The windshield burst into a million pieces the first time the Galaxy rolled over, the powerful thrust propelling both Mike and Steve out of their seats before turning them into human snowballs.
The groaning of twisting metal and breaking glass tore through the silence, the world turning into a manic carousel, as the sedan flipped multiple times, trading daylight with the darkness of the steep mountain side.
Rich dirt and pine needles showered its occupants during their deadly descent that seemed to last forever, but ended unceremoniously after three volatile summersaults, when the large police car came to rest against a massive pine tree, miraculously landing on all four tires…or what was left of them.
The passenger side window busted from the impact with the impressive trunk and the door bowed inward, shoving the entire front bench over several inches.
The sizzling of leaking fluids below the dented hood soon mixed with the rhythmic sloshing of the leftover gasoline in the rear tank, and the quiet moaning of a decidedly sore Lieutenant. Shoved spread eagle against the rear bench, the thick black overcoat had acted like a protective cover across his elbow, as his arm was leaning out of the broken window, surely getting severed had the Galaxy flipped one more time.
Both his fedora and revolver had disappeared during the violent crash, leaving a massive headache, a bloody nose and some bruised bones as the only outcome of their involuntary detour down a mountain.
"Steve?"
When the blurriness finally left his eyes, Mike carefully glanced around, growing distraught when his partner was nowhere to be seen, harrowing images of getting ejected out of a tumbling vehicle filling his frantic mind.
"Steve?!"
"…'m over here.", came the muffled response after a few moments of tense silence that threatened to tear on his last nerves.
Following the faint noise, Mike carefully straightened out, feeling an intense pain coming from his lower back where he'd slammed into the passenger side door handle and window crank.
Ignoring the continuous stream of blood running out of his right nostril and across his lips, the Lieutenant swallowed the iron taste before the nausea could get worse and leaned against the front bench in time to see Steve emerge from underneath the consol.
With one hand reaching for the crooked steering wheel, the young Inspector slowly pulled himself up, then stopped midway to spit out some blood on the seat cushion.
"Are you alright?", Mike asked anxiously, unable to help much from his position, besides grasping his partner's shoulder.
"I…I think so…", Steve replied and used his free hand to wipe the blood from his split lip, then looked up at Mike in unconcealed terror, "What about you? You are bleeding. Did you know you are bleeding? What happened to your nose? Hold on. You gotta...you gotta stop moving around so much…"
Knowing to read the tell-tale signs of a concussion and onset of shock between his partner's oversized pupils and slurred speech, Mike gently patted the young Inspector's cheek, before pointing uphill.
"We've gotta get out of here, Buddyboy. Think you can do that?"
Spitting out some more blood, Steve nodded, swaying slightly as he stared at the massive tree trunk the Galaxy was wrapped around.
"My legs are still ehm…yeah…everything is still working, I think. Just gimme…gimme a second…"
With his stomach in knots, Mike watched his partner slowly crawl out from underneath the steering column, miraculously unhurt beside getting his bell rung, or maybe in too much shock to notice otherwise.
After a couple of failed attempts, he managed to push the driver's side open with a deafening creak, the heavily damaged metal fighting him all the way, as Steve slowly crawled out, landing on his hands and knees before the door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Following along, Mike carefully manipulated the driver's side rear door, prying fingers digging along the edges of the window to open the lock, grateful to find that it was still working despite their violent crash. Using his blood-covered hands, he pushed hard against the dented frame, surprised and grateful when the door swung open on the second attempt.
By the time he finally he set foot on the steep ground, he was thoroughly exhausted from the seemingly minuscule effort, his legs shaking violently, threatening to buckle.
Up above, the ravine was littered with car parts and uprooted brush, the smell of overheated electronics, gasoline and melted rubber still filling the air, broken glass and hub cab chunks lining their path like deadly breadcrumbs.
Swallowing hard, Mike looked around for Esteban but saw no movement from the road several hundred yards above.
And yet, the soldier deep inside sensed that they were being watched.