"Alex, we have to look for any survivors or at least a place with a phone," Harlee said as she pleaded with her friend to make a plan before chasing after the terrorists.
Alex shook her head at first but then looked closer at Harlee and saw something, "Come on," she urged as she pulled Harlee's arm into a room off the main hall where they'd been surveying the situation.
"Hey," Alex said as she got down on her knees next to the wounded officer, "Do you remember me from earlier? I'm Alex Parrish and this is Harlee Johnson," she said as she pulled off her blazer and placed it under the man's belt to help slow the bleeding.
The man's face winced in pain from the motion but once he regained composure, he replied, "I'm Officer Carl Adams. You two need to get out of here before they find you."
"Officer Adams," Harlee said as she too kneeled down by him, "Do you know if there's a safe room or an emergency bunker around here? We're FBI and we need to make contact with the outside to let them know what's going on."
Adams nodded, "It's down in the tunnels. We'll never make it though," he grimaced.
"Alex, I'll help him in case we meet anyone along the way," Harlee stated as she switched places with Alex so she could help Adams to his feet, placing his arm across her shoulders so that he could lean his weight on her.
"Are you sure you don't want me to help him?" Alex asked before they began moving toward the tunnels.
Harlee shook her head, "You've already faced one of these people so I would rather you do it again. I'm good with a gun but I've never been great in hand to hand. Are you ready, Officer Adams? I know you're hurting but we need you to be as quiet as possible."
Adams nodded, wincing again as Harlee began walking with him behind Alex back into the main hall of the building.
Harlee felt terrible for Adams as they traveled because she could tell with each step, his injury was hurting him more and more.
"How much longer?" Harlee asked him, closing her eyes for a moment in pity.
Adams inhaled sharply before replying to her question, grabbing his side, "It's about a hundred more yards away, we're close."
"You're going to be just fine," Harlee said as she reached her free hand up to wipe some of the sweat from his face, "Alex is our best bet at getting out of this mess."
"You girls are so confident," he replied, each word spaced apart as he spoke.
"You're one of New York City's finest," Alex said, "You are the reason we're getting this far at all."
Suddenly, Alex placed her finger to her lips as she urged them all to move into a small tunnel within the tunnels where the three of them masked themselves against a wall.
"Alex, he needs help," Harlee whispered, "We need to get to that room."
"I know," Alex whispered back, "We need to figure out what kind of pattern these guards are running. Keep more pressure on his wound," she finished before looking back to one of the guards.
"This is going to hurt," Harlee whispered to Adams before she ran her free hand over his chest and down to the jacket resting on his wound, "I need you to be quiet even though you're going to want to scream out in pain. Got it?" she asked, locking eyes with him.
Adams feigned a smile, "Normally a pretty girl like you touching me like that would result in a different set of circumstances."
Harlee smiled back softly before she mouthed a countdown from three to one before she put a firm amount of pressure onto his injury to slow the bleeding more. She watched as Carl inhaled the scream he wanted to let out and watched as his face broke out in a new, worse layer of sweat.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed causing him to nod before he closed his own eyes.
Alex turned back to them, "I think they're running a perimeter pattern which means that when they move we will have a 60 second window before they come back again."
"And if you're wrong?" Harlee asked, not wanting to doubt her friend but also worried for all three of their lives.
Alex shook her head before she instructed them to be ready.
Harlee removed her hand from Alex's jacket and looked at Carl, making eye contact to let him know that they were going to have to move fast and that it wouldn't feel good. "Are you going to be ok?"
"You two are giving me a hell of alot of strength. Let's do this," he replied with a charming smile that distracted Harlee for a brief moment before she looked back to Alex for the go ahead.
"Ok, go," Alex urged as the three of them began making a move back into the tunnels once more.
They were forced to move at Carl's maximum speed to get to the door in their sixty second window but somehow they did it.
Carl let go of Harlee so he could punch in the code on the door to the bunker and once he did it, they moved in quickly and shut the door with just a few seconds left before the terrorists would have swept back through.
"Alex, you get a hold of someone," Harlee said quickly as she helped Carl into a chair at the desk in the bunker, "I'm going to see what I can do for him."
Alex nodded as she searched for a light switch while Harlee felt around for a first aid kit. Once the lights came on, Alex went straight for the phone, Harlee imagined she would dial Miranda instantly.
Harlee was in the corner of the room when she stumbled onto a drawer which held a very well stocked first aid kit. Harlee tried to listen to Alex's phone call but she was busy as she got back to Officer Adams to begin treating his wound to the best of her ability.
"Most likely everything I'm about to do is going to hurt but you need to stay as quiet as you can, ok?" she asked at the end of her speech. Carl nodded before Harlee continued, "I need to take off your shirt so I can see if the bullet exited on the other side."
Carl nodded once more as Harlee pulled his button down off of his shoulders hating how his face twisted in pain with each move she forced him to make. Once the shirt was gone, she pulled Alex's jacket out from his belt and rolled his undershirt above his chest.
Harlee pulled him forward in the chair to see his back and she hoped he'd have an exit wound and she wouldn't have to attempt to dig a bullet out of his gut. Harlee sighed in relief as she saw a small hole and she looked up at Alex with a brief smile before she moved on to the next step.
She could hear Alex getting information on what the FBI needed to know about the terrorists as she pulled out supplies from the kit. She pulled out an antibiotic and a bottle of water for him first.
"You need to take this to lessen the risk of infection," Harlee said as she placed the pill in his mouth and then tipped back the bottle of water. Once he swallowed it, Harlee looked at him sympathetically, "This isn't going to feel good," she warned as she offered him one of her hands to hold while she soaked a towel in rubbing alcohol and placed it down onto his wound to hold it there.
Carl inhaled a scream as he gripped Harlee's hand with all his strength, his breathing now labored much more then it was earlier. "I know, I'm so sorry," she whispered as she pulled the cloth away and began to stitch the wound together with the supplies she had.
She was deeply impressed with how well he did with all the pain she was causing but when she finally finished, she placed a bandage on it and then gave him a pill to help with the clotting.
After he swallowed the second pill, Harlee used a clean towel to wipe the sweat off of his face and their eyes made contact once again. They were staring at each other, many emotions going through them both without the exchange of words before Alex broke it.
"Miranda needs me to find out some things so I'm going back out," she began, "You stay here with him and I'll be back to help you soon. If you see an opportunity to get out of the whole area and he is up to it, you go."
"Alex, what if you can't get back?" Harlee asked, her concern shifting to her friend.
"I'll find a way," she replied, "Keep him safe."
Harlee moved from Carl and wrapped her arms around Alex, "If I see a window, I'll get out of here and bring back help."
Alex nodded as she left the room leaving Harlee and Carl alone. "How are you feeling?" she asked, to take her mind off of Alex's risky move.
Carl shook his head, "Better then before but I certainly don't think I could run a marathon any time soon."
"Would you feel better if you laid down?" she asked, looking for something to lay down on the ground for him.
Carl shook his head, "Just sit with me. I'll be back to normal soon and we can make a break for it."
Harlee laughed, "I doubt we'll be making a break for it any time soon but I love your optimism. I'll sit with you," she said as she pulled the other chair beside him. Before she sat down, she looked at him, "Just in case we don't make it out of here," she began before she placed her hand on his cheek and then put her lips to his. She felt him respond instantly inching his body toward her with the kiss before it caused him pain once more.
"Sh," she said as she pulled back and brought his head down onto her shoulder, "If we make it out of this, we'll do much more than share a little kiss. Rest so if we need to move, you'll be good for it."
"I'm going to make sure you keep that promise," he replied as he closed his eyes.