you think it’s a crush injury?”
TK shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I’m pinned under there pretty good. I won’t be able to free myself.”
Captain Vega sighed. “Any other injuries that need medical attention?”
He seemed to feel his body for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. I just got knocked out quite good.”
“That’s good to hear. Just hold on, your father is already looking for a way in. Do you know how many stories you fell?”
“I’m not sure. Two? Maybe three?”
“Okay, I’m gonna tell him, hang on a second.”
The phone went quiet and TK just looked around. I broke the awkward silence.
“Why is your father looking for you here?”, I asked.
His laugh turned into a violent cough before he answered. “My father is the fire captain.”
I smiled and only then I saw the name tag on his jacket that I had put back into place after he woke up. It said: TK Strand.
And the fire captain had introduced himself as Captain Owen Strand.
TK looked at me. “While we’re waiting, can you do something for me?”
“Of course.”, I answered. I probably owed him my life, so of course I’d have done everything I could to save his.
“Can you go over there and get this metal pole that’s laying there?”
I nodded and went to get the pole.
“Thanks. Now can you try and put it under this thing here, so you can use it as a lever? You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know.”, I said and placed the pole under the rubble.
“Good. On three you’re going to push it as hard as you can and maybe we’ll get my arm free.”
“Okay.” I grabbed the pole with both hands as tight as I could.
“Okay. One, two, three.”
I pushed as hard as I could. I tried to access any kind of strength I had left. And when I heard TK screaming from trying to pull his arm free, I gave it everything I had. But it wasn’t enough.
I let go.
“I’m sorry, TK. I’m not strong enough to lift this.”
He sounded tired as well. “It’s okay, it’s a really heavy piece and I wasn’t really expecting you to be able to lift it. But it was worth a try.”
Now it was Captains Strand’s voice again over the phone.
“y/n, TK? Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, dad, we’re here.”, TK answered.
“We have to know if you are on the second or third floor. We cannot come looking for you blindly, this whole building is unstable. We need a location before we can go in.”
There was a short silence, then Captain Strand went on.
“y/n, I know it’s a lot to ask, but you mentioned a possible exit? I need you to go through it. You have to find some indication of your location and then get back to TK and tell us where you are. Do you think you can do this for us?”
I took a deep breath, then I answered. “Yes. I can do it.”
“Okay, very good. But be very careful not to move any big objects or stuff like that. Stay away from everything that looks unstable to you, okay?”
“Okay.”
I stood up, then I glanced back at TK. “I’m sorry that I have to leave you here like that.”
He laughed. “You don’t have to worry about me, I’m not going anywhere. Just take care of yourself, okay?”
I smiled. “Okay.”
Then I went through the hole in the wall and went on to find a way. After a few minutes of climbing under debris and over stuff, I reached a room with a still intact room number. “Great.”, I said to myself and headed back to TK.
When I got back to the room, TK looked very tired.
“I found it. We’re two rooms away from room 233!”, I said to the phone.
But there was no answer.
TK looked at me with concern. “We have a problem. Your phone battery has died. We have no way of telling them where we are.”
For a few moments TK and I were silent. And then my fear turned to determination. I got to my feet.
“Yes, we have. I’m gonna go back through the hole. There was a way. And some of the hallways were still free. I’m just gonna keep looking until I find a way outside. And then I’ll tell them where to find you.”
TK shook his head. “No, that’s too dangerous. You heard my father. Everything could collapse. I can’t allow you to wander around here.”
I put on a brave smile. “Well, too bad you can’t stop me.”
He shook his head again. “y/n, it’s way too dangerous… you…”
I interrupted him. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even be down here. I know you could have saved yourself by going for the rope, but you haven’t. I owe you. And now, we’re even.”
I turned around and headed for the hole when I heard him call back to me.
“Thank you, y/n. And please… be careful.”
“I’m coming back for you, I promise.”, I said and left through the hole.
It was a very long way and every meter down here felt like a hundred. I had to climb over stuff and I had to do it very carefully. Then I had to crawl a few meters and again climb and so on. In one room, the floor was gone but I could climb on some rubble pieces to get to the lower floor. Now I should be on the ground floor. I had no idea how long I’d been walking when I finally saw sunlight in the next room.
When I stumbled outside, the sun was so bright, that I couldn’t see anything. But two strong hands held my shoulders and when I blinked and my eyes got used to the much light, I saw a firefighter in front of me. His name tag read: Captain Strand.
“y/n, are you ok?”, he asked and supported me while walking over to the ambulance.
I nodded. “I’m okay, but we have to get back inside. I can show you the way to TK.”
Captain Strand hesitated. “I can’t allow you to go back inside this building. TK wouldn’t want that.”
“But I have to. I promised him that I would come back for him.”
He waved a woman over to us. “Don’t worry. You can still help us find the way.”
Only a few minutes later everything was set and Captain Strand and another firefighter whose name was “Judd” entered the building. I was sitting in the ambulance, Captain Vega was taking care of my left arm. In my right hand I was holding her radio.
“Okay, can you see the room to your right side? It has a mathematical drawing on the blackboard.”
Over the radio, Judd answered: “Yes, we’re in it.”
For the next minutes, I was as concentrated as I’ve never been before. My eyes were closed and I tried to recall the way to TK backwards. Command after command I send Captain Strand and Firefighter Judd through the maze of rubble and debris.
And when I told them, that they should now see a hole at the left side of the hallway and that’s the room that TK should be in, I held my breath.
For a minute, there was no sound. Captain Vega also seemed to hold her breath. And Captain Strand answered.
“We got him. He’s okay. We’re coming back now.”
Even though Captain Vega wanted me to wait in the ambulance, I refused and waited just in front of the building. My nerves were just over it, but I had to make sure that TK was okay. It took them a while, but suddenly I saw three people coming out of the building. Two of them were supporting one person in their midst.
TK was awake and he smiled when he saw me, Captain Vega and this other paramedic called Nancy.
I couldn’t help myself. I rushed towards them and hugged TK.
“Thank you.”, I said. “For saving my life.”
As our hug broke off, he smiled. “You’re welcome, but as you’ve said. We’re even now. Thanks for showing them the way.”
I smiled and then Captain Vega lead me and him towards the ambulances where both of us were put into one – but luckily just for observation.