Dispatched || Maddie Buckley

Chapter Ten- Shaken

'Open your eyes. Come on, open your eyes.'

The voice echoed in Mikey's mind, a voice that sounded much like his own. It was persuasive, desperate even. His eyes finally fluttered open, pain searing through his entire body. He couldn't move, he was paralyzed in shock. His patrol car was swallowed by fallen debris from the building that had collapsed due to the earthquake that rocked the city of Los Angeles.

Mikey knew that he had to move, he knew that he had to get out of there. He wasn't going to die like this. He looked around at all of his surroundings, the entire roof of the car was caved in. He was lucky to have survived so far. He saw the man he had arrested, unconscious and bleeding from a head laceration. There was most likely some brain damage and judging by the paleness of the man's skin, he didn't look to be alive.

Mikey turned his body as much as he could only to be met with parts of the steel cage stabbing into his right shoulder. They didn't look deep enough to cause any major injury but it was enough to cause blood to seep from the open wounds. He winced as he pulled his shoulder away from the steel, the cold metal tearing through his skin. He let out a soft whimper as the pain finally set in.

In the distance, he could hear a child crying. Most likely another unlucky person falling victim to the earthquake.

He tried to open his door, it was jammed and unable to open more than a few centimetres. There was only one way he was getting out of this car. He quickly turned his body, his legs facing the door.

One kick. Nothing.
Two kicks. Nothing.
Three. It bursted open.

He slowly and cautiously made his way out onto the street, clutching his abdomen and limping from his injuries. He was shocked to see the street filled with the leftovers of the building. Mikey followed the sounds of the kid crying until he found a red minivan that had crashed into a huge piece of stone rubble. The man that had been driving was passed out, his nose and forehead bleeding from the impact of the airbag. The woman in the passenger seat was in pretty bad shape, her abdomen was being tightly squeezed by the seat belt. The eldest of the two kids was also unconscious, possibly from hitting his head. The little girl was awake and aware, she couldn't be more than five years old.

Mikey placed his hand on the back window where the little girl was sitting and smiled at her, "Hey.." he croaked out through his dry throat, "It's gonna be okay. I'm going to call for some help, okay?"

The little girl simply nodded at him through her tears and Mikey pulled out his phone from his pocket. He squinted his eyes to see his screen and dialled 9-1-1.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" The dispatcher spoke.

"Yeah, this is Officer Andrews. I'm on 261st Street near the old paper office. The building collapsed on to my car and the streets are covered with debris. I have a family of four here in need of immediate medical attention."

"Sir, it is going to be a while before any medical care can reach you. Everyone has been dispatched to other areas that were affected by the earthquake."

"What?!" Mikey snapped, "How long would it take?!"

"About an hour, or longer."

"These people don't have an hour.." Mikey muttered, tears growing in his eyes as he looked over at the family's van.

"Sir, what's your name?" The woman on the other line asked.

"Michael Andrews." He replied bluntly, stifling his tears.

"Michael?" The woman questioned.

"Do you know me or something?" He asked, wiping his face of his tears.