Chapter Ten: Ground Zero
"It's going to be okay," said GoGo for what had to have been the tenth time that hour, "It's just over two hours until we get there. She'll be fine."
Hiro said nothing, his gaze was silently fixed to the screen that was displaying images of the ruined San Fransokyo. An entire section of the city had crumbled and slid into the still churning waters of the bay. Somewhere in that carnage was the only parent he had ever known.
"Have you been able to make contact with the city?" Honey-Lemon quietly asked Denise. She shook her head.
"No, nothing has been able to get through," she replied, just as quietly, "There's a city wide blackout and none over the towers are transmitting. I don't even know if Alistair is alive." It didn't need to be said out loud that things were serious if Denise was referring to Krei by his first name.
"We couldn't get rid of him that easy," Honey-Lemon said, briefly hesitating before placing her hand on top of Denise's, "We're not that lucky." The normally stern looking woman may have cracked the merest hint of a smile at her words.
"I suppose not," she replied before glancing down at Honey-Lemon's hand which was still resting atop her own. "You and your constant need to be all touchy-feely is quite remarkable," she remarked drily. Honey-Lemon immediately jerked her hand back.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the floor, "I-I thought… I'm so sorry…"
"I was just making an observation," said Denise, pausing for a moment before coming to a decision. "However, that doesn't mean that I don't like it," she said in that same casual tone of voice, "Because I do. Like it, that is."
"Oh… Oh." Honey-Lemon's tone was considerably brighter than it had just been moments before.
"So you can put your hand back."
"Ok."
~o~O~o~
A piercing beam of light suddenly stabbed through the darkness. Cass groggily looked at it, too weak to shield her eyes.
"Cassandra Hamada," said an obviously synthesised voice, "Can you hear me?"
"Wha…" she began, the effort of finishing the sentence was simply too great.
"Can you hear me?" the voice repeated.
"Yes," she managed to say in a feeble voice, "Who… Ah!" She groaned in pain as the column pining her to the floor dug further into her side. "Who are you?" she forced out.
"I am Baymax," said the voice and the light dimmed enough so that she could make out its source. It was a large, bloated white figure encased in some kind of red armour. Had she the energy, no doubt she would have screamed in terror. However, all she could manage was a quiet whimper. "Please do not be alarmed," said the figure, "I am a medical bot here to help and am a friend of your nephew, Hiro."
"Hiro?" she repeated weakly.
"Yes," said Baymax, "Hiro. I apologise if my appearance is a cause of alarm but due to the current crisis, my programing requires me to wear armour to maintain my structural integrity. Now, I need you to stay still. I am going to attempt to free you from this debris but this location is now extremely unstable and any unnecessary could be dangerous. Do you understand what I have said?" She nodded.
"Very good," said the robot before gripping the support column, "Please inform me if you experience any discomfort."
~o~O~o~
"Is everyone okay?" Alistair Krei called out into the pitch black, "Is anyone there?" He reached for his phone and activated the flashlight app, making it marginally better to see. A faint moan came out of the gloom to respond to him. Krei stood up before immediately toppling over due to a sharp stabbing pain in his left leg. Clearly there was some damage there. "Hang on," he groaned, propping himself up and favouring his right side before hobbling over towards the source of the moan. He shone the light around until he saw a figure lying limp on the floor. She was a young woman, clearly somewhere in her early twenties and was impaled on a metal rebar, blood freely rushing from the gaping wound. She was gripping the bar weakly before her arms flopped uselessly to her side.
Krei immediately ripped his jacket off (uncaring of the buttons sent flying) and shoved it into her wound in an attempt to stem the stream of red that was flowing out of her. Her eyes rolled towards the back of her head and began to close. "Hey, hey, hey, easy there," he said in what he hoped was a casual tone of voice as he applied pressure to the wound, "You've got to stay awake, sweetheart. If you fall asleep it's going to be very boring for me with nobody to talk to."
"M… nmsnt… swrt…"
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," he replied in that same bright, casual voice.
"My name is… not… sweetheart," she said slowly, deliberately, never breaking eye contact with him.
"So do you have a name then?"
"Rebecca… Stonewall…" she gasped after some effort.
"Good to meet you Becky," he said in response, "I'm Alistair Krei."
"Yeah, I know who you are. Your name is on the building." Despite the tremendous amount of pain she had to have been in, her sarcasm stuck to every syllable. "And… Ah! ... Don't… call me Becky."
"Alright, Becky," he said flippantly, "Stick with me and I'll get you out of here."
~o~O~o~
"Cell towers are down but what about shortwave radio?" Hiro asked, desperate for a way to contact his aunt.
"Baymax has an antennae in his helmet which I would assume he's wearing right now," Honey-Lemon agreed, "With everything that's happened in the city now, he'd have to wear it or risk a puncture. And since he's programmed to treat Cass as a person of high priority so it stands to reason that he's with her. If we find him, we find her."
"As soon as we touch down we'll give it a try," said GoGo before turning to Denise, "What about Krei? If he made it through all this would he have a way for us to contact him?"
"He keeps an emergency shortwave in his office," Denise replied, "So if he's at Krei Tech we may have a chance to get into contact with him."
"Once we're sure they're all safe we should probably head out and help anyone else we can find," said Fred seriously. "Look at that," he added, pointing at the television that was still displaying images of the wrecked city, there's no way emergency services can cover all of that. They're gonna need all the help they can get." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. If Fred was acting serious it was a clear indication that things were bad. "I know you're not gonna want to hear this, Hiro," he said reluctantly, "But you and I should do that as soon as we land."
