Page 32 of Scorched Hearts

“As much as one can.” Maya nodded. “You? You were the one to find that small boy, right?”

“Yeah… And his parents… Well, our job is to rescue those we can.” She shook her head as if trying to straighten out her thoughts.

“It’s fine to mourn. We’re only human.”

“Just not on the job.” Elle nodded.

“No, not on the job, I guess.” She stood silent for a while. “I hope we’ll also do the next location together.”

“Oh, yeah? Why?” Elle smiled lightly.

“I like working next to you.” Maya mirrored her smile. “You’re a good firefighter. I feel…secure.”

“As if you’re the one rescued.” Elle laughed.

“RODRIGUEZ!” Captain Ramirez shouted to finally get Elle’s attention. “We’re moving to another collapse. Some survivors are said to be on scene. Let’s get going!” And she disappeared into the truck.

“See you around.” Elle squeezed Maya’s shoulder affectionately and went to join her crew.

Indeed, Maya’s team was assigned to the same scene as Elle. They drove only for a moment, since the buildings lay in the same neighbourhood, the worst prepared for a disaster of this type. Its buildings went down as if made out of paper, crumbling and trapping the sleeping citizens. The majority of work there had already been done, and the firefighters began their consultations with specialists regarding the possible survivors.

“It’s been over a hundred hours already," someone said. “The chances are slim.”

Either way, the rescue had to be performed as a rescue operation until they could be certain there was no one alive within the ruins. Maya and her colleagues felt uncomfortable only waiting, but each understood that at the end of the day, that was their mission as the firefighters’ support. They spied on the unravelling of the very slow search operation, knowing that this time, it was better to be needed. They all hoped they’d be needed, observing the tall machines move away the rubble, undress the fallen building, and spread open its ribs. Now and then, Maya would see RODRIGUEZ flash somewhere on the familiar jacket.

“Building on Terrence Avenue fell due to post-earthquake vibrations, we need all available teams there,” sounded in everyone’s radios.

Maya knew there would be much to do now. Certainly many people would need surgery on the spot. Their ambulance rushed through the streets full of alarm and vigor.

On the scene, the police were trying to make the gathered crowd disperse. Many eyes were stuck to the site of tragedy, making the job of scanning the building difficult.

This was torture for Maya. She knew there were people in the building crawling, suffering, waiting for help, but there was no way of getting them out before making sure the operation was safe. So everyone waited until the scanning was over, until they could be told where to go. The building was only three stories, which meant high chances of survival.

Finally, the search went in to rescue the survivors. Elle and other firefighters dug through the rubble assisted by many automated tools that made the search easier. They located someone alive on the third level of the building, someone conscious and screaming.

Once the victim had been pulled out, Maya knew what to do. Major trauma to the head. Finally, she had the chance to help someone directly. The surgery went smoothly. The woman was young and would probably recover rather quickly once they sent her off to the hospital. Maya felt tired but invigorated. What a good feeling to find someone alive, someone lucky enough to be pulled out just in time. The search went on further, bringing many more victims to her and her colleagues. Due to the swiftness of their response, it seemed that most inhabitants of the building, if not all, had made it out alive. The work was difficult, but for Maya, it went by in such a state of focus that she hadn’t even noticed when her superior let her know that her time operating was up and she should rest for the remainder of the day.

On her way home, she felt more optimistic than in the previous days. She felt powerful to be able t o save people, and that was the exact feeling which had pushed her toward this career.

13

ELLE

The sun was quickly going down, diminishing visibility on the scene. Elle felt her jaw tremble with strain from unconsciously tightening it. Every step was a gamble at this height, and they’d gone in too quickly to prepare harnesses. It was a risky choice, she knew, but the captain felt helpless in the face of the number of victims trapped by the upper layers of the building.

They were looking for survivors without dogs this time. It would be too difficult to get them up there. So the group moved carefully, probing every possible space with a camera. They were tired, and Elle could see that. One firefighter, however, somehow retained all her energy. She was an addition to this operation from another department, and a kid, really—twenty-one or twenty-two years old, Elle couldn’t remember. Her overeagerness could get them into trouble, however. Uncareful steps could collapse the building on one of the survivors.

“Eh, Maria!” Elle tried calling her over. “Maria, come over here.”

The young rescuer swiftly approached, repeating exactly the thing Elle had been worried about.

“You can’t walk this way here. Who taught you this?” Elle quickly realized Maria might take the question literally. “No don’t answer that. Walk the same way I do, all right? We don’t want to collapse it further.”

“I didn’t know I was doing it wrong,” Maria earnestly answered, looking at Elle. “Thanks.”

Elle nodded, going back to her position in the search. Now and then she’d hear an indelicate step and knew exactly whose it was. What is she doing here? She grew angry. This was certainly no place for rookies, even if the city was desperate for help. There was no way this girl had any previous experience in this type of field, and she could certainly compromise the mission.

Elle got on the radio. “Captain Hunter?”

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