Steve was watching the ceiling above them nervously. Kelsey was sitting beside Goren, leaning against him for comfort. Goren had placed an arm around her, and she felt safer. He was talking softly to Eames, Barek and Logan, focusing on them, trying to stay awake.
On the other side, Eames and Logan were sitting on either side of the hole, and Barek was sitting in front of Logan, facing him. There wasn't anything else for them to do but talk. They felt helpless, and Eames in particular hated feeling that way. Around them, the engineers and construction crews were preparing to drill their way through the wall. They assured the three detectives they were working as fast as they could. The last thing they wanted was to cause a cave-in on the other side.
Eames was trying to keep the conversation light, but it wasn't easy. She couldn't see him and she wasn't as good at reading his voice. She needed to see the smile in his eyes. The only way she could tell if he was bluffing was by looking into his eyes.
"Eames?"
"What is it, Bobby?"
"I..I need to tell you something." He had to say it, before he never got the chance to tell her.
"You can tell me when you get out here."
"N-no. I-I have to tell you...now. I, um...I did something that I wasn't supposed to do."
"Yeah. You took the train to work this morning."
He laughed softly. "No. That was fate, Alex. I was meant to do that. It-it's something else."
"What did you do, Bobby?"
"I, um, let myself...get too close. I...I fell in love, Alex. With you. And...I need for you to know that."
She felt herself choke up and she leaned closer to the hole, her only connection to him. She could only barely hear him. "Bobby..." she trailed off, fighting back the tears that threatened to overhwlem her. "It's ok, Bobby. It's a mistake we both made."
He smiled. It was ok. He sighed softly. "Remember that, ok? Whatever happens."
"I will...if you will."
"I promise, Alex."
He leaned his head back against the wall and watched Steve, who was pacing restlessly in much the same way he would be pacing, if he could. He laid his hand across his abdomen, groaning softly to himself, trying to keep his pain internalized so the others wouldn't worry.
Steve, however, did worry. He felt better, knowing there were people on the other side getting ready to get them out. But it had already been an hour and Bobby wasn't getting any better. He and Kelsey had been among the fortunate ones with minor injuries. They had already lost more than half of the critically injured, but he hadn't told Bobby that. He'd gone ahead and done that head count. There were 72 of them, and at least a dozen of them wouldn't make it another hour. Only thirty-two of them had escaped critial injury; the critically ill who still survived were settled in the middle car. He had gone into the cars to let the others know that rescue was imminent; they just had to hang in there. He'd left out the minor detail of the unstable ceiling...
He listened to Bobby's soft voice, and he knew the reason it was so quiet was because he didn't have the energy to speak louder. The man he'd been this morning, unable to settle down and keep still, constantly reassuring the others and trying to figure a way out, was gone. His injuries were taking their toll. It was nearly suppertime by now. Sadly, he realized that the big cop wouldn't make it until the end of the day. Those guys on the other end had better move their asses.
"Ok, in there..." Fellows' voice carried through the hole. "Steve, is it?"
"Yeah."
"We're gonna start drilling. Let us know what happens."
"Go for it."
As they got the drill ready, Logan looked at Eames, uncertain. "Um, are you guys sure about this? I mean all that vibrating..."
"It should be fine, detective," Greenfield replied. "We don't tell you how to be a cop; you don't tell us how to be engineers. Ok?"
Logan raised his hands. "Go for it. I hope you know what you're doing."
The noise was deafening as they started the drill. It got louder when they pressed it into the wall. Steve watched the ceiling as concrete dust streamed from dozens of places. He saw a few pieces fall...then a few more..."Stop!" he yelled through the hole.
"Stop!" He heard Logan relay the order.
Too late. He turned his back to the cavern, instinctively using his body to cover Kelsey and Goren as a huge part of the ceiling came crashing down. Goren had also turned his body toward Kelsey to shield her. A dust cloud filled the carvern, blowing out through the hole into the adjoining tunnel. Logan swore. "Bobby! Hey, what happened in there?"
The dust settled, and Steve turned to assess the damage. "No..."
"You guys ok?"
"We're ok," Goren answered. He got unsteadily to his feet, staring at the wall of debris in front of them. "Come on, Steve."
"Bobby..."
Goren looked at him, and the argument left the college student. He fell silent and followed him to the end of the tunnel. Kelsey slid sideways to sit beside the hole. "Um, who's out there?"
