A new face after the race
Chapter 55
Previously: Jason opened his mouth to speak and shut it again before fully gaining the ability to say what he was going to say. "They said…."
He still couldn't speak for a moment. "They said that the workers are at the bottom of the rubble, where our loved ones are thought to be buried." Jason paused, working on how to say this. "They suggested it might be better for us to be there if they find…something." Jason finished.
"If they find something?" Sonny asked. "They haven't found anything yet, at all?" He was getting agitated and angry again.
"Not that they told me." Jason kept calm. That wasn't the greatest news, but it wasn't the best of news either.
Sonny refrained from commenting anymore. Until they heard solid facts and proof, there was no conclusions, no closing of this horrific event.
Luke spoke up. "Laura? Why don't you take care of the kids? The rest of us will go and see what's happening." Luke suggested. He added later, "We'll call when we find out something."
Laura wasn't happy with his suggestion; this was about her only son, her oldest child (even though she saw him as her baby still) but knew he was only protecting her and the children. Luke would call and tell them what was up. She nodded her consent.
The men got up and walked gravely to the door, and after offering a wave to Laura, Luke followed the men back down to the ruins of a once useful warehouse. Dozens of people in hard hats and with shovels worked throughout the night. The snow was still falling still and visibility wasn't great, but it could have been much worse.
They approached the guy who was in charge of the clean up and search. They didn't have to ask, the guy knew what they were thinking. "We haven't found anything but wood and ashes as of yet, but were getting there. One of my guys will call out if they find something the minute they do." He reassured them.
"You are open to work all night if absolutely necessary?" Jason supposed.
The guy nodded. "If there was no one in there and it collapsed, no, but there is human lives at stake this time so it's different." He didn't have to say the chances of survival, they knew them. It was low and very unlikely any of their loved ones would come out alive and breathing.
Silence ensued as they walked around and observed the guys at work. When they were half the warehouse away, a scream sounded. "Sir!" It shouted. "We found something!" The lead guy and they ran toward the scream desperately.
A couple guys were crowded over the find. The man in charge ordered them away so he could see. They couldn't see anything at this point. He sighed. "This one's dead, no pulse, keep looking!" The man announced. The others did, and worked twice as hard from the looks of it.
They went over to it but were blocked. "You can't see it until we figure out its identity." He called over an ambulance they carefully latched the corpse and into the stretcher it went.
You couldn't see a thing that would help the identification purposes. It was just all black and burned. They paled slightly. This could be one of their loved ones, was, but just who it could be drove them nuts. There were four possibilities, none of them good.
They tallied around a little longer, waiting for another shout, any sound turned their head. Nothing, after that body was found they naturally was more nervous and upsetting. It was quite easy to scare them, all of them, even the ones with the strongest controls on their emotions.
They sat on the sidelines, waiting for more calls, more talk, to know that their loved relative was alive. Luke took out his cell phone but couldn't call Laura until he knew the whole truth. Just because he didn't want to worry her just because only one dead person was found, the three others left accounted for, not yet established dead. He wanted all facts until he called what probably will be an upset Laura and you couldn't calm down an upset Laura, he's tried.
"I really don't know what Laura or Lulu would do without Lucky." Luke confessed, out of the blue.
"Same here. Michael and Morgan and Melissa really cared for their big sister, if she's…" Sonny just stopped and shook his head. Emily couldn't be dead. She had so much ahead for her. She was just two years away from getting her bachelor's degree in journalism. She had three younger siblings to make an example for and be there for them. Her and Lucky had youth and love. They'd make a lovely married couple, parents even.
"They're alive, they've got to be." Jason said firmly holding so much emotion and hope in he'd probably burst.
All the men just firmly nodded, not sure what to believe at this point. "Then who do you think is that dead body, you think?" Luke had to ask, get that in the open.
"My money is that is probably Brenda. You couldn't see much but the height and the build I saw, it must be her. She is, was, my wife, and I think I'd know if it was her or not." Jason answered solemnly.
They trusted Jason's judgment on this, but couldn't help commenting on it. "Poor Melissa, she's lost her mother. She's going to be crushed." Luke said.
"Yeah, she is. I'm sorry Jason, but you still got Elizabeth there and I hate to sound rude and unsympathetic, but maybe it was for the best. Brenda just kept you from growing and living life to its fullest. Maybe it can bring closure, for you and Melissa." Sonny tried seeing the positive view of this death.
"Maybe, she was just going to stay like that forever most likely. If she made no change these past two years, there'll never be any." Jason didn't take it personally, didn't give it much thought at this point. "But Melissa would be fine. Her mother wasn't around much, she'll miss her, but Emily was. She could handle losing her mother, but I really don't know if she could handle losing her big sister. Emily's grown to mean so much to her, to everyone." Jason explained, again solemnly.
