Rescue 911 by Decente Renko
Rescue 911
Kagome checked her watch as she rode the third elevator to the 100th floor. The thin hands indicated 8:02. She would arrive with a few minutes to spare. She straightened her new blue blouse and smoothed her black skirt. Her attire was nothing spectacular, but most would not classify an insurance broker as an interesting profession. Kagome, though, enjoyed her job.
Kagome folded her arms and resisted the urge to tap her foot in impatience. As the elevator's other passengers got off on various floors, time slowly crept forward. Working on such a high floor meant that she suffered through the sluggish ride nearly everyday, but the view, especially when she stayed late enough to watch the sunset, was worth it.
Finally, nearly twenty minutes later, Kagome stepped onto her floor. The few murmured conversations on the elevator gave way to the commotion of her colleagues.
On her way to the snack room to grab a cup of coffee, her best friend and coworker, Sango, greeted her. Sango maintained their company website. They had been friends since middle school and attended the same college, and they had been working together for several years now.
"Early as usual, Sango. Or did you sleep here again?" Kagome teased.
"I only did that twice," Sango protested.
Kagome chuckled softly, and Sango smiled. The two chatted for a short time before Kagome continued on to her destination of the coffeemaker. To her pleasant surprise, the pot was mostly full. She poured the steaming black liquid into a paper cup and added her usual spoonful of sugar and cream.
Holding the warm cup firmly in her hand, Kagome made her way to her desk to boot up her computer and commence the workday. She would be starting about fifteen minutes early today.
A boom, neither loud nor soft, resulted in a sudden silence throughout the floor. Kagome halted as the lights above her head flickered and died. Her chest tightened and her heartbeat quickened in fear as she felt the building tilt sideways, and for a sickening moment she wondered if the tall edifice was going to topple.
Breath she had not realized that she was holding escaped her mouth in a shaky, relieved sigh when the building straightened and righted itself around her. Fissures formed along the walls and the ceiling cracked. Light-colored construction dust filled the air, stinging her eyes and forcing a cough from her lungs when she inhaled the noxious powder.
Forgetting her cup on the nearest table, she, along with countless others, ran to the nearest window. Black smoke billowed up from an unknown distance below them, but amongst the thick darkness hot orange flames could be glimpsed occasionally. All around her people were screaming and sobbing and coughing.
Kagome's dazed mind seemed incapable of registering anything except confusion. What was happening? Was it a bomb? What should she be doing? How many were injured? Killed?
The words of a man calling for everyone to head down the stairwell did not penetrate the haziness of her mind. Sango's frightened voice, however, did.
"Kagome! Kagome, let's go. We have to leave!"
The direness of the situation finally settled and weighed heavily upon her. Forcing away her shock and confusion, Kagome stumbled with Sango through the blinding dust, trying her hardest not to trip on the fallen pieces of portions and tile. They could barely see a few feet in front of them. Both held their sleeves over their mouths in an attempt to filter the air they breathed.
Some doorframes had somehow completely broken away from the walls. A few windows had shattered, and heat and smoke poured in.
Amongst the others, Kagome noticed people with bleeding cuts and darkening bruises, presumably from falling pieces of the ceiling. Everyone's eyes were pink from irritation. She could not tell whether the paleness of their skin was from dust or fear or both.
- - - - - -
Moments after receiving the emergency call, Sesshoumaru saw on the small television a replay of the plane hitting the tall building. Immediately, he and the others suited up and grabbed their gear before jumping on the bright red engine.
The sirens wailed as they sped down the street. Spectators were staring up at the burning structure in confusion and disbelief. The majority had cameras.
Sesshoumaru looked around at his comrades, all appearing as grim as himself. How many lives could they save today?
Arriving at the command post set up in the lobby, Sesshoumaru waited, along with dozens of other firefighters from countless other firehouses, for instructions. The commanding chiefs spoke briefly with each other before beginning to send men up to aid people who were trapped, hurt, or coming down the dozens of flights of steps.
The jet fuel had sent a fireball down the elevator shaft, shattering the surrounding windows. Power was out. Civilians continued to exit from the stairwells. Some were confused, others hurt. Neither emotion was surprising; he had seen the same expressions on countless faces before.
Then the second plane hit.
They heard the explosion, and felt the ground shake. Increasingly more urgent orders were issued.
Sessshoumaru watched as men dressed in the same black and yellow as he was disappeared up the nonworking escalators. Soon, he was commanded to follow. Shifting beneath his 90 pounds of gear, he set about the daunting task of trudging up the stairs.
- - - - - -
The stairwell was cramped, the progress slow. Miraculously, the stairwell was lit. Emergency power supply, Kagome presumed. The sprinkler system also functioned, but it only served to dampen the stairs and form puddles. They shuffled down one flight, then two.
Their lagging pace came to a halt, and Kagome watched in confusion as people passed her going back up the stairs.
"You can't go down," some of them said. She noticed most sported burns or singed hair and clothes. "The lower floors are on fire."
A discussion seemed to be held as to whether to continue down, or head back up. Most seemed to prefer heading back upstairs, and Sango was one of them. Kagome's gut told her otherwise. Grasping Sango's hand firmly in her own, Kagome forcefully dragged her fretful friend down the stairs, shoving her way past all others.
