by Palladian
“It's nasty smelling in there!”
“I didn't want you to go in without a mask,” said Lex, trying to hide a smile. “So, could you get to a central location?”
Serena shrugged. “I showed up in Seth's old apartment. The new tenants have pretty bad taste in interior decorating, but they did leave the door open. I could see the elevators from there, so I should be able to go there now.”
“Excellent. I know you can take people along with you when you travel. Do you know what your limit is?”
Thinking it over, Serena shrugged. “I'm not sure. The most I've even taken before was three people, but it didn't seem like much of a stretch.”
“Then that's the first thing we'll test. Were there any people on that floor?”
“There did seem to be some out in the hall, but they didn't pay me any attention.”
“We'll start there, then. Kate, you and I are going to provide security for Serena when she first starts, and anytime afterwards when the crowd starts to get too crazy. Sound all right?”
Kate replied, “Yeah. Way better than sitting around and doing nothing.”
Lex turned to Riss next. “Riss, please keep trying to find out the number of people who live in the building, and see if you can find anything out from Clara about whether we can get additional supplies for Joan's suit so she can continue flying. If any of the rest of you can think of any information we need, please let Riss know, since she's the best person to get it. OK, Riss?”
Riss nodded, looking out at the others, then at Lex. “All right,” Lex continued, “after we've successfully moved some people off the roof and the 22nd floor, I'm going to ask the fire department to use their loudspeakers to ask anyone trapped on the upper floors to move to the closest of those two locations for pickup. If Serena runs out of people on the 22nd, Joan or Victor can bring her up to the roof so that all three of them can continue with the rescue, for as long as the fuel lasts, anyway. Kate and I can step in at any time for crowd control. Does that sound like a good plan?”
Lex looked around the circle, noting that everyone seemed to be in agreement. “Does anyone have anything else to suggest?” she asked.
“Yes,” Victor spoke up. “Do we have communicators to stay in touch in case of unexpected situations?”
Lex nodded. “Good idea. I'll find out. Everyone, please think for a few minutes and let me know if you come up with any other ideas when I get back.”
She stepped over to the M Agency van to speak to Clara but didn't immediately see her when she poked her head in. Climbing into the van, Lex finally spotted Clara near the back. The other woman turned and moved in her direction, then gave her a handful of squishy, sticky things. Lex untangled one and saw that it was an earpiece with a short extension that stuck to the cheek along the jaw bone.
“There are enough for you, Serena, Riss, and the two Alpha team members you're talking with. I'll be monitoring the channel, as well. Don't worry about Joan; she has communications built into her suit.”
“Thanks,” Lex replied as she climbed back out of the van. Then she handed the equipment to her team members who needed it and showed them how to put it on.
“All right, we'll be able to be in touch, as well. Did anyone come up with anything else?”
There were no further new ideas, so Lex nodded. “Is everyone ready to start?” Looking around the circle showed only positive expressions, so Lex continued. “Let's begin, then. Victor, let us know when you've finished your tests to give Joan a heads-up as to when you'll join her. Both of you let everyone know in case you run into anything strange.”
Lex, Serena, and Kate watched as Joan and Victor left and Riss went back inside the M Agency van, then Lex turned to her two companions again. She began to speak, and then stopped as she saw Casey come out of the building carrying a few children. “Give me a minute,” she finally said, grabbing some breathing gear and running in the larger woman's direction.
“Casey!”
Stopping and turning at Lex's yell, Casey looked at her. Lex thought that Casey appeared tired, charred, and visibly upset. She made a mental note to ask Casey afterwards about what had been bothering her, then stopped in front of her friend and handed over the breathing equipment and a communicator.
“Here, put these on. There are extra air tanks by our van. You'll hear some people besides me on this channel. We're going to be assisting you with the rescue, and we're planning to ask the firefighters to signal the people in the building to move to either the roof or the 22nd floor soon, just so you know. Let us know if you run into anything out of the ordinary or have any problems.”
Casey smiled at Lex, still seeming out of sorts, but glad for the support. “Thanks. I'll be listening.”
Lex smiled and ran back to the M Agency van. After ducking inside to get another communicator, since she’d given her own to Casey, she came back to Serena and Kate.
“Give me a minute to put myself together, and then let's go in,” Lex said, continuing to speak as she put on her communicator and mask. “Serena, I was thinking we could start you with five people, and then try to go up from there in increments of five until you reach what seems to be a working limit. What I mean by that is something you can probably keep up with for hours.”
Serena nodded and gave an excited smile. “Sounds good. Let's try it out.” She reached out for Lex and Kate, both of whom nodded back and hung on.
Suddenly, the three of them had appeared in a long carpeted hallway in front of some elevator doors. Perhaps a foot of smoke hung near the ceiling. They couldn't see any flames from where they stood, but a crackling sound seemed to permeate the air, as well as frequent creaking and crumbling sounds as things within the building walls settled or gave way. Some people had been wandering aimlessly in the hallway, and some had been sitting or lying on the ground as if in shock. Now, everyone that could still move had focused on the three women who’d showed up. Lex, sensing that odd stillness just before a mass of movement, took a deep breath and slipped the breathing mask off her face.
