Trapped!
Trapped!
They handed him the blueprint of the site. His eyes swept through the place.
"What's the situation?"
"No deaths, 12 injured." His face changed on hearing it. He stopped worrying.
No loss of life, the scene is not as bad as he imagined it to be. Deaths at the time of duty meant failure at job.
"Trapped?"
They were rescuing victims. Most of them were construction workers. Fortunately, many were on lunch break and escaped the tragedy. Or the collapse with intensity could take numerous lives.
"Sir, we got everyone out except one." With some uncertainty, a fireman came running to them and informed. He was entirely covered in dust.
"What are you waiting for? Get him out," the captain gritted his teeth.
"He is buried under debris in the basement." Only when they heard a frightful shriek did they realize there was a man under.
"Where is Reeya?" the chief scanned everyone. Reeya being the only female firefighter among them, her absence was easy to detect.
The girl was still not here? The team had already arrived long back.
She always had the best ideas to rescue people. He himself didn't realize how dependent he was on her. In any case, she was a crucial part of the team.
At this point, Reeya came running to them.
"Be on time." The captain pointed at her and berated her. She had to admit she was at fault. It's the matter of mere seconds for everything to go out of control. She could never guess why her friend would lock her in the car only to release her moment. As soon as she unlocked the car, Reeya escaped without looking back at Ira.
Her colleague passed her the clothes and helmet.
"Go check on the man," he ordered the group.
Firemen entered the basement where the man was supposedly trapped, Reeya followed them.
After a few seconds, a sharp scream penetrated the ears of those outsides through the pager. It was loud, sending anybody who heard it in blind.
For communication with the firemen inside, everyone held their pagers. The chief got a radio from which he could instruct them with ease.
"How is he?" the chief anxiously asked through the pager.
"Conscious. His leg is trapped under a large beam. We can't pull him out.," From the other end the fireman reported the condition.
The group could listen to everything through the radio.
When they entered, the man was alert. He answered their questions of time, place and person determining he was still in his senses. Fine mental health at this juncture meant there wasn't a significant blood loss until now.
But when they tried to drag him out, he roared in pain. Every attempt of pulling him out resulted only in a series of screams. They couldn't move him by an inch, let alone freeing him.
"How is the place?"
"It won't last long. Few hours."
The roof caved in, the dust rained as it could fall anytime. The emergency personnel tried to dig debris around his leg, but it took a lot of time. They couldn't wait long.
"Lift the beam…"
"There is a small chance the entire basement might collapse." Hearing the news, the captain frowned. It was a small chance that couldn't be eliminated. They have seen deaths due to this decision.
"Amputate the leg?" At this point, it was a better option. From his experience he knew in such situations time is the most crucial factor. Freeing the man as soon as possible was the main goal.
"He's not willing Sir." Reeya's voice came from the radio. Her voice held a trace of distress.
"Support bars…. Set them." The chief ordered.
Again, they had to do something. The captain massaged his forehead to think of something. He was placed in a dilemma. The reason the man refused didn't matter; he had the right to decide. It was up to them to make the further choice of the course of their action.
"The wall supporting ceiling had collapsed we need an airbag and lift the beam," Reeya declared her resolution.