Page 58 of From the Ashes

“Thank heavens you’re here,” and older man says, rushing up to the One-Thirteen.

“Are you in charge?” Captain Valentine asks, letting the rest of the team continue with their assessment and triage. Yara and I are already treating the compound fracture guy. He doesn’t appear to have any other immediate issues, which I’m grateful for.

“Yes,” I hear the man speaking to the captain say. “I’m the manager. We got as many people out as we could, but I didn’t think it was safe for anyone to go back in until you got here.”

“You did the right thing,” the captain assures him, but the manager still sounds distressed.

“We had eighty-nine covers in for lunch,” he continues, “as well six in the kitchen and twelve wait staff. Including myself, that’s a hundred and eight people, but I’ve only counted ninety-five out here. A couple could have left without me noticing, but?—”

Captain Valentine clasps his shoulder. “Thank you, sir. That’s incredibly helpful. My team will check the rubble now. Del! You’re with Flores and Foster. Hendrix, you wanna give them a hand to clear the building?”

“I’ve got this,” Yara tells me, referring to the broken femur, and I don’t doubt it.

“Yes, sir!” Dray cries, joining up with Teddy and I as we follow Lieutenant Flores through what’s left of the front door.

This was probably a really nice place twenty minutes ago, but even though the quake really shook it hard, I hope they can patch it back together easily enough. The most substantial damage is in the back left corner where the giant fake tree has fallen. A considerable amount of the ceiling has come down around it, blocking off that part of the restaurant and exposing the kitchen.

“Fire department, call out!” the lieutenant yells as we fan across the space. Teddy quickly finds a woozy waitress under a flipped over table and helps her to her feet. She doesn’t appear to be gravely injured, so I leave him to escort her to safety. That’s one out of a potential thirteen, at least. “Anyone here?” Lieutenant Flores tries again.

The building is creaking and there’s a pump spluttering noisily from what I guess was a water feature before the blossomtree threw itself on the ground, so it’s difficult to hear anything. And as I move through the space, I see that there’s more damage than I first appreciated. The floor has cracked substantially where the tectonic shift sent shockwaves right underneath where we’re standing.

The lieutenant shakes his head. “I don’t think we’re getting through this debris easily from this side. I want to see if we can gain access from out the back. Let’s do a final sweep and then?—”

Luckily, we’re already moving toward the front again when the explosion rips through the kitchen. I dive forward and cover my helmet as a new wave of crap rains down on us. After a few seconds, it seems to settle down again.

“Everyone okay?” I call out.

“Yeah,” Dray groans from somewhere to my left.

I push myself up and look around. The heat already alerted me, so I’m not surprised to see that whatever went boom has now started a blaze around the most destroyed area. Gas from the ovens mixing with cooking oil, most likely.

“I’m good,” Lieutenant Flores says, already on his feet and waving us out as he activates his radio. “We need a hose in here,” he tells the guys outside. “I’m heading out back with Hendrix and Delacroix. We think there maybe people trapped under the rubble.”

“Got it, Lieutenant,” Captain Valentine says as we’re already running through the doors and around the building. “I’ll have Foster join you again.”

“We might need more hands once the fire’s out,” the lieutenant warns.

“Copy that.”

We’re almost at the blazing kitchen when I stumble to a halt, my heart dropping to my boots before my brain can even realize what it’s processing.

“Del, what’s wrong?” Teddy cries as he runs up behind me.

The lieutenant and Dray pause to spin and look at me. Their eyes dart to the building, but that’s not what’s stopped me in my tracks.

I’m looking at the other half of the parking lot.

“That’s Colt’s car,” I manage to croak.

“Your friend Colt from the beach?” Teddy asks, swiveling his head as if he might see him.

“My boyfriend Colt,” I correct, not thinking what I’m saying, mouth dry, limbs trembling, vision going blurry. “That’s definitely his car…”

And if he wasn’t outside with the rest of the restaurant’s patrons…

Does that mean he’s still inside?

Or underneath?

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