Page 71 of No Going Back

Sam smiled. “That’s my girl. I’ll just be a few feet away, so it’s not right in your ear.”

Sam moved away, but he made sure to stay in Mira’s line of sight. He hit the metal pipe repeatedly. Come on guys, give me a fucking sign that you know we’re down here.

***

TYLER FOLLOWED DEX into the temporary command trailer and watched Kelly run into his arms with a cry of relief at seeing him. Jesus, he’d give anything to be able to hug Mira right now. They still had no idea if she was hurt or even alive.

Kelly pulled away and turned to Tyler. “I’m so sorry, Ty.”

Tyler hugged her. “I’m glad you’re alright.” Even though he was worried sick about Mira, it was a relief to see Kelly mostly unharmed.

“Yeah, I was lucky to have been already outside when it went up.”

Dale and Liam walked in.

“Dex, Tyler, good to see you,” Dale said.

“You too.” Dex shook his hand before turning to Liam. “Hey man.” The two team leaders exchanged a bro hug. Liam turned to Tyler to do the same.

“How many people have you lost?” Dex asked Dale.

“Eight so far.”

“Fuck, Dale, I’m sorry.”

“There’s more missing, including Sam, Mira, three prisoners, and two agents who were all in the basement.”

“Any evidence, anyone’s alive down there?” Tyler interjected.

“Not yet. They’re monitoring for sound now. These guys know what they’re doing.”

“They’ll find them, Tyler.” Tyler nodded at Dex, appreciating that he was trying to reassure him. However, there was a ton a rubble on top of the basement, on top of his Mira. Yes, they would find them eventually, but would they be alive?

Liam’s phone rang. “They’ve got something.”

Tyler was out the door in a flash, the others right behind him. Dylan, Nyx’s second in command, motioned them over where he stood with the rest of Nyx, Raven, and the rescue squad leader, Max.

“Listen.” Max handed Dale headphones. The whole area was silent. Everyone had stopped what they were doing, waiting. Tyler fought the urge to rip the headphones away from Sanchez, wanting to hear for himself. His patience was starting to wear thin. He was desperate for news.

Dale listened, then looked at the others watching him intently. “I hear it. Someone’s alive down there.”

Max moved off, firing orders.

“Now we know it’s a rescue not a recovery, they will start slowly digging their way in.” Dale said.

Kelly placed a hand on Tyler’s arm. “How are you holding up?”

Tyler looked at her, struggling to keep it together.

“She’s alive, Ty, I know it. She really cares about you.”

“She said that?”

“Yes. She did.”

“I really care about her, too. I just... well... didn’t communicate that very well.”

“None of that matters right now. She’s coming out of this alive and you can fix things.” Kelly smiled and Tyler gave her a weak one back.

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