Thanks to Ray's very illegal, and damn near lethal, driving, Walter arrived about a block away from the sinkhole. Ray dropped him off, searching for somewhere to park the car. Crowds of people were packed around, with police, fire and medics everywhere he looked, setting up barricades, triage tents, command stations. As he ran to get closer, faster than his feet could normally ever carry him, he searched for familiar faces in the swarms of onlookers. Making it as far as a police line tape, he tried poking under, when he was stopped by an officer.
"Everyone needs to stay back. This area is off limits, Sir."
"I need to get in there! My girlfriend is there!" He caught the way he said girlfriend without even trying, but paid it no mind. This man was standing between him and saving Paige."
"In very sorry, sir, but having both of you down there doesn't help anyone."
"You don't understand. I'm Walter O'Brien. I work for Homeland. My team is in there."
"Homeland does not have jurisdiction on this matter, Sir."
"They do now." Cabe's gruff voice came from behind him, with its no nonsense inflection. Walter saw the badge before he saw Cabe's face. "Cabe Gallo. Homeland Security. We have a high value government asset in that hole, and as of right now, I have orders to take over this operation. Now, let my man through, assemble my team, and I want your command personnel assembled in two minutes for a debriefing."
Holding up the caution tape for them, the officer replied. "Of course, Sir. My apologies."
"Don't apologize, just get it done, son."
"Yes sir." The officer scurried off, as Cabe and Walter rushed in to find the others.
"Walter! Cabe! Thank God." Sylvester yelled over, waving his arms incessantly, as though that would make them see him more than they already did.
"Fill me in. I just bullshitted my way into taking over. What do we have?" Cabe advised, ready to do whatever was necessary for their own.
"How's Paige?" Walter quickly added.
"We don't know." Toby answered, rubbing his face.
"What do you mean you don't know?! How can you not know?!" Walter snapped, taking in the sink hole, the width of the road, steam, smoke, and screams coming up from inside it. The eerie sounds of creaking and grinding of metal on metal, dirt falling, and the ground rumbling penetrated the air, making his heart race and knuckles go while.
"Walter, it happened so fast. We were all coming out of the building, Hap, Sly and I were walking to Happy's truck down there, but Paige parked in front." Toby paused, his face draining of color, hand coming up over his mouth, eyes wide. "My god. I gave her hell for it. How she scored prime parking." Toby froze, lost in his thoughts, as tears pooled in Sylvester's eyes.
"She was right beside her car, yelling to us about paperwork." Happy continued for Toby. "And then… it took less than a second. There was no warning. The ground just opened. She was there, and then she just… wasn't."
Walter squared his jaw, trying to process, needing desperately to be the guy that didn't have emotions, but try as he may, he couldn't even see Happy's face clearly anymore. Tears. He was crying. He never cried.
"The emergency crews wouldn't let us do anything. And they won't even attempt search and rescue until they can assess the structural integrity." Sylvester chimed in.
"I'm on it." Cabe nodded, before rushing off to find the command center. Someone's ass was about to get a boot into it.
Walter stood for a moment, looking to each of his friends, forgetting for the time being they hadn't spoken in months. These were his people. Except for her. She wasn't here. Looking away from them, he quickly surveyed the area, computing everything he could.
"Sly. That hydrant there." He pointed to a hydrant a dozen yards from the edge of the hole. They all turned to see. "Best estimate. Can it hold 160 pounds, give or take?"
"Walter… I don't think I like what you're implying." Toby chided.
Walter looked stone faced, tear tracks down his cheeks, at Toby.
"When Happy got lost in that blizzard, you asked me 'what if it were Paige?'..." Toby closed his eyes tight, knowing where this was going. "Toby if it were Happy down there…"
"Yeah… okay. Yeah. Alright. I get it, man. I get it. Sly, give him the calculations." Toby's face was chalk full of emotion as he looked back and forth between Happy and the hole, a distinct scream of a woman hitting his ears.
Not Paige.
