"There's heat signatures on the third, fifth and sixth floors. Maybe a dozen all together."
Sam and his drone flew high overhead using IR to find people still trapped in the buildings that stood, using that term very loosely. We had a team of about two dozen of Wakanda's finest assisting us, with me ostensibly in charge. It seemed T'Challa trusted me to lead them, which had surprised me given I knew none of the men and women on the misison. None of them had questioned it and had done nothing but follow my orders from the moment we had touched down.
We focused on rescue, getting people out of structures before they collapsed or the fires consumed them.
"All right three groups," I pointed to the nearest squad. "You the sixth, you the fifth and you the third."
They nodded and broke off without question. "In and out just like the others, we'll deal with injuries once we have them clear."
I looked over the area, dust and smoke a heavy haze that nearly blotted out the clear blue sky high above, the sun nearing its zenith, and was thankful for the full face mask that included a filter else we would all have been choking on the miasma the quake had left behind. No one would know me as anything other than another another member of the Wakanda rescue force. Granted, they were far more an army than EMTs, but that would not slow them down much, if at all. There were two qualified medics with us, and I wasn't half bad at basic triage, we carried all the gear necessary with us, the goggles we wore as high tech as anything Stark Industries had produced in recent years.
Sam, was taking the biggest risk, but very few were bothering to watch the skies, unless a copter could be heard, and there had been plenty of them, though most just flew over, unable to land amongst the rubble of collapsed buildings.
"Sam, where next?"
"Two blocks over, another half dozen on a rooftop."
"Once we're clear here we'll head that way. See if you can give them a heads up."
"Done," he replied, the hiss of his jets overhead for an instant as he headed for the next target.
Group one appeared in the doorway just as the ground heaved beneath my feet knocking them to the ground as the world about us began to groan and scream aloud.
"Aftershock," I bellowed, running towards the group huddled in the shadow of the building that had begun to shed fascia like a deadly rain. "Move." I motioned for them to head for the only clear area around, and watched as the Wakandans literally lifted the foursome and carried them away from the building.
"Sit-rep," I called out, hoping the other squads would be able to respond.
"Stairwell," came the quick response, "We have eight to extract."
"Keep moving, I'll meet you." Only seconds had passed, but the aftershock continued, the building swaying in response to the earth moving beneath it. I could see the doorway to the stairwell, the door slamming open and closed until it suddenly jammed halfway open. It took an instant to assess why; the stairwell had begun to collapse.
The door buckled, folding in half and popping off its hinges with a rending metallic sound that was nearly lost in the roar of the ground beneath us. "ETA," I barked.
"Ninety seconds," came back, but I could see that would not be enough time. I glanced behind me to find the way out mostly clear; only that particualr side of the building collapsing.
"Cap?" Sam asked, but I did not take the time to explain the situation, I rushed the doorway which shrank before my eyes, planted my feet and set my hands against the lintel. The weight tremendous, the pressure even greater, but I locked my arms and thought happy thoughts. A minute was all I needed to hold this, I could do that easy. I mean I'd kept a helicopter from flying away with just my arms, I got to use my legs here, that should make it easier, right?
Time seemed to crawl by and hours must have passed before the group of dust covered locals led by my team staggered down the shifting and swaying stairs and towards me. I blocked a fair part of the exit, but dare not move as I could feel the steel joist folding about my hands. The steel beam collapsing under the stress being placed on it by a half-dozen stories of concrete wanting to collapse. I shifted as much as I could and growled, "Go."
I got a quick nod and they squeezed past me, out into the open lobby and freedom.
"We're clear," came a seeming eternity later.
"Thank god," I muttered. Now I had a problem, because as soon as I shifted this damn wall was going to come down no matter what I did. I would need to get clear or discover the hard way if I could survive having a building dropped on top of me. Granted it was a fairly small building, but still made up of tons of steel and concrete that would most likely not do me a whole lot of good.
Plus, it would set a bad example for the team I led.
And Sam would probably get angry at me.
That would probably be worse than being buried alive.
I realized the ground had stopped shaking, but the building didn't seem to care, it fully intended to fall apart right now.
I sucked in a deep breath, preparing for the extra effort this would take.
With a grunt of exertion I shoved upwards, gaining milliseconds of space and time and dove towards the only way out. I rolled even as that half of the structure rumbled and an explosion of dust billowed up. I got back to my feet as quick as I could, missing my shield right about now. I didn't dive through the front window so much as be blasted out, the pressure wave thrusting me forward with surprising force.
I stumbled, tried to recover, but ended up being thrown ass over teakettle to end up on my back watching a cloud of gray drift past me, blocking out the blue sky that had been there when I'd gone in.
There was a rock or something digging into my back, but otherwise I seemed to be unharmed, just uninterested in moving at the moment.
This hero gig could be exhausting at times.
Sam landed beside me some unknowable time later, wings folding in behind his back, worry on his face.
"Cap. Cap? You okay?"
"Better than the building. They get everyone out?" My ears rang even with the comms system online, which meant I'd probably been hit in the head at some point during my flight out.
He held his hand out and I grasped it, allowing him to tug me upright. "All clear here, but dozens of other structures went down in the aftershock."
I nodded and turned to look at the men and women who had gotten those people out. They all watched me in silence and I had to wonder what they were thinking. Did they fear me? The fugitive American who had broken into the most secure prison on the planet. Who had destroyed an airport just to save his friend.
A small child wiggled out his mother's hold and ran over to me. He stared up at me for a long moment eyes flicking over my masked face, then came to some decision. He spoke aloud in his native tongue then wrapped his body about my waist in a hug.
That seemed to break the dam of shock and awe on the others and they all gathered around to thank me, to thank us.
This... this is what had been missing in me. Forget the super. I could just be a hero. Help people who could not do it themselves. We all could. And that would do for now.
"Sam, where next?"
He nodded, stepped away from the group and took to the air.