The three detectives exchanged looks. Eames replied, "I'm Alex."
"Alex...you're Bobby's friend. I'm Kelsey."
"Where is Bobby, Kelsey? What happened in there?"
"The ceiling came down. He and Steve went to see if the others got caught in it."
Eames glared at the two engineers, while Logan snapped, "I thought we were trying to avoid bringing down the house."
"We knew it was a risk, detectives. We told you that. That tunnel in there is unstable."
"So let's use a friggin' drill and vibrate the damn thing into collapsing!" Logan yelled. "Why not use a sledge hammer, or better yet, dynamite? I asked you..."
"Logan..." He stopped and turned as Deakins came out of the shadows of the tunnel. "What's going on here?"
"Well, cap, there were about 70 people alive in there until these geniuses started drilling. They collapsed the tunnel and now we don't know for sure."
"Who's finding out?"
"Bobby and another guy trapped in there with him," Eames answered.
"So Bobby is in there?"
"Yes. And don't look so relieved yet. He's hurt."
"But he's up and about, isn't he?"
"He's forcing himself...probably pushing too hard. This isn't good."
"Great. So now we're what? Waiting?"
"Exactly."
In the tunnel, Steve was already on the other side of the mountain of debris, waiting for Bobby to make his way down to him. He was getting increasingly unsteady, and Steve was getting increasingly nervous. But he reached the bottom without incident, other than needing a few minutes to recuperate. "You ok?"
"I have to be, don't I? Come on."
The cave-in had buried the second car. "Damn!" Goren rubbed his forehead. He forced himself to calm down, knowing that if he got worked up...the consequences could be, well, fatal. Part of the first car, the one he and Steve had been in, was also buried. They entered the car on the opposite end. Goren looked around. The two children were huddled in a corner, in the arms of an older woman who had taken it upon herself to care for them. The girl, who was about ten, was wrapped in his jacket. The little boy, no more than five, looked at him with big, terrified eyes. He smiled at the kids, doing everything he could to hide his own ever-increasing pain. Shoving his hand in his pocket, he pulled out his badge, handing it to the little boy and ruffling his hair. For probably the first time all day, the child smiled, holding tightly to the gold shield. The preacher was still by the sliding door, but instead of shouting about sin and hell and punishment, he was praying...frantically. Goren looked at Steve. There were only about twenty people in the car. Steve nodded. "All right, folks," he said. "We're going for a little walk. You're going to follow me and we're going to climb over that wall of rubble out there. On the other side, we've got some engineers and a couple of cops trying to get us out. At this point, it's safer out there, over by the far wall, than it is in here. Come on, let's go."
As they filed off the car, Steve pulled Goren to the side and whispered, "There were over forty people in that other car...all the critically ill were over and the nurses were with them. We had seventy people waiting to be rescued. Now there's what? Twenty?"
Goren fought down his anger and the helplessness he knew was counter-productive. "There's nothing we can do, Steve. All that's left to us is getting these folks to safety. They are alive and we can help them."
"You're awfully pale, Bobby. You doing ok?"
"Actually, no." He pushed Steve toward the door. "Go."
Steve moved to the door, looking back when he got there. Goren was leaning on the back of a seat, eyes closed, preparing himself for the climb back to the other side. The pain in his gut had long eclipsed the pain of the fractured ribs in his chest. This was it. This was going to do him in. When they got back to the other side, he wasn't going anyplace else under his own power. He took a deep breath and looked up. Steve's face was clearly worried. But all he said was "Man, you're one tough guy."
He left the car. Shortly after, Goren followed. Steve climbed up the debris mountain first, after pointing to the preacher, the business man, three other men and two women, all healthy, able adults with mostly minor injuries, and telling them, "You guys come up after me and spread yourselves out so we can help the others get up to the top. Bobby?"
Goren nodded. "I'll follow after everyone makes it up."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure, Steve. Now go."
Steve scrambled up the mountain, followed by the others. Once in position, Goren sent the children up first, followed by their caretaker. The rest followed. Ok...he'd done his job. They were as safe as they were going to be down here. They were over there, near Eames and Logan, who would see that they were taken care of once they got through the wall. Until then, Steve and Kelsey would take care of them. He took a couple of steps forward and collapsed.