Johnny held his breath as the "rioters" entered the room, watching their feet walk across the floor to the center of the room. "Alright just a few more rooms on this floor and we will be done." Came a strong, female voice. "I don't get why we have to search these rooms again." One of the men with her practically growled. "Why don't you go ask the big man yourself, if you're so upset about it." She asked in a no nonsense kind of tone.
He heard the man practically gulp for air and gasp, though neither sounds quite formed, before he said, "Ah no, that's alright I really don't mind searching." "I thought not." The female said, "Well this room looks clear, let's go on to the next." The hidden men listened, hardly daring to draw a breath as the door closed and the footsteps disappeared down the hall. After minutes had passed, Pete slowly pulled back his curtain to find the room clear.
"Okay, come out." He whispered. Johnny and Ponch met him behind a plush chair that would block them from view if the door opened. "I am pretty sure that there is no one down here. I know we don't want to take the chance that there just might be, but I think they would have stationed a guard or something outside one of the rooms If there were. Plus it wouldn't be very smart of them to keep someone on the ground floor as they could just leave by a window if they so wished." Pete whispered, "What do you guys think."
Johnny and Ponch looked at each other, before Johnny said, "There still could be someone injured, left for dead down here. I am going to keep looking once I think it's clear. I don't want them holding someone when we get out of here." Ponch nodded his agreement, and Pete said "Okay, but we take this slow, no sense getting caught if it turns out there is no one here."
They waited a few more agonizing minutes, before Pete led the way to the door. Cracking the door open a hair, he put his ear against it, listening for any sounds of the "rioters". Once he was sure there was none nearby he slowly opened the door the rest of the way. He cautiously looked outside of it, and once he determined the coast was really clear, he motioned for the others to quietly follow him.
They made their way safely to the next room, though with the precautions they were taking they were sure the others would be worrying about them long before they got back to the third floor. But they had to be sure that no one else was here against their will and/or in need of medical assistance.
Jon opened the door to one of the rooms on the 4th floor. Roy had stayed in the room that held the mayor to keep an eye on his vitals, while Jim had gone down the hall in the other direction looking in rooms. Jon was almost sure this room was clear, and was in the process of closing the door, when the slightest sound made him hesitate. He wasn't even sure what it was, or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but he stepped into the room and closed the door.
It looked like your standard office for some city official, a desk etc. in it, but Jon couldn't help but feeling that there was more to this room than meets the eyes. As he practically held his breath, he heard another slight, but more distinctive sound. More than likely it wasn't one of the "rioters", unless they were hiding out from their boss or something, but Jon crept towards where he heard the sound.
Around the slight corner in the office he saw a door to what he guessed was a closet. Peering over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming up behind him, he tiptoed over to the door. He held his ear against it for a long minute, listening for any sounds within. Finally his patience was rewarded with the slight intake of breath. Stepping back from the door, he softly knocked on it and said, "It's safe to come out now."
He waited, but no one stirred within the closet. Once again he knocked and repeated, "I said it's safe to come out now." When again he was greeted with silence he knocked again and said, "Listen, you need to come out of there quietly, we have to get out of here while we can." After a long moment, during which he contemplated opening the door himself, the door finally cracked open.
Inside were six teens, how they ever fit in there comfortably Jon wasn't sure, but they didn't look overly crowded. Upon seeing his uniform the group visibly relaxed and the girl with red highlights asked, "Who are you?" Jon put on his friendliest smile and said, "I'm Officer Jon Baker, I am with the CHP. And who might all you be?"
"I am Liz", the girl replied, "and these are Seamus, Dmitri, Lucas, Agnes, and Whitney. Did you guys take care of those men?" Jon shook his head and said, "We were told it was a simple riot, so they sent my partner and I, plus to LAPD officers along with two paramedics to get things under control if we could without the riot squad. Follow me now, quietly, and I will take you to the room we have the others we have gathered so far."
"You mean we aren't leaving now?" asked the girl called Agnes. "We are going to have to airlift everyone out of here, so we have to find everyone we can before we can leave, cause we are only going to get one shot at leaving that way." "Do you need help searching?" Dmitri asked. "Thanks, but for now we got it covered. All we need is for people to keep calm. Now do you know of any others who are in this building?"
"There were about five or six people in the mayor's office when we passed through on our tour, the lady who was guiding us hid us in hear when she heard a shot and went off to try to call since the lines were dead in here. We hadn't made it very far before things started happening." Lucas provided. "Alright thanks, we are heading back to the mayor's office now. When we go in, go straight to where you see the five other adults. One of our paramedics is working on someone who is shot in there, so try not to look that way if you are squeamish."