Everyone was spared any comments as they looked over to see the medics coming again and the lead guy, they didn't care to ask for a name at this point, looking over something. They must have found something again.
Jason and Luke didn't make a movement to check it out. Jason too upset about his wife and Luke too worried he was going to lose his only son. Sonny got on his feet and went over to investigate it for the other two and himself.
This body was more visibly able to tell some features. He overhead one of the medics saying "Early twenties," Sonny was scared at this point but quickly listened more. "Let's see if we can tell the gender…male." The medics could find no more proof of identity.
To Sonny that meant good and bad news. It wasn't Emily, but it still could be Lucky. If he wasn't mistaken, Lucky was twenty or twenty one.
He made his way to the two other men. Luke looked up at Sonny. "What was the count?" Luke asked.
"Dead male, they guess early twenties." Sonny sat down again, the relief that wasn't Emily too great.
"They didn't say anything else?" Luke asked.
Sonny shook his head. "That's all they could find out with that one." He told Luke.
Luke shook off the fear that that could be Lucky. "That's not Lucky." He said firmly, unmistaken.
"There's always a chance it was Mark, the whole villain of this piece, and if so, serves him well, at least I don't have to kill him myself and risk jail time." Sonny replied.
"It was Mark, I'm certain. If it was Lucky, they'd have found Emily near him. He said to you himself that he'd die for her, and so if he did, he'd be near Emily in doing so. No Emily, no Lucky." Luke explained, sure of his judgment.
Jason added in. "Yeah, that's true. If you find one dead you find the other near. Lucky wouldn't leave Emily like that." Jason responded.
Then Sonny asked the question of the day. "Then where are they?" He demanded of them.
Luke and Jason just looked away and shook their head showing they had no idea whatsoever. Absolutely clueless, like him they were.
Silence fell between them and they barely noticed the heavy sounds going around them. Metal shovels clanking against the rock, grunts of pain and hard work, the creaking and smack of wood pieces falling on each other as they get piled on each other in a frantic search of hope.
Minutes passed and no more appearances of a body or two. If Jason and Luke were right that if they found Lucky, they found Emily, they needed to be found quickly. No one had any idea what happened to those two, but it was also obvious that if one was dead, the other was most likely was and vice versa. They cared more the vice versa one.
The lead guy, named Patrick, rubbed his temples, it was getting late. It was getting cold. They were at the last layer. The last place those two kids could get, but he doubted they lived. At that point, if they didn't die of injuries, they'd die of too much carbon dioxide and too little oxygen.
He went over to the other end and watched as his guys did their work, striving and working to find these two unfortunate souls that got caught in such an accident. He looked over at the three men waiting for news.
He really felt for them. He had a kid of his own at home. If he lost his son David he'd certainly be lost. David would turn four in a week. He was so little, so much like him, so much like his mother.
His wife was a little difficult at times, okay, most of the time but he loved her. Beth was such a joy. She was very optimistic, very beautiful, but too stubborn for her own good. But then again she said the same thing about him. Either way little David was going to be a stubborn one, no doubt about it.
He frowned. That's what this couple should have had; the house with the picket fence, the children, the dog that kept them busy, the happiness that they or anybody else deserved.
But now it was doubtful they'd get that happy ending. Very doubtful, he thought as one of his workers called him over, gesturing wildly with his hands. He hurried over to where the worker was, being careful of all the rubble and people.
"What have you got there?" He asked the worker who he now identified as Bobby, a man who he had reluctantly hired. He had a criminal past, a dark childhood, but from what he saw was keeping his head above the water, trying to do better, be better than he was. Making up for those years he had wasted uselessly, the mistakes he made, the lives he ruined.
"I'm not sure yet, I'm still getting there, I just need to move this huge pile of wood." Bobby told him and Patrick pulled on his pair of gloves and helped Bobby move it away and off a discovery Bobby believed he had found.
They went back to find a shock and the discovery Bobby predicted. After moving some smaller pieces and calling for the medics to come once again, they looked closer.
The small couple held there, holding each other in each other's arms. They looked so peaceful, their hands held together, the boyfriend protecting the girlfriend with his life, literally as he discovered their mouths crushed together.
He almost smiled at the pretty picture they made. Bobby checked for pulses and looked up. "They're breathing sir." He reported and he requested his help that they pull them apart. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, and they'd need help right away as the medics were near to receive them.
The medics took it from there as they raced the living victims to the hospital. Whether they would stay among the living was the question now.
Author's note: Yes, I finally updated! Aren't you happy? If anyone is reading this, remember to check out some of my newest stories "The massacre" and "Running into the Unknown." You'll find them under my name, in the lists of stories. Review if you so wish.