Eliuteria

Chapter 36

I didn't quite know where to begin. The task of trying to climb and crawl through the rubble was daunting.
Closing my eyes, I tried to focus. Ro would tell me to start somewhere small. It will come.
So I started small. I moved some of the water and a small amount of food into the smaller backpack I carried that was filled with medical supplies. Searching, for a moment, I found a hole in the wreckage where part of a wall stood still. Careful not of make noise, I placed the extra bag that would be too bulky and heavy for me to carry into the spot. Shouldering my backpack, I walked further into the crumbling building, testing each step I took to make sure it was stable.
I stayed low, knowing I was more stable and less likely to injure myself with a lower center of mass. My lips twitched as I thought of Tau teaching me of the importance of maintained a low center of mass. He would be proud if he could see the way I was crawling over these rocks. He would proud when he saw that it was me who rescued him. I smiled bigger when I imagined the surprise on his face. I continued, each move careful and sure as I let my mind imagine finding them. I let the voices of Ro and Tau remind me of everything I needed to do to get to them quickly and safely. We'd never discussed this particularly scenario, but all the same, it was comforting to let their voices coach me through this.
True to Matias's prediction, it wasn't long before the sky began to lighten. The sun would be rising soon, but under the dimly lit sky I could see better. Well enough to find an entry point. Several large chunks of concrete and metal stood against each other in a way that supported a section of floor on the 2nd level. It was hard to tell just how much was intact, but it was the only obvious spot to get beneath the ruble that I could see. My goal was toward the back of the building and getting there was not easy. The sky brightened each minute and nervous, I moved faster. In my rush, I set my hand on a rock or brick that was not stable and gave out under the weight of my body moving forward. I slipped forward and my right forearm scraped down an edge of the moved stone as I lost balance. I clenched my teeth as tight as I could to keep myself from shouting and cursing at the pain. Using my left hand, I pushed my body up and sat back, pulling my arm up to inspect the damage. Blood covered my arm making it impossible to see just how deep the scrape was, so I tested the movement a few times, bending and extending my arm and cringing at the sting as my skin stretched.
Get inside, I told myself. Once I was out of sight, I could stop try to stop the bleeding.
Slower, I crawled until I reached the opening. I peaked inside expecting to see ground just feet below, but all I saw was darkness. Despite the sky growing brighter, the building was still in shadows and through the opening I had no idea if it was 5 feet to the ground or 20. Conscious of the scrape on my arm, I slid the backpack off my left shoulder first and then pulled my right arm through. Holding the extended strap, I reached through the opening that I assumed was once a window and let the bag hang. When it didn't touch the ground, I let it fall from my hands and relaxed when it hit the ground a beat later.
Unburdened by the pack, I lifted my left leg over the opening and straddled the piece of wall before kicking my right leg back. Even though the drop wasn't far, it was nerve-racking to sweep my other leg behind me so that I was balancing on my chest. I slid myself back and tried to ignore the shooting pain in my right arm as it ground into the stone and then with a precarious, I was hanging. I closed my eyes and swallowed my fear as I pushed away and let myself fall to the ground.
"Shit," I cursed when my feet landed on an uneven surface. My ankle rolled and I lost balance. Despite wearing the clothes of a warrior, I was not the bad ass hero I spent the last few hours pretending to be. I sat on my butt, not wanting to most until I had light and could see, and felt around for my bag. When my fingers gripped onto the familiar canvas, I dragged it over and felt in the side pocket for the light. I couldn't be sure that it was safe to turn on a light, but I wouldn't be able to do anything else without it.
One twist and the light was dim, but it was just what I needed. I aimed the light at my arm that was still bleeding and cringed at the sight of the scratch. Bone wasn't visible, but I wanted to wrap it in something to stop the bleeding and keep it as clean as I could. There was bandages and gauze in the bag, but I didn't want to use them in case someone needed it more. I grabbed the knife from my bag and held the fitted shirt away from my stomach before cutting away the bottom several inches. Once it was loose, I used my teeth and free hand to stretch the fabric around my arm and wrap it tight and used a small piece of medical tape from the bag to the keep it in place.
Aiming the light, I looked around the area. The ledge I'd come in through was probably 20 feet above where I rested now. It was difficult to determine if I had come in through a window on the second floor or had fallen down to one of the underground levels. Given the amount of rubble I climbed up and over to get here, I assumed it was the former. Beams had fallen and a few spots were completely caved in, but the back half of the floor seemed to be relatively in tact.
Standing, I began to search for a door or stairs... anything that proved someone could be alive in here. My light caught something in the debris and I nearly missed it at first, but there was no mistaking the red on the debris. Blood. When I neared, I could make out fingertips under the debris that looked to mostly be pieces of wall and wood. Feeling a renewed strength, I moved the loose pieces of wood and sheet rock out of way in effort to uncover the person beneath.
