Page 3 of Trigger Discipline
“Did she just?—”
Tommy reached for the radio. “Dispatch, can you repeat?”
Silence.
The radio was never silent.
Blake felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Tommy kept trying to reach dispatch, his calls increasing in pitch. Blake felt a small breeze kick up through the open window. The smell of ozone was strong, and he found himself turning toward it, sniffing. There was something underneath the ozone. Something he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Let’s go back to the station. We can use the landline there.” Tommy was already smashing down the accelerator; his lips pressed in a thin line.
It was as solid a plan as any. They had a landline and a bigger radio at the station. Maybe the firefighters who werealso based with them had a working cell. Or radio. Or something.
Just as Tommy rounded the corner of the building, something boomed in the distance. The ambulance’s wheels squealed as it shuddered. Tommy slammed on the brakes, looking at Blake.
“What the?—”
Another boom exploded, closer this time. Followed by another. And another. Blake wasn’t an expert, but he knew they weren’t the sounds of transformers blowing.
Yanking open the passenger side door, he stepped out onto the running board to look back towards downtown.
Thick black smoke was curling up into the sky. Not just in one or two places, but dozens. Now that he was out of the truck, he could hear screaming. Goosebumps erupted along his arms.
Blake knew what a terrified person sounded like.
The screams ripped through the overcast sky. Another boom made him wince as it rocked through him. A skyscraper peeking over the squat buildings began to tremble, wobbling for a moment, before it began crumbling in on itself.
“Holy shit!” Tommy shouted from inside the truck. He was watching from the rearview mirror. “That was the Midsouth Building!”
Blake ducked back into the truck. “We need to get there.”
“But we don’t know what’s going on!” Tommy cried as he slammed the truck into reverse.
“Doesn’t matter. There’s going to be casualties.”
Blake tried not to think of just how many there would be. The MidSouth Building contained forty floors of businesses, and it was the middle of a workday.
“Was it a plane? Or a bomb?” Tommy asked, trying to keep his voice calm as he made an illegal U-turn and acceleratedtoward the massive cloud of smoke and dust rising into the air.
Blake snatched up the radio.
“This is a call to anyone who can hear: we’ve got an MCI downtown. Repeat, multi-casualty incident downtown.”
The radio bounced against his chin as Tommy hit a pothole. He didn’t get a response. Blake refused to think about what that meant as he leaned forward to look over the dash, while a shadow drifted over the street in front of them.
He looked to the left to see a utility pole falling into the road. Right in front of them.
“Tommy! Watch out!”
CHAPTER 2
EGGBEATER
Wind buffeted the Sikorsky Black Hawk as it flew over the coast. Even through the protective headgear, it was loud. The helicopter rocked and shook as its twin rotors pulsed through the air.
Traveling at two hundred miles per hour, the twenty-one-million-dollar machine was equipped to carry eleven soldiers and their tactical gear. Today, it carried three.
Gabriel wasn’t accustomed to the extra space. He resisted the urge to look out the window as he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. His stomach swooped as the helicopter hit turbulence. He would never show it, but he hated flying. Even after nearly fifteen years of service, he could never get used to the machines. They’d shown him the science, and he knew some ace pilots. He trusted them with his life. He just didn’t like it.