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<Coming back from the corner--shifting the heavy fire hose come escape rope on his shoulder.> "My ex is the night shift head nurse one floor up. Her office is just like this one except in the other ward--it's just a few feet from the main stairwell." "I need to check because she might have left a note about our daughter. The daycare is just down the street and she would have gone there." "It's just a few feet."
Sam's gaze follows the trail of blood around the corner. She takes a deep breathe and c o c k s her head. "Do you guys smell that? I've never known blood to smell that potent before. Whatever did this might have some kind of blood powers or something. Maybe it's what was whispering in the stairwell." <Glances from Sam toward Judd and Anna--concerned expression.> "So how are we gonna do this? Search and clear each room one by one until we reach Pat's Aunt, or just take our chances that nothing's gonna come out and cut off our retreat?" "Nobody's gonna cut us off." <Cord turns to the firehose. He disconnects it, starts uncoiling and slinging it over his shoulder.> "Rope," he says to anyone wondering what he's doing.>
"These floorplans are for firefighters." <He starts pointing things out on the map.> "It looks like we have a lot of choices for moving up and down, so that's good. We are in the A ward emergency exit. Sarge, your Aunt Terri said she was in 475, that's the head nurse's office in B ward up here... " <Taps the map.> "No problem. Remember guys, we have lots of options for moving, but lets stay together, ok?" <Hoists up his axe. For the first time since you met him he starts looking confident, the way a firefighter should.>
<Up one floor from Ground Cord speaks quietly.> "The first level is really high, there's an atrium, and only a few offices in the northeast and southwest wings." <Cord taps an access hatch on the landing between floors.> "I think this panel leads into a utility shaft. There should be two of them because there are two emergency stairwells. In a pinch we could hide in here, and even get out of the building by breaking through the fire barriers as we climb down. The other stairwell would be in the northeast wing and there's probably a shaft there too. See all of the upper floors are kind of like a figure 8 with the A wards at the bottom of the eight and the B wards in the top... I think. I really symmetrical." "And there's also a public stairwell. Very open. No doors. It's in the middle sort of. Also 4 central elevator shafts and I think there's a freight elevator too." <Looks around at you guys...> "Hey... My ex worked here. And I've visited folks we saved in the burn ward... So I know the place really well."
<Whispering.> "A little louder guys? Let's go"
"So we're going to the 4th floor, right? My ex-wife works... worked in the palliative section of the cancer ward on the 5th floor. I need to check her station, she might have left a note."
<Bullets whistling all around him, deaf again. As the firing subsides and the shock of what he's looking at subsides a fatalistic indifference washes over Cord and his hero instincts, honed by years of firehouse drills, really kick in.> "DON'T SHOOT ME!"
<Cord drags Sam through and behind the tightly packed row of shooters.> |
