Chet struggled to pull Marco upright from the debris littered floor of the hotel room. The explosion had sent Chet and Marco flying across the room; Chet landing on his leg in a painfully awkward position fracturing his ankle and Marco banging his head into the wall. The impact of the wall against his face mask had broken his nose, leaving his face covered in dark red blood.
Marco was laying on his side when Chet found him and used his gloved hands to beat away the approaching flames before they could burn the unconscious man. After finding Marco's pulse Chet began pulling Marco upright into a sitting position on the floor. "Marco, buddy? You with me?"
From beneath the fractured face mask and through his uncharacteristically nasally tone Marco mumbled something to Chet in Spanish.
"Marco? Hey, talk to me!"
"Chet...?" Marco's voice was muffled by the mask but Chet was able to understand him.
"Yeah, it's me. We need to move."
"*Dónde estamos? What happened?"
"Explosion from the basement." Chet answered with a calm inflection as he pulled Marco up to his feet, carefully balancing on his one good ankle in the process. "We need to get out of here."
Marco noticed Chet shifting his weight uncomfortably onto one leg, favoring one ankle over the other. "What happened to your leg?"
"Nothing, just twisted my ankle."
"**No me mientas. I don't believe you." Marco knew better than that, his experience as a firefighter gave him the insight to recognize an injury even when in denial. "You're hurt."
"Says the man with a bloodied nose."
"What?" Marco pressed his gloved hand to his face, then realized he was still wearing the mask. He slipped his hand under the mask and pressed it against his sore nose. Retracting his hand Marco noticed all the dark red blood that now stained his glove. "Ouch! I think it's broken."
"We'll get you cleaned up once we get outside." Chet reassured. "C'mon, let's go."
"Right." Marco put himself at Chet's side and helped support his weight by wrapping his own arm around Chet's side. "Lean on me, it'll be easier for you to walk."
"Thanks, let's get out of here!"
Walking out of the vacated, burnt, smoke filled room led the two firefighters into the smoldering hallway. The explosion rocked the entire building sending large portions of the floors, walls and ceiling in all directions. Drywall, plaster, wooden support beams, pipes, electrical wires and bits of glass littered the ground in a large array of debris.
It was a clumsy trek through the massive amounts of the destroyed interior structure of the hotel. Between Chet's fractured ankle and Marco's broken nose the trek was made all the more difficult. Chet could barely stand let alone walk on only one good leg, while Marco's head was beginning to throb from his broken nose. The smell of his own blood wasn't helping his impending headache, either.
"Chet, what floor are we on?"
"Can't remember?"
"Not really... Was it the fifth floor?"
"Fourth." Chet corrected. "Roy and Johnny were a few floors above us, and Mike was on the first floor. At least they were the last I knew."
"Did you try the radio?"
"No good." Chet showed Marco the smashed H.T. he had kept in his pocket. "I think my radio took most of the blast when I was sent flying."
Marco fumbled through his own coat pocket and pulled out his radio. Like Chet's it was smashed, a few wires hanging out of the plastic casing. But unlike Chet's it was also partially melted from the fire that came so close to burning him. "My radio is busted, too."
Reaching the end of the hallway the duo checked the door that led into the stairwell by using their hands to check for heat. No fire on the other side. Chet took a moment to rest his aching ankle. "You ready for this?"
"Let's do it."
Stepping into the stairwell Chet and Marco were greeted with even more debris and smoke that obstructed their only exit. It was much darker in the stairwell than it was in the hallway. The lights had been destroyed in the explosion, allowing the smoke to create an seemingly impenetrable wall of fog. Large pieces of broken, jagged support beams and wet logged drywall ensured that each step of the stairwell was its own hazard.
"Take your time Chet," Marco could feel his friend struggling to keep his balance as descended the steps. "I'm not going to go anywhere without you."
"I know Marco, I never had any doubt in my mind." Chet answered with a grin.
"Think the others are as beat up as we are?"
"Wouldn't be surprised. I bet a gas line beneath the building ruptured, and we all know how massive gas explosions can get."
"Yeah, don't remind me."
"Hold it," Chet stopped short and leaned against the ash covered wall. "I need to rest, my ankle's killing me!"
"It's not just twisted, is it?"
"No..." Chet confessed slightly winded from the pain. "Pretty sure it's broken."
A heavy rhythmic thumping from higher up on the stairwell caught their attention. Both men stopped speaking and listened curiously to the somewhat familiar sound. "Chet, you hear that?"
"Yeah. It doesn't sound like structure collapse..."
"You're right, it sounds like... footsteps."
"Hello?" Chet called out to whomever was in the stairwell with them. "Can you hear me?"
"Chet?" Johnny answered breathlessly from a few feet above.
"Johnny! There you are! Where's Roy?" Chet had never been so relieved to hear Johnny's voice.
"With me." Johnny replied tiredly as he emerged from the smoke, standing behind Chet and Marco. "He's unconscious."
...to be continued...
Author's Note: *'Where are we?' and **'Don't lie to me.'
