In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)

forty-one

Of course, being Mariana Ramirez, that didn't go as planned. She had started a human chain of survivors as she maneuvered around the debris, occasionally getting into the water to move something into place or rescue someone. By God, she was exhausted but she was also determined. They were about fifteen feet out from their destination when the third surge hit.

"Hold on!" she shouted, planting her feet on an overturned car. Jenny held her left arm and the line continued down of everyone holding onto each other. Mariana grit her teeth, clinging to the axle of the car. Really fucking ironic, huh? The thing she used to use to let out some rage was now saving her.

A person floated by as the wave calmed down and Mari reached out, calling out for them to grab her hand. She frowned and grabbed their wrist, feeling for a pulse.

Dead.

"Jenny, give me Erica," the brunette said quietly. Jenny hesitated, but once she saw what Mariana was looking at, she understood. The firefighter wrapped her arms around the young girl and stabilized her leg, tucking Erica's face in her neck, and gestured for the others to look away.

A raft with bodies on it floated by, the water around them a mixture of blood and dirt. Mariana's blank stare followed them as they floated by, a lump of emotions growing in her throat. She had seen death before. It was seemingly commonplace in her life. But there was something about seeing the raft that felt like a punch to the gut.

"We need to keep going," she announced when the raft passed. Her expression was hard and stoic, a well placed mask so she didn't scare the others. But all Mariana wished for right now was to be curled up on the couch in between her two boys.

Thank God they were safe.

It took an hour to get fifteen feet but hell, they did it. Mariana stood on top of the city bus that was grounded below the garage and helped lift people up onto the level. The sun was in position for about three o'clock. Did anyone realize she wasn't at home? Surely Eddie would have called. If he tried her cell phone and she never answered...

Mariana pushed the thoughts aside as she crouched down and reached out to help another person up onto the bus and then onto the parking garage. She had amassed maybe forty people over time and she needed to start triaging them soon.

"Frank, you're doing amazing," she called up to the guy who was helping her lift people up. He sent her a thumbs up as she interlocked her fingers and kneeled down so the woman she just pulled out of the water could get up.

"We'd all be lost without you, Ramirez," he protested.

"Just doing my job."

"Well, you must be damn good at your job."

She shrugged as she studied the waters around them. There was no one left to rescue at the moment that she could see. No one alive, at least.

Every time she shut her eyes, she saw the slack jaws and vacant eyes of those who floated by. Those that she couldn't save.

"Coming up, Frank!" she called, shaking off her thoughts. The second she reached up to grab his hands, the bus lurched to the side. Mariana let out a loud swear as she stumbled, turning her head to see the water rushing back to the ocean. The bus shuddered again and started to pull away from the garage, heading straight for a glass building.

"Ramirez!"

With a desperate last attempt, she ran to the edge of the bus and jumped, her hand enclosing around the edge of the parking garage. She slammed into the concrete, the hard rock grating her skin as she let out a hiss of pain. Her fingers tried to find purchase on the slick rock, but she found herself slipping. Glancing down at the rushing water that bit at her ankles, the firefighter swallowed past the lump in her throat. Shutting her eyes, she began to pray.