Chet couldn't see where Johnny was laying in the dark air pocket that had sheltered them from the full force of the collapsing hotel. Struggling to look around, his legs pinned under an uncomfortably large and heavy support beam, Chet stretched out his arms to feel around his surroundings with his hands. The thick gloves protected his hands from the sharp, jagged, smoldering debris that entombed him and Johnny in the ruins.

"Johnny? Johnny! C'mon man, wake up. Don't fall asleep on me!"

Chet felt his hand brush against something that wasn't a part of the crumbled building. Reach back he realized he found the sleeve of Johnny's turnout coat. Straining his shoulder Chet got a firm grip on Johnny's arm and squeezed.

Johnny felt the pressure on his arm and roused slightly. Though awake he simply didn't have the strength to open his eyes. "Chet...?"

"Yeah, I'm here Johnny." Chet could still hear the slurring in Johnny's voice. "Just stay awake, we'll get out of here soon."

"I'm tired."

"So am I, but keep awake!" Chet squeezed Johnny's arm tighter. "Just a little longer!"

A loud knocking sound from the top of the protective pocket formed of fallen debris caught Chet's attention. The knocking continued then was followed by a familiar voice. "This is Captain Stone, can you hear me?"

Chet used his other hand to knock on the nearest portion of debris to answer. "Yeah! We're here!"

"Chet? Johnny?" Stone knocked once more.

"You're on top of us!"

"Okay, don't move! We'll dig you out!"

Chet turned his attention back to Johnny. "You hear that? They've found us."

"Yeah... I heard." Johnny was using every ounce of dwindling strength he had just to keep conscious. "I hope... Roy and the others... got out."

From atop of the debris pile Captain Stone and Bob Bellingham began carefully digging through the pile in attempt to locate the two missing men. Other firefighters converged on the pile and assisted in the search. Each man made precise movements as they lifted away the obstruction bit by bit, cautious not to disturb the pile in its entirety and accidentally cause it to cave in on the two trapped men.

Craig Brice continued to examine Roy's condition, as well as keeping an eye on Captain Hank Stanley, Marco Lopez and Mike Stoker. The four men had all been injured in the blast and required medical attention.

"Captain," Brice was watching the concussed man carefully. "perhaps you should lay down. You're looking pale."

"I'm alright," Hank insisted while pressing on the bandage that was wrapped around the massive gash on the back of his head. "how's Roy?"

"Not good." Brice answered bluntly but honestly. "Dislocated right shoulder, concussion, laceration to the forehead, possible broken ribs..." Brice had already made contact with Rampart and received instructions on proper treatment. "I need to start an I.V. and keep his head and neck steady with a C-collar."

Marco, who was watching Roy and silently saying a prayer for all of his downed colleagues, stood up and volunteered to get the C-collar. "I'll go get it, need anything else?"

"Yes," Brice understood that even though Marco wasn't a paramedic he had observed Johnny and Roy in action and could offer his hands. "I would also like to put him on a backboard. I'm certain that both Kelley and Gage will require backboards as well."

Marco nodded and Mike joined him. Of the six men from Station 51 injured their injuries were the least severe.

"Brice," Hank had worked with the world's 'perfect' paramedic enough to know when Brice was keeping something back. "tell me here and now. How bad is Roy?"

"Captain Stanley, he's in a coma." Brice hated to explain the situation to friends and family members, but respected Captain Stanley enough to make an exception to his personal grievance. "Aside from the injuries from the blast, his air supply was low."

Hank shut his eyes and felt a twinge of guilt wrack his buddy. "Damn it..."

At the site of the collapsed hotel a loud voice called out in an excited tone. "We found them!"

Hank opened his eyes and focused on the successful rescue. Marco had brought both the C-collar and backboard to Brice while Mike had taken two other backboards to the scene.

"Marco, are they...?"

"Si! They're alive Cap!" Marco answered with a grin, unfortunately the dried blood on his face rendered the gesture moot.

"Good..." Hank's guilt didn't wane but a sense of relief gave him a renewed sense of hope as he turned to his downed paramedic. "Hear that, Roy? They found your partner and our resident 'Phantom'."

"I'm going to assist the others an bring them over to here." Marco informed his Captain.

"Good work Marco."

As the daylight broke through the pile of debris Chet blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the light, his hand shielding his face from the small flecks of irritating ash that snowed down on him. "'Bout time!" He joked as he saw Mike leaning over the opening.

Captain Stone, the former paramedic, slipped down into the opening in the pile. He kneeled down next to the trapped firefighter while Bellingham entered the hole and located Johnny a few feet away.

Stone checked Chet's eyes, using the bright sunlight in loo of the traditional pen flashlight. "How's your head, any pain?"

"My head's fine, it's my ankle that's killing me!"

Stone proceeded to push the large support beam from Chet's legs. "Which one?" He asked as he ran his hands down Chet's legs looking for breaks.

"Ouch! Found it..." Chet grimaced.

"Sorry." Stone looked toward Beillingham. "How's Gage?"

Bellingham glanced at his senior colleague. "He's alive..."

...to be continued...