“All right, everyone,” she began in a voice loud enough to be heard by most of the people in the hall, turning to catch everyone’s eye, “we’re here to help you get out of the building. We will get everyone out, and do it quickly, but we need you to be calm and stay where you are until we ask you to move forward. Do you understand?”
Lex cautiously moved behind Serena as she watched Kate move to Serena’s front, scanning the crowd. Some people seemed caught in a smoke-induced trance, but those that still looked lucid seemed to be nodding or saying yes. Nodding in response, Lex continued, her muscles involuntarily tensing as she spoke. “All right. Five of you please step forward.”
It started out as a trickle, with just a few people approaching as Lex slipped her mask back over her face, but then a few more with wide, frightened eyes broke into a run and then everyone seemed to surge forwards at once.
“Crap!” Lex said, looking over at Kate as she moved into a crouch. “I hope you have training in crowd control.”
“Yes,” the other woman responded with a grin.
“If you have any advice, now would be a good time, because I forgot to mention that I have no experience with this sort of thing.”
“It’s kind of like keep away,” Kate said, suddenly moving much faster than she had previously and performing an improbable sweep that knocked most of the people within three feet of her onto their butts. “Try to keep the one being protected clear of the crowd. Piece of cake, right?”
Lex grunted in return as she shifted her weight and levered a large man into stumbling backwards into a nearby wall and taking several other people along with him. “I guess. Serena, since these people don’t know what the deal is, do you think you can grab a few of them and get them out of here?”
“Now that’s going to be a piece of cake,” Serena replied as she used both hands to reach out and touch four people nearby, and then kicked at a fifth man to loop her foot around his leg. When
her leg connected with his, all six people disappeared.
Suddenly, anyone who had been near to Serena’s group stepped back, some going far down the hallway, regarding Lex and Kate like spooked horses. Lex sighed and called out over the communicator.
“Serena, how did it go with five people?” she asked.
Just as suddenly, Serena had returned, smirking at Lex. Out of the corner of her eye, Lex could see Kate studying them both, a look of interest on her face.
“Just fine,” Serena replied, “but I think I could do more. Can we try ten next?”
“Sure, just as soon as we can get ten volunteers. Let me give it a try.”
Lex began speaking as she got her mask away from her mouth again. “All right, ten of you please step forward now and my friend here will bring you safely outside. Please don’t rush us or we’ll have to push you back again.”
Pausing, Lex waited for people to begin stepping forward, but no one did. She sighed, her shoulders drooping. Finally, a man in his twenties wearing a faded rock concert t-shirt and a suspicious expression stepped forward, pulling on the arm of a woman about his age, who appeared to be shivering.
“Do you mind if we bring you back inside after you go out so that you can tell everyone else what happened?” Lex asked the two of them quietly, after they’d come close enough.
The man shrugged and the woman nodded nervously, so Lex turned to Serena and gestured her to go. After Serena grabbed both of their wrists, they vanished, and then several moments later, all three reappeared. The young woman spoke to the crowd, her fear seemingly gone.
“It’s true. She took us to the front of the building, and there are doctors out there to look after you if you’re hurt.”
The young man nodded to back her up, his expression now a lot brighter.
“Thanks,” said Lex, leaning in close to the pair, and then spoke more loudly to the crowd, “Are there eight more volunteers who’d like to go?”
The crowd seemed calmer now, and some elderly people were pushed forward, as well as a few who’d been injured or who kept coughing uncontrollably. Serena nodded to Lex.
“All right everyone, please put your hands on this woman and you’ll be transported outside,” Lex said, watching as ten tentative hands reached out. Serena smiled over at Lex as one of the reaching hands made its way to her hip, and suddenly the group seemed to blink out of existence.
“So, how does it work?” Kate asked over the communicator as Lex replaced her mask. Lex could hear her well enough, although Kate sounded as if speaking from the other end of a long hallway.
“How does any of what we do work?” Lex replied, giving a wry smile, “Serena can go wherever she wants to almost instantly, and she can take other people with her. Hopefully we can get a good working number.”
Serena reappeared then, smiling. “How was ten? Do you think that’s good, or should we try more?” Lex asked.
Shrugging, Serena responded, “Ten was fine, but let’s try fifteen to be sure.”
Lex nodded, then addressed the crowd. “All right, can fifteen of you please come forward?”
It went smoothly again, and the group to go this time included some of the unconscious injured, carried by their neighbors. Serena’s mouth had drawn up in a smirk this time, and her disappearance seemed like watching the Cheshire cat blink out. When she didn’t reappear for a few minutes, however, the people began murmuring and pressing forward again and Lex finally called to her friend on the communicator.
“Serena, are you all right?” She found herself staring inside a nearby open door as she waited for a reply, spotting overturned chairs and abandoned toys in the wake of the fire, and hoped the family had already made it out safely.
“Yes, but fifteen was too many. I’m catching my breath; give me a few minutes and I’ll be back in there.”
The incident jogged Lex’s memory, and she muttered a muffled curse as she realized something she’d forgotten. “Everyone on the circuit, please report in and let us know how you’re doing. When you do, let me know if there’s anything in particular you need to keep your strength up, because I’m going to be ordering some food.”
“Joan here. Progressing smoothly, but there aren’t many on the roof. We’ll probably run out of people to move in the next fifteen minutes or so. I’m not picky; I’ll eat anything you order.”
“Thanks, Joan. Another thing I’ll do is to ask the firefighters to use their loudspeakers to direct people, so hopefully you’ll have lots more customers soon.”
“Victor reporting. I’ve finished my tests and joined Joan. Agreed on her assessment. Nothing special for food.”
Kate gave a summary of the situation in their group while Serena transported another group of people. Finally, Casey chimed in.
“Right now, I'm on the fourteenth floor. I'm getting ready to go back downstairs with a little girl and her mother. The smoke here isn’t as bad as it was on the thirteenth floor, but everyone's starting to congregate in the halls since the outer walls are hot and seem to cause the most smoke. So, it seems easier to find everyone, on the bright side. Just get me some good veggie food, Lex; I think by now you know what I like.”
“Thanks, everyone,” Lex said, and then turned towards Kate, “Do you think you have control of everything here, Kate?”
“Yeah, everyone seems to have calmed down now that they know they're going to get out, so I should be fine guarding Serena alone.”
“If you need more backup, let me know right away and I'll wait for Serena to show up outside.”
Kate nodded and put her hand on Lex's shoulder as she passed by. “Don't worry, everything should go fine.”
Lex nodded in return and approached Serena, who’d just reappeared inside. “Serena, did you hear any of that?”
“That's why I waited. I figured you wanted to hitch a ride.”
“Thanks,” said Lex, nodding. She put her hand on Serena's shoulder as the other woman started to wink at her. When Serena’s eye had reopened, the small group that had been clustered around, as well as Serena and Lex, stood out in front of the building. The medics immediately started tending to the injured and Lex pulled the mask off her face gratefully.
“Serena,” said Lex, looking seriously at the other woman, “I know there are a lot of people in there, but don't wear yourself out. Take a break when you need one. And call me right away if you or Kate need backup.”
“Yes, mom,” Serena said, rolling her eyes, but Lex thought she could detect that her friend looked secretly pleased, as well.
“And you didn't tell me what you want. How do you keep your energy up on those late clubbing nights?”
“Get me some of those low-calorie energy drinks! A couple of those and I can prowl all night.”
And then Serena vanished again. Lex shook her head and turned towards the M Agency van. She wrote up an extensive list of snacks and food with everyone's requests, as well as extra sandwiches, trail mix, sodas, and a couple cases of water and then asked Clara to send one of her assistants who’d come with them this morning to go and get the food.
A little while later, sitting next to Riss on the grass as she rearranged her laptops, Lex apologized for dislodging her from the van due to the food run. The day had turned out mostly overcast, but a breeze seemed to be preventing the weather from being too muggy, as well as carrying away some of the smoke, so Lex appreciated it briefly as it pushed the hair from her face.
“Not a problem,” Riss replied to the apology. “I should probably take advantage and get some sun today, anyway. How’s everything going?”
“Pretty good so far, but I’m worried about how long the building can hold up. Did you manage to get a list of the people living on the 13th through 30th floors?”
“Yes. There are 2,033 listed leaseholders and occupants,” said Riss, turning one of her laptops around so that Lex could see the list.
Lex nodded. “We’ve got to figure that some people are out of town, and that since George started a
while before we got here, we can estimate maybe a little less than two thousand left. I figure between the two of them, George and Casey can probably evacuate 16 people an hour, at least for a couple more hours, Joan and Victor can do probably 24 until their fuel runs out, and Serena and Kate, probably 300. At that rate, about how many hours should it take?”
Riss typed into her computer for a moment and then responded, “Somewhere around seven hours, assuming they can get Joan’s refill here before she runs out.”
“All right, I’d better get busy,” Lex said with a sigh, glancing at the flames coming out of the windows on the lower floors. “Let me know if you get any more news, and if you could let me know when the food comes in, I’d appreciate it.”
“Certainly, General,” said Riss, saluting with a smirk when Lex looked down at her. Lex rolled her eyes in response, unable to stop her chuckle, and went to talk to the firefighters.
After an interesting conversation, which eventually involved getting one of the commanding fire chiefs a ride into and out of the burning building with Serena, the firefighters made a loudspeaker announcement to advise people to go to either the roof or the 22nd floor for evacuation. Lex also spoke with the building engineer. She seemed most concerned about the length of time that it would take to get everyone out, because the floors and ceilings might start to collapse.
Finally Lex told her, “Look, I share your concern, but I don’t know any way to get people out faster. Think about it, and let me know if you have any ideas in the next few hours.”
Just after the firefighters had made the announcement, Lex waited outside until George came out with his latest evacuees. He looked angry, and had turned in the direction of the firefighters when Lex’s voice stopped him.
“Hello, George?” He had to look down to see her, and gave her a frown seemingly to intimidate her, but Lex smiled up at him. “You’re probably wondering why the firefighters are announcing locations for people to get evacuated. I asked them to do