Unlikely Partners Chapter 3

Chapter 3 EXPLOSION

A loud booming explosion reverberated throughout the neighborhood as the abandoned building just collapsed like a house of cards. Ash and dust turned the sunny day gray, pieces of the building landing several hundred feet away, some landed on cars, some landed on kids playsets, and others just scattered across the road. People rushed to check on their neighbors and friends and many phone calls went to the 9-1-1 dispatch center.

A barrage of banging raining down on the van and even caving in on the van was enough to jolt Jay Halstead awake. 'This is not the way today was supposed to go.' he thought grimly, while still woozy from being knocked out twice.

"Kim! ", Jay called out weakly as he struggled to wake up from the fogginess in his brain. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and smoke surrounding them. He used his army ranger training to respond to the situation, going through the 5 senses checklist to get his bearings.

Jay felt the cool metal on his wrist still attached to Kim, though he couldn't see her in the darkness. He could still smell the sweet chemical that had knocked them out. He felt pain when he tried to move his legs, his right leg was stuck. He heard falling debris like after a bomb went off in Afghanistan. He heard a groan next to him and was relieved, but didn't think she would be when she realized the predicament they found themselves in.

"Jay!" Kim yelled, disoriented from the dirt, dust, and debris they were buried in. There was something heavy keeping her from making any big movement on her right side

"Still here." he responded, shaking the handcuffs linked between them only about a foot apart.

"Sorry for yelling. What happened? Where are we?" She tried to take in their surroundings and figure out what happened after they were jumped in the street. "Are we in a van?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah, we were tossed in a van from those guys who followed us. I'm guessing there was an explosion, which would explain the debris, I think we are trapped in a building somewhere." He couldn't lie to her, it was a tough situation but they have been in tough situations before. And Burgess was tough too.

"Ok, Kim I need to assess your injuries, and don't say you're fine." Kim reluctantly agreed. Lying would not help the situation. "Can you move your head side to side?" She moved it slowly just in case. "Yes." She knew letting Jay take care of her would actually help him. "How about if you move it up and down?" Kim gingerly moved her head up and down with a groan.

"What's wrong?" Jay probed. "I can't really see you so I need you to tell me. We are going to get through this together." He promised.

"I feel dizzy when I move my head up and down." she admitted, Kim hated being hurt. "You probably have a concussion."

"Yeah fun." Kim cheered with fake enthusiasm, but the fake humor did make Jay feel a little better that she was thinking clearly.

There was still some light coming in the window through the concrete and ash outside, Jay could see her right arm was trapped by a medium boulder between her shoulder and elbow. He moved his fingers over her collarbone and could feel it was broken before Kim told him, and the way she was breathing told him she had some broken ribs as well. "I think your collarbone is broken and some ribs." He gave her the bad news.

"You have better bedside manner than your brother." she teased the older Halstead brother, glad she could make him smile. "And this day started out so well too…" She started saying but left unfinished, neither of them had to say it.

"We shouldn't have followed them." Jay apologized, frustrated at their predicament.

"No, " argued Kim. "We made the right call, we took a chance to get Perez. There's no way to know any of this would happen."

"We're going to run out of oxygen, do you think you can break the window next to you? Burgess suggested. "I think there are some rocks around here somewhere…"

"Haha. I got this." Jay laughed and followed her directions while covering his face so no pieces of glass came back towards him. Immediately, cool air spread throughout the heat of the trapped mini van. "Great Idea." He complimented her. It would take the two of them working together to figure a way out.

"Do you see my radio anywhere?" Kim asked by chance. It was a long shot, but if it was there maybe it would come in handy. Both her and Jay started feeling around the floor and the debris.

"Yeah, here." Jay said, pushing the smooth object into her hand. "But the team is probably out of range." He reminded her gently. Burgess was one of the most relentlessly optimistic people he knew. "God knows where we are."

"But who is going to be at an explosion?" she asked the detective. "And who has an all girls radio channel with Stella Kidd on it?" He raised his eyebrows at that comment, but let her try. There was no sense in not trying.

"I'm going to try to send my badge number in morse code on the channel." Kim declared. "Can you turn the radio to channel 8.2?" She asked Jay hope radiating from her voice. She made him believe that there was some hope.

Station 51 rolled up to 2120 S. Ashland Ave. at about 6:45pm. It was registered as a vacant building.

"Whose radio is on? Christopher Hermann complained, even though he didn't mean it. None of the guys responded so Stella realized it was hers and that it was her girl's only channel still on from yesterday.

She went to turn it off, but Gallo stopped her. "Wait! It sounds like a pattern."

"He's right." Severide chimed in, "Everybody quiet." The Lieutenant commanded sharply. The crew was waiting for directions around the rig.

Gallo wrote as Stella repeated, "dot dot dot dot dot, dash dot dot dot dot, dash dot dot dot dot, dash, dash, dash, dot,dot, dash dot dot dot dot. " Gallo spoke up, "56686."

"What do these numbers mean?" Kelly asked the group.

Stella very quietly explained, "That's Burgess's badge number."