"It will hold you, but there's no telling for how long. This entire area could go at any second. If it weren't for Paige being down there, I would be a safe distance of ten miles from here already." Sly hammered out anxiously, fiddling his hands.
"I'll see what I can find to rig a harness. I think there's some rope in my truck." Happy added, clearly uncertain, but long ago learning that she wouldn't be able to talk Walter out of his insane plans, but could hopefully help keep him from dying in the process. She ran as fast as her short stature could take her, running right past Cabe, catching his attention.
"If you're doing this, you're doing it right. You need coms, we're going to need a live video feed. If she's still alive, there's going to be injuries. So you're going to need first aid. Some tools. It's going to look like a car dealership went down the garbage disposal down there, Walt. You sure about this?"
"I'm sure."
"Who'm I kidding. Of course you're sure. Damnit."
Happy rushed back with duct tape, her tool box, a lengthy bundle of rope, work gloves, and the first aid kit from her truck, immediately getting to work to tie the rope into a harness system around Walter.
"Walter. The odds of you even finding her…" Slyvester interjected.
"I know."
"Coupled with the odds that she survived that fall…"
"I know."
"And the odds of the hole expanding, taking that hydrant with it, burying you…"
"I know."
"The odds of neither of you coming back up, Walter…"
"He knows!" Toby and Happy both shouted, as Toby duct taped his phone in video mode to Walter's chest, connecting it to a video call on his tablet.
"Sly. I know the risks… but it's Paige." Walter stared at Sylvester, his eyes conveying his love, his desperation, his promise to always protect her.
"It's Paige." Sylvester repeated, nodding.
"Good on your end." Happy spoke, before running the length of the rope through her hands.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Cabe shouted, taking in the sight of a roped up Walter.
"I'm going in. I have to find her."
"Walter, you can't go in there. They were just saying how it could expand at any min--"
"He knows." The three teammates answered in unison.
"Walter, son, think about this. Let's just take a breath, there's got to be a safer way."
"Cabe… It's Paige. If there's even a fraction of a chance she's still alive, I have to try." Taking a deep breath, he gave a ghost of a smile. "She's the love of my life. I can't just let her die."
Cabe wiped at his eyes, suddenly moisture trickling there.
"I'm damn proud to know you, son. But, I better still know you when this is all said and done." Cabe breathed, placing a hand on Walter's shaking shoulder.
"Understood."
"You're gonna have to go quick. These guys will be on your ass in seconds."
"Got it."
"Once you're in there, go as fast as you can, but slow as you need to. I know you're going to rush to find her. But getting yourself killed in the process will just mean we're having two funerals." Walter nodded. "This can't just be about Paige, son. The command is saying to to a dozen people could be down there. If there's someone you can help, you do it, got it?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Go get our girl." Walter nodded, the fear coming off of him in waves. Everyone could feel it, see it. Which was very uncharacteristic of him, making everyone else just as, if not more, fearful.
"Alright boss, you've got about a hundred feet of rope. We're going to slowly lower you in, just let me know when you need slack." Happy advised, as they walked hastily toward the hydrant.
Again, silently, he just nodded.
"Here." Sylvester handed him a headlight from his bag, shrugging like it was a normal thing to have on hand. "For when I walk at night from the bus." Everyone just gave a knowing look of understanding. "It's going to be dark down there. Watch where you put your weight. It's like a very unstable jenga game. One wrong move and everything falls."
"Thanks."
"And Walt?" Walter turned back to Sylvester. "Make sure you come back out. I owe you an overdue apology, and it won't carry the same weight if you are a corpse."
"Noted."
"What the big man said." Toby echoed. Checking the harness around Walter, as Happy tied him to the hydrant. "Walter… there's likely going to be some actual corpses in there. You prepared for that?"
"Is anyone prepared for that?"
"Touché. But Walter, what I mean is are you prepared for her…"
"No. But, the longer I wait, the more that becomes the likely outcome. Now, lower me down." He answered truthfully, absolutely terrified that he was about to be lowered, not to his, but to her death.
"You heard him. Let's go."