After a couple more floors, smoke began to seep from the cracks around the doors they passed, producing hoarse coughs from the two. The heat was nearly unbearable. Sweat caused their clothes to stick uncomfortably to their bodies. Occasionally, they could hear screams of fear and agony. When the lights suddenly went out, Sango was near panicking. She did not want to die.
"Kagome, let's just wait until someone comes to get us. They must be sending people up to rescue us." Sango was near begging. Sango never begged. Her friend's insecurity began to cause Kagome to doubt herself.
Shaking her head, Kagome said with as much conviction as she could gather, "We have to keep going, Sango." Her mouth felt coated in dust and her throat ravaged by the smoke, but she rasped the words out.
Somehow, Kagome sensed Sango's reluctant nod. They began moving again, slowly finding their way in the darkness.
Kagome lost all sense of time. Perhaps an hour passed, perhaps three, or maybe only five minutes had gone by. Whatever the amount, she could suddenly breathe easier. Sango's audibly deep gulp of air told Kagome that her friend felt the same.
Thinking themselves near the bottom floor, they increased their pace. Suddenly, Sango's high-heeled shoe slipped on a wet step, and she fell, inadvertently bringing Kagome with her.
Kagome felt her ankle twist painfully, and a cry of pain escaped her lips. She was more worried about Sango, though, who made no sound at all.
Pulling herself to her friend's side, Kagome searched her for signs of injury. She felt blood matting Sango's dark hair, and judging from the girl's lack of response, Kagome deemed her to be unconscious from the hit to her head. Without light to inspect the wound thoroughly, Kagome could only hope that the injury was not serious.
She had no idea what to do. She could not leave her friend stranded in the stairwell. Nor could she carry Sango when she herself was injured. Kagome felt ready to burst into tears.
Unexpectedly, so unexpectedly that she at first thought she was hallucinating, Kagome saw a light.
- - - - - -
Sesshoumaru aimed his flashlight a short distance in front of his feet so as not to trip on the stairs. His breathing was somewhat labored from the climb, but not as much as some of the others'. They rarely spoke, in order to conserve energy and breath.
His head came up at a shout that someone had been found. They had passed employees escaping down on their expedition upwards, but the people who now came into view were two unmoving young ladies. He realized one was unconscious; the other, the one with shocking blue eyes, had a swollen ankle, indicating it was either sprained or broken.
"You," their team leader ordered, pointing at Sesshoumaru, "help the woman down." He indicated two others, "You two, get her friend."
Sesshoumaru briefly examined her ankle before placing her arm around his shoulders and aiding her back down the stairs. He saw her glance worriedly back at the unresponsive woman.
"Your friend will be well cared for," he assured her.
She said tentatively, "She hit her head."
Realizing that she would not relinquish the issue easily, he turned to address the men supporting her friend. "The girl hit her head. Be careful." After receiving an affirmative answer from each, he returned to his own task. She seemed to relax at his words.
The blue-eyed woman was silent for a moment. "Thank you."
"It's our job," he replied. But she did not think that he would have chosen such a career if he did not wish to help others.
"My name is Kagome. What's yours?"
"Sesshoumaru."
The two exchanged information to pass the time. Kagome was shocked to hear that planes had hit the buildings. Sesshoumaru wondered if the situation was not worse than had been originally thought. At one point they felt the structure shudder, but had no idea as to the cause.
When they finally reached the lobby, they found it deserted and covered in a thick layer of dust and ash. Debris was visible outside the perimeter of the building. A loud crash, soon followed by more, met their ears--the sound of falling bodies.
Kagome flinched with every impact. In a vain attempt to shield her from the horror, Sesshoumaru placed her hands over her ears and pressed her face to his chest. The scene was nearly too much for him to bear.
Looking at the two men behind him, they reached a silent agreement that they could not stay where they were. They had to reconnect with their superiors, as well as find medical assistance for the two women.
The surrounding area was made dangerous by unexpected falling remains and jumping people. With a nod to his colleagues, Sesshoumaru picked Kagome up and made a dash for safety.
Looking back to where he had fled from, Sesshoumaru could only see one edifice.
He moved towards an ambulance that he spotted, but frantic shouting from spectators brought his attention back to the building in time to see it begin to collapse. He ran, shouting for others to run as well. When he reached the ambulance, he ducked behind it and shielded Kagome with his body.
When he finally looked up, the world was a dusty brown. The two skyscrapers were gone.
The surrounding area was coated in grime and cinders and nearly deserted. Fire engines, police cars and ambulances were crushed. Cars were overturned. Papers blew by like tumbleweeds. Only the occasional rescue worker could be seen, looking as dirty as everything else. Shouts asking if anyone was hurt rang through the dirty air.
Sesshoumaru stood, and after assuring that Kagome had sustained no further damage to her person, he handed her over to nearby medics.
She did not seem to want to relinquish the tight hold she had gained around his neck. Only a reassurance that he would return to check on her resulted in his release.
His last image of her was of a brown blanket being wrapped about her shoulders while her ankle was gently prodded.
Her last image of him was of the back of his black-and-yellow uniformed back, adjusting his helmet as he disappeared into the still settling dust particles.