"It's going to be okay," I said not sure if I was speaking to the person or myself. When I cleared all the loose pieces, I held up the light to determine which piece to move next. "Oh my," I said, taking a step back. The hand was no longer attached to a person. I could now see the small fingers were unnaturally pale. Human.
It was wrong that I felt relief knowing it did not belong to anyone I knew.
"Can anyone hear me?" I said, scared to speak too loud but desperate for a sign that someone was alive. I made my way around the area, calling out every few steps and scanning with the light—something made a noise. I stopped to be sure I wasn't imagining the muffled sound. Again, I heard it. It was faint enough that I couldn't be sure if it was voices or movement and I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it was there.
I took a couple of steps in the direction I thought the noise was coming from.
"Hello?" I called a little louder, hoping for a response.
When one came, I felt like my knees were going to buckle. I couldn't make out what they said, but it was closer. Close enough that I could pinpoint the location, but when I lit the area, it wasn't relief I felt. The noises were coming from somewhere on the other side of a pile of debris. Most of it was metal and pieces of wall, or ceiling, or single bricks but a wooden beam resting against a chunk of stone almost as large as me ensured the path was truly blocks. I shined the light around, hoping to spot an opening, but seeing none and finally crouched down, resting against the large rock and called out to the people below.
"We're down here," a voice called back. A wonderfully familiar voice. I could hear him clearly now, only the pile of rubble separated us.
"Tau!"
"Lena?" The surprise was evident in his voice and I couldn't help but to grin. "Is that you?" He turned and spoke away, to others I guessed, but I couldn't make out what he said, only the laughter.
Feeling somewhat hysterical, I laughed. "Here to rescue you," I said. "How many are with you?"
"We have 14," he said. "We have 5 badly wounded, everyone else is managing. It's relatively stable down here, but we can't get through the door."
I wanted to know why Ro wasn't the one speaking to me. I wanted to hear his voice. I opened my mouth to ask where he was, but shut it, afraid of the answer. Instead I explained what was blocking the entrance.
"Who else is with you?" Tau asked.
I hesitated. I didn't want to promise that help was coming because I didn't know that it was. I could see daylight clear through the window I entered and if Eda could come, it would not be until night fell again. "It's just me," I finally said. "Eda flew separately and the resistance is supposed to be trying to contact her to let her know."
"You flew something here?"
"Help me get you out of there and I'll tell you everything."
Tau explained he was on a landing at the top of stairs to a level underground where everyone else remained. Most of the underground level was standing, Tau suspected it had been reinforced, possibly long before Juleen took power it was a sort of bunker. They had already cleared most of the debris and splintered door from the other side, but a lack of space and the ill-placed beam prevented them from creating any sort of hole any of them might fit through. I started clearing the loose debris from my side, tossing it in a pile behind me as I worked.
"Morrisi." Tau sounded close and I turned to see where the debris had been cleared enough to make a gap. It wasn't large enough that either of us could fit through, but it was there and that counted for something. "Come take a break."
I sat next to the gap and leaned my head against what wall was left standing behind me. Tau put his hand through the hole and I gripped it in return. For a moment we sat like that, clinging to one another as I worked up the nerve to ask about Ro.
"Is he alive?"
Tau's hand squeezed tighter. "He is alive. Resting."
A tear rolled down my cheek. My mind went wild over everything Tau wasn't saying. "How bad is it?"
He sighed and I could feel it through his hand in mine. "He needs medical treatment."
Medical treatment. That meant that for some reason or other they couldn't heal him completely. Maybe they were all too exhausted and drained, maybe he was too injured. It didn't matter because Tau said he needed medical treatment, but what he meant was Ro would die without treatment.
"The others?"
"We're okay, Ro was in an office on the north side of the building, it's where the blasts hit, he and a few humans got the worst of it. Ahren caught debris to his face, may lose an eye. We are all a little banged up."
"I'm glad your okay, Tau." I said and then pulled my hand away. "I have some things. A little water and food, not much. Medical supplies, too. I don't know if it will help, I don't know what any of it does, but Eda packed the bag for me."
The bag was too large to push through the hole we'd made, but I unzipped it and pulled out the objects one by one, passing each his way. Tau cursed and then laughed when I handed him a cylindrical device. He stepped away and shouted for Mekhai. He spoke quickly in their own language to Mekhai who responded with laughter as well. I caught enough to know that whatever it was I handed over was worth being excited about. Tau returned a moment later, putting his face to the gap. "Do you have any idea what that was?" The question was rhetorical and he pause for an answer. He spoke the name of the device, something that flew into one ear and out the other because I was more focused on what it could do. "It's our best shot at getting everyone out alive." He paused to laugh again, as if finally allowing himself to hope they'd make it out. He cut his laughter short abruptly as if only now realizing, "You have a pulse gun, don't you?"
My lips twitched into a smile even as I kicked myself for not considering it sooner. "I do."