37
"Bravo team!" Enrico roared. "We got a call! Let's move!"
In the office room, Ken Sullivan and Forest Speyer were watching an advanced police training video and Rebecca was at her desk, studying a book on emergency first-aid techniques. Her head snapped up when Enrico called, and she immediately set the book aside and stood up, grabbing her supply belt and regulation pistol off the desk.
She was already in her work uniform. S.T.A.R.S. members had no set uniform, but they each dressed so that people would recognize them as police officers. Rebecca wore a green jumpsuit with white shoes, white belt, and a white kevlar vest. Medical pouches marked with a red cross hung from her belt and the word MEDIC was written in red on her back. Her badge hung from her belt by a velcro strap. She slung her supply belt over her shoulder and slid her gun into its holster, hurrying after Ken and Forest as they ran out the door.
Enrico grabbed Ken's arm. "Go upstairs and get Richard. Ed's already at the chopper. We'll meet you there."
"Right on," Ken said, and headed up the stairs.
They got into the central elevator and headed up to the roof. On the roof of the police station were two large helicopter pads, one for the Alpha team and one for the Bravo team. One helicopter was already started, its rotating blades slowly picking up speed.
Rebecca followed Forest into the helicopter and strapped herself in. Enrico got in after her and put on a radio helmet so he could communicate with Edward Dewey, their pilot. "We got an urgent call from outside town," he said, buckling himself in. "A train traveling through the hills hit something and the engineer called a mayday. We called back but they aren't answering. We'll be the first on the scene."
Ken and their communications officer, Richard Aiken, arrived and boarded the helicopter. As soon as they strapped themselves in, Enrico slid the door shut and the chopper lifted steadily into the air.
Rebecca took a deep breath and rested her head against the back of the seat. She closed her eyes and gripped her seat belt as the chopper banked and headed south.
"Listen up," Enrico said, his loud voice overcoming the roar of the chopper blades. "We got a search and rescue, situation unknown. We got the location of the train, we're headed straight there. I want a clean run. We lost contact with the train, and we don't know what to expect."
He touched the side of his helmet; Edward was talking to him. "Okay, we're almost there. Ed, land us a hundred yards off. Remember, situation unknown. Keep your eyes open and be ready for anything."
Rebecca opened her eyes. This was her first real mission, her first test. She had come along on routine calls and training sessions for the past two weeks, getting to know the other members and learning common procedures. But this was the first real call she would participate in, the first actual mission she would experience. She looked out the window and watched the dark trees below as they whipped by. She felt calm, she felt ready.
Suddenly, there was a dull thud above them and the chopper shuddered, trembling around them. Rebecca clapped her hands over her ears as an ear-piercing screech came from the spinning blades. They all grabbed onto something as the chopper quaked and headed for the ground.
Enrico grabbed a hand hold and yelled into the microphone, "What's happening?"
Rebecca could hear Edward yelling from the cockpit. "Engine failure! Get ready for an emergency landing!"
"Hold on!" Enrico bellowed.
The helicopter rushed toward the trees and spun wildly, the tail swinging around and clipping tree branches. Rebecca felt her whole body lurch to the side as the chopper swung around like an off-center top, tilting to the side as it spun for solid ground. Enrico groaned, trying to hold on. The chopper spun out of control and the tail smacked into a branch, shaking the whole chopper. It dipped down and hit the ground, throwing them all forward with a tremendous crash. The blades struck the ground and blew up a tidal wave of dirt, stopping with the high-pitched squeal of bending metal. And then, incredibly, everything was still and quiet. Dirt rained down on the ground and a flurry of leaves drifted down around the downed helicopter.
Enrico rubbed the back of his head. "Roll call," he grumbled, twisting in his seat.
"I'm good," Ken said.
"Me too," Forest chimed in.
Rebecca's hips felt sore from where the seat belt gripped her, but she was otherwise okay. "I'm fine," she said.
Enrico bumped the front wall with his elbow. "You boys all right?"
