John O'Brien - Reckoning

“Fuck me,” I breathe, feeling my heart thud against the walls of my chest.

The flock flies through the open roof, disappearing from view.

“Remember, there’s no going downstairs or into any dark areas. I don’t sense any night runners up here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t. There is, however, definitely a pack under our feet. Although I don’t like this, we need to be quick. We can’t forget that we’re only an hour’s drive away from the other encampment,” I whisper, my heart beginning to recover from the fright.

Once inside, we spread out. Lynn and Gonzalez are on my left with Henderson and Denton to my right. Bri walks just behind my right shoulder. We slowly traverse what once was a lobby but is now covered with piles of brick and slabs of concrete with fingers of rebar poking out. Inside, the wind blowing through the open windows moans with an increased intensity.

Our carbines move in unison with our eyes as we search the upper levels and dark corners for anyone in the building. The footing is tricky. With each step, bricks shift under our boots. We slowly work our way across the lobby.

Entering a hallway, two charred and twisted fire doors lie slanted across an opening to the left. Peering past the doors, I see a flight of steps leading down. They are covered in debris but there’s an obvious pathway leading through the center. At the bottom, another warped fire door stands open. A hall stretches past the entry, leading farther into the basement. The hallway quickly fades into a dark gloom as very little light, from the collapsed roof and floors above, penetrates it. And upward flight of stairs has fallen, leaving only five steps, and part of a sixth one, intact.

Near to the stairwell entrance, a large debris pile angles down from the third story, filling a large part of the interior and crossing the hallway. Lynn and Gonzalez head through an opening to circumvent the pile while Bri and I go around it to the other side.

As I step on a large, concrete slab near the edge of the rubble, it tilts and I feel myself go weightless. It’s not that gravity failed, but there is suddenly nothing under my feet. In fact, gravity works only too well as I fall through a hole in the floor that was hidden under the slab. My mind registers a thin beam of light from the opening shining into darkness below. The contrast of looking from light into darkness hampers my ability to see.

Time slows. The debris field begins sliding down toward me and into the hole as the section caves in. Letting go of my M-4, I turn toward Bri to push her out of the way. I’m too late and see her falling with me, surprise registering on her face. I reach out and feel her hand for a brief second before the falling debris forces us apart.

Riding on top of the slide as it falls, I hit the ground hard. The crashing of falling debris roars into the space I’ve fallen into. A few moments later, there is only the sound of an occasional brick or rock sliding down the surface of the rubble. The immense field groans once as it shifts and then it is silent. Tons of rock, brick, and concrete have fallen within seconds, sealing off the basement from above. No light penetrates. The underground tunnel or hallway where I am has been completely shut off.

It’s complete darkness but, with my vision, I’m able to see. I rise, my arms and legs sore from being hit many times on the way down. I shake loose fragments from my hair and feel particles fall under my collar and down my back. My fear for Bri is immediate and I turn to the pile, looking for any sign of her. I call for her as I start digging through, tossing loose debris behind me.

“Dad? Dad?” I hear Bri call faintly.

She’s either trapped in a pocket or has been tossed clear on the other side, just as I have been.

“Are you okay?” I shout, continuing to throw objects behind me.

“I think so but my leg is stuck,” she calls back.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the edge of a pile. I can’t see the hole or past the rocks. There’s a hallway that I can see from here,” she answers.

I try to raise Lynn or any of the others on the radio but hear no response. It must have been damaged in the fall.

I am relieved to hear Bri’s voice and to know that she’s okay but frustrated as each piece of rubble I remove is replaced by another from the pile above. I need to get to my daughter. This was a fucking foolish thing to do and I should have known better. Now, my daughter is paying for my stupidity. I haven’t forgotten what else lies down here.

Shrieks reverberate, as if in answer to my fear-filled thought. They’re faint and coming from the other side of the pile, where Bri lies trapped. My hands become a blur of motion. I know that there must be scrapes and tears on my fingers, but those go unnoticed as I move rubble, trying to scrape a way through. I race to clear a path but only succeed in bringing more debris down.

“Dad… Dad, help me!” Bri shouts.

Panic fills me.

The fall comes as a complete surprise. She feels what she thinks is her dad’s outstretched fingers for a brief moment before the tumbling debris carries her away. Objects slam into her arms, legs, and sides as she falls. She is pushed to the side as she tumbles. The roar of crashing debris is all she hears as objects pummel her and she is tossed about in a storm of falling rubble.

Bri finally comes to rest, fear filling her. She tastes grit inside of her mouth, making her feel like she ate a handful of dirt. Coughing, she tries to force the dust from her lungs. Dirt covers her, falling from her hair onto her face and down the back of her fatigue top. Her body aches from being tossed about. Cautiously, she sits up. Darkness surrounds her and, except for the sound of a small piece of rubble rolling down, all is quiet.

Reaching up, she finds that her NVGs are still attached and she lowers them, turning them on. Darkness recedes and becomes images presented in a greenish glow. To one side, a huge pile of rubble rises upward, blocking the hole she fell through. To the other side, a hallway extends for a distance with open doorways on both sides.

Sitting mostly on the hard floor, with her heartbeat pounding quickly, she looks herself over, checking for injuries. Brushing off dust and small pieces of concrete, she moves her fingers. Her arms are sore but nothing appears to be broken. Feeling a weight on one of her legs, she continues her check and finds that a large slab of concrete is lying on it. She tries to pull her leg free it but it’s firmly pinned under the block. She wiggles her toes and is relieved to feel them move.

She remembers her dad falling with her. Fear, momentarily forgotten while checking herself over, rises again.

“Dad? Dad?” she calls.

“Are you okay?” Bri hears her dad reply.

Her dad’s voice is faint but she can hear him clearly.

“I think so but my leg is stuck,” she answers.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the edge of a pile. I can’t see the hole or past the rocks. There’s a hallway that I can see from here,” she answers.

A sudden chorus of shrieks reverberates down the hall, filling it. Bri whips her head toward the sound, her mouth going even drier as adrenaline is dumped into her system. Her heart jump starts with a thud. She pulls frantically at her leg, trying to free it. It doesn’t budge.

“Dad…Dad, help me!” Bri shouts.

More screams fill the hall and Bri sees a night runner enter from one of the side doors. It stops in the hall, looking first away and then, directly at her. Without hesitation, it begins racing down the hallway as more enter from the doorway.

Without taking her eyes from the night runners streaking toward her, Bri desperately reaches to her side, feeling for her M-4. It was attached to a woven paracord lanyard so, unless the clip broke or the lanyard snapped, it should be at her side. She feels the hard metal through her gloves and fumbles to bring it around. It only gives a little and she isn’t able to raise it.