"No way in hell," Hiro snapped, "If you think I'm leaving Aunt Cass alone at a time like this –"
"Hiro, listen to me, man," Fred interrupted, "You and I are the only ones here who know squat about medicine. Wasabi and Honey-Lemon are doctors and GoGo at least has basic medical training. If Cass or Krei are hurt, well, to be honest, you and I aren't worth a damn. All we'd do is just stand around and get in the way. We're better use out there, helping anyone that's trapped or in danger. That way at least we're doing something good."
"He's right, Hiro," GoGo said quietly. Hiro swivelled his chair to face her, disbelief washing over his face.
"Go," he whispered desperately, "No you too." She walked over to him and knelt so that she was at eye level with him.
"Hiro," she said simply, "Do you trust me?" He wanted to retort that Cass was his Aunt and that she had to be his priority but she took his hand and looked him in the eye. "Do you trust me?" she repeated. Finally he nodded. "Good."
~o~O~o~
Once Cass had been safely dislodged from under the fallen debris, Baymax immediately set about assessing her injuries. Both of her legs were broken near the knees and her right arm had a hairline fracture. However, thankfully, there was no apparent damage to her neck or spinal cord.
"Miss Hamada," Baymax said once she had been settled, "Both of your legs are broken and you have a mild hairline fracture on your right forearm. I am going to coat them in a foam which will harden and protect them from further damage. However, I will have to set them first which will cause you some pain. Do you consent to the proposed treatment?"
"Just do whatever you have to do," she said wearily as the robot went to work on her. To her credit, she made no scream of pain nor sign of protest when the robot set about the grim task of resetting her bones into place. Once the foam had hardened, she let her head rest on the ground and let out a choked sob. "Thank you," she said between deep breaths.
"You are most welcome," the robot replied.
~o~O~o~
"That's not good," said Krei as the building groaned and shook slightly.
"And that's the understatement of the century," Rebecca said fiercely before coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"We can't stay here," said Krei, nervously, "Judging by the sound we just heard this whole section could fall away at any moment."
"So get this thing out of me," Rebecca said thickly.
"It's not that simple," Krei said, kneeling down next to her, "If we do that, it could do even more damage going out and we won't be able to stop the bleeding."
"What does that mean?" she asked with growing concern in her voice.
"It means that I'll need help to get you free," he replied, "Back in my office, I have a short-wave radio. If we're lucky, it should still be working and, if we're even luckier, someone might pick up the signal."
"What if they don't?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said, "Now I have to leave you to go get it but I'm coming back. Okay? Just hold on for a couple of minutes and maintain pressure on the wound." She reached out and weakly latched onto his hand.
"Please don't go," she begged, "I-I don't want to die alone."
"Hey, hey, Becky, look at me," Krei said firmly, "You are not going to die today. I promise. Now, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I'll see you soon."
~o~O~o~
"Again," said Denise into the radio's receiver, "This is Denise. If there is anyone alive at Krei Tech please respond. Over." Denise, Honey-Lemon and Wasabi were in a helicopter soaring over the devastated city, Denise at the controls. She was flying towards Krei Tower, the most likely place to find Krei. Denise turned and looked at Honey-Lemon.
"Keep trying," Honey-Lemon said encouragingly but before Denise could respond there was a burst of static.
"…kkkkk …. kkkk is in critical condition and requires immediate medical aide or she will not survive. I repeat, this is Alistair Krei and my companion is –"
"Alistair," Denise exclaimed, "This is Denise, we're reading you. Where are you?"
"Denise? What are you doing back in the States? You know what, never mind, I'm just happy you're here. I'm on the top floor but we need help. I've got an intern with me who's been hurt real bad and I think the building is about to come down."
"Can you move her to the roof?" Denise asked.
"That's a negative," came the reply, "She's impaled on rebar. I'm afraid that if I move her I'll just cause even more damage, maybe even kill her."
"Okay, stay with her and we'll come to you," she said, "Keep the channel open so we can track you. See you soon, boss."
"I'll be counting the seconds."
~o~O~o~
Fred grunted with effort as he lifted the rubble. Even with his suit's enhanced strength, it was still quite the task. "Okay, now!" he said and Hiro skidded through the newly formed gap and pulled out the trapped woman underneath.
"Are you alright?" Hiro asked her.
"I'm fine," she said, nodding wearily as a thin trail of blood escaped her lips, "Thanks for getting me out of there."
"There's an emergency tent two blocks down that way," he said, pointing, "Do you think you can make it? There's other people trapped in what's left of this building."
"Yeah, I can do that," she replied before hobbling in the direction he had indicated.
"Alright," Hiro said, "Onto the next section."
~o~O~o~
"Okay," said Krei, applying more pressure to Rebecca's wound with one hand while holding her hand with the other, "Just hold on a little longer, Becky, and my friends will come to help."
"I told you not to call me Becky," she replied, although with less venom this time.
"Yeah, I heard you," he said grinning, "But, I figure if I keep calling you that, you'll stay alive and get better, if for no other reason than to kick my ass afterwards."
"I suppose I can't fault that logic," she said before coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Is it just me or is it getting colder?"
"Just keep holding my hand, sweetheart," Krei said, "Just hold on a little bit longer. Help is coming I promise."
