"Mac." Lindsay said.

"Lindsay." Mac said.

Lindsay didn't know what to say. Surely, they were worried about her, but how was she going to explain to them where she was and what situation she was in. thankfully, Mac beat her to that.

"Lindsay talk to me, are you alright?" Mac asked.

"For the most part." Lindsay glanced up at Misty, who was looking through the vent. "Tell Flack I found Misty Haze. We're in the ventilation system of the apartments."

"Alright, we've got you on inferred Lindsay. Are either of you injured? Flack mention he saw blood." Mac asked.

Lindsay frowned to herself. She hesitated answering him. "Yeah Mac. I…I got hit."

Lindsay could hear Mac talking to someone on the other end. "Lindsay, I'm passing you to Danny, alright? We're working on how to get you out of there." Mac said.

Lindsay waited a few moments. "Danny?" Lindsay asked.

"You got it, Montana. How you holdin' up?" Danny asked. Lindsay couldn't hold back the smile. She mentally cursed Danny for doing that to her so easily.

"I've been better, Danny." Lindsay answered.

"I bet you have Monroe." Danny said. "Hey Linds, ya think you could give us a clue where in the apartment you are?"

"Possibly." Lindsay answered. Lindsay looked up at Misty. "Misty, can you tell me where we are?"

Misty nodded. "We're on the third floor on the west side."

"Misty says we're on the third floor. West side. We're trying to head to the east side." Lindsay explained. She could hear Danny speaking to other people on his end.

"Anything else Lindsay? Room number? Vent number?" Danny asked.

"Any room numbers?" Lindsay asked.

Misty held up a finger. She crawled to the edge of the vent and peeked through the grit.

"Hang on, Misty's going to look." Lindsay replied.

"We're across from room three fifteen." misty answered.

"We're across from room three fifteen." Lindsay said. She looked up to find the vent cover off. Lindsay's head snapped around. "Misty? Misty where are you?"

Misty did not respond.

Lindsay crawled closer to the edge of the vent, peeking out. She could hear footsteps coming down the hall. They were rushed, running steps. Someone was crying, whimpering. Lindsay began to panic.

"No! Please don't kill me Marty. Please. Please don't-"

A gunshot rang out.

Lindsay couldn't stop the scream that escaped her lips. She saw Misty's body fall to the ground. Misty was screaming in agony.

"Please don't kill me!" she begged.

A few more shots broke out. Misty continued to scream and cry in pain. Lindsay snapped her eyes shut, trying to block the screams. Tears fell down her cheeks within seconds. The shots ended. Lindsay looked down the vent.

Marty appeared at the opening. He stuck his gun in the vent and fired again. Lindsay screamed and moved around the corner. She closed the phone and began crawling back down the vents toward another area of the apartments. Lindsay could hear rumbling behind and she knew Marty was following her through the vents. Though Lindsay was small, the vents were still tight on her, which meant Marty would have the safe trouble Lindsay would have.

Lindsay rounded another corner, jarring her back. She bit her lip to keep form screaming. Her arms ran down the ice cold steel as she dragged herself further through the vents. Lindsay took a deep breath, finding it difficult to do. She suddenly found herself tired and dizzy. Lindsay realized it was from the profuse blood lose and adrenaline that had covered up the injury.

Suddenly the steel stopped. There was an opening above Lindsay's head. Lindsay pulled out her light and shined it above her head. The vent ascended up, to the next floor. Lindsay flicked the light off and settled it in her pocket with the phone. She pulled herself into the opening and managed to stand up. Carefully, Lindsay pressed her back against the vent wall and brought her legs up to the other. She slowly began spidering up the vent to the next floor. Below her, Lindsay couldn't hear Marty anywhere. Lindsay felt a back at her shoulders and peeked over them. The vent opened up on the next floor.

Lindsay pulled herself into the next vent and continued through the system. She stopped at the first corner she found and peeked out it. Lindsay pulled out the phone, and using the Bluetooth adjustment, redialed Mac's number.

"Lindsay?" It was Danny.

"He killed her! He killed Misty!" Lindsay said. Tears began falling down her cheeks again as she cried in the vent.

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Danny heard the dial tone through the phone. He gripped Mac's phone tightly in his hand. "Dammit!"

"What happened?" Flack asked.

"She hung up! The bastard started shootin' and Linds hung up." Danny explained. He turned away angrily.

Flack leaned against the hood of the car. The blueprints lay out in front of him. "Damn."

Danny looked back to the building. He shook his head. "We gotta get in there, Flack."

Flack nodded. "Unfortunately we have to wait for S.W.A.T. Danny."

"They ain't the ones waitin' on a call from their partner, Don." Danny replied.

Flack grabbed Danny's shoulder. "I'm worried about her too, Danno. But Lindsay's a smart girl. She's not one to get caught."

"Lindsay shouldn't have been here alone Flack. We flipped a freakin' coin! A coin Flack! And I won. It shouldn't be her in there, it should be me." Danny replied.

Suddenly Mac's phone began ringing. Danny brought the phone to his ear. "Lindsay?"

Lindsay was crying on the other end, panting shallowly. "He killed her! He killed Misty!"

"Oh my god." Danny said.

"What's goin' on. What's wrong?" Flack asked.

"Misty's been killed." Danny answered.

Flack groaned. "Dammit." He picked up his radio. "Dispatch, what's the ETA on S.W.A.T.?"

"ETA of S.W.A.T. ten minutes."

"Make it two! We've just been informed that one of the survivors has been gun downed." Flack explained.

"Copy that."

Danny brought the phone back up to his ear. "Linds, Lindsay, calm down."

Lindsay was crying on the other end. Danny could hear her shallow breathing. Even over the phone, Danny could tell she was having difficulty trying to breath.

"Lindsay, listen to me, you need to slow your breathing." Danny ordered.

"He…he-"

"C'mon, Montana, deep breaths." Danny said. He could hear Lindsay trying to slow her breathing down. She took several slow breaths, but they were still shallow. "You still with me, Montana."

"Yeah." Lindsay replied.

"Alright. Where are you?" Danny asked.

"Uh…I think I'm up on the fourth floor. I found a vertical vent and climbed up." Lindsay explained.

Danny snapped his fingers over at Sherman. "Find a vertical on the west side."

"There's several vents leading up to the fourth floor." Sherman explained.

"Lindsay, do you see any numbers or lettering in the vent or a door number?" Danny asked.

"Hold on." Danny could hear Lindsay shuffling about inside the vent. "I've got a vent number."

Danny pressed speakerphone. "Let's have it Linds."

"FR4WH6C2V7." Lindsay said.

Danny watched Sherman scan the plans. His hands hovered over the map. Sherman stopped, "There she is."

"Alright Lindsay, we've got you on the map." Danny said.

Any chance you can navigate me a way out?" Lindsay asked.

Danny smirked, "I think we can do that. Sherm."

Sherman nodded. "Follow the vent around the corner. About thirty feet ahead of you, there should be an intersecting vent that goes off in two directions."

"I see it." Lindsay said.

"Go to the right. That'll lead you toward the vent in the hallway." Sherman explained. "Follow the vent to the grit and you should be at the hallway."

"Got it." Lindsay said.

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yeah, there's a plan...kinda. will it work? well, with me...you never know.

i own nothing!