"We're okay," Richard called out. "Just a little banged up."
"Fine. Let's get out of this wreck."
He unbuckled himself and crawled over to the door, shoving it open with his shoulder. It was bent and the plastic window was cracked, but it slid open when he pushed it. One by one they exited the chopper and gathered outside the wreckage.
"What happened, Ed?" Enrico asked.
Ed rubbed his arm, grimacing in pain. "I don't know, boss. Everything was fine and then something broke in the rotor engine. Blew the whole works."
"When was the last time it was serviced?"
"Two days ago. Me and Brad checked everything."
"Can you call the base and let them know what happened?"
"Sorry, boss," Edward said. "Radio's smashed."
Enrico put his hands on his hips and looked around, frowning in frustration. They were in a heavily wooded area, surrounded by trees on all sides. In the clear twilight, it was fairly easy to see, but soon it would be too dark to see anything. Clouds were gathering in the sky and it had been raining on an off for the past few hours. "All right. First things first. Where are we?"
"Don't know," Richard said. "We were coming up on the train, but I lost track of what direction we were facing when the copter started spinning. We can't be that far away from it."
"Anyone got a compass?"
They all answered negative. Enrico sighed and shook his head. "Figures."
"If something's going on with that train, we just lost the element of surprise," Ken said, looking around the trees. He already had his gun out.
"Okay," Enrico said, rubbing his mustache. "The train is our first priority. We all have walkie-talkies, I want us to keep in constant contact. Spread out, wide pattern, and find that train. Use the chopper as our point of reference. Let's get moving, folks."
They started to split up, heading out in different directions. Rebecca stood still for a moment, switching on her flashlight and sending the beam of light into the growing darkness. Enrico came up beside her and gently touched her shoulder.
"Relax," he said. "You'll be fine."
Rebecca sighed and looked out into the trees. "If they can handle it, I can handle it," she said confidently. She gave Enrico a thumbs up and smiled, heading off into the trees.
"Call if there's a problem," he said.
Rebecca held her pistol in one hand and her flashlight in the other, holding her wrists together to aim the beam of light wherever she pointed the gun, and vice versa. All she could hear was her own soft footsteps on the damp ground and the annoying sound of rattling branches all around her. Even with the flashlight, it was almost impossible to see anything. Each rustling bush, each wavering shadow looked like something coming out of the darkness at her, and before she was fifty paces from the chopper, she felt completely lost. The slight wind made everything move, and she was constantly spinning around at the sound of a twig snapping or something moving in the underbrush.
She stepped out from the trees and found herself somehow on a dirt road. Knee-high plants had sprouted in the center of the road, signaling how rarely it was used, but when she shined her light down, she saw clear tracks on the wet dirt. A vehicle had drive by here, and fairly recently.
"This is Rebecca," she said into her walkie-talkie. "I've found a road. Straight left from the helicopter, maybe two hundred yards."
"An old hunting road," Richard's voice said. "I think it runs parallel to the train tracks."
Enrico's voice this time. "Cross the road, Rebecca. We'll catch up with you. Call us if you find the railroad tracks."
"Okay," she said, and stuck the walkie-talkie back onto her belt. She looked up and down the abandoned road, sending her beam of light in each direction.
And she saw a flash of something. She aimed her flashlight down the road and saw a red glint in the distance, like a bicycle reflector. Cautiously, she walked along the road, casting her light forward until she could see what was there. When she made out the shape of a vehicle lying upside down by the side of the road, she broke into a jog and then a run. She had her medical pack out before she even got there, and skidded to a stop in front of the vehicle, a large gray truck.
She slipped in the mud and fell down, dropping her flashlight. It rolled away from her and cast its light directly into through the windshield of the truck. Rebecca covered her mouth with her hands, repressing the urge to scream.
Hands shaking, she picked up her walkie-talkie and pressed the button. "This is Rebecca. I've found something terrible. There's been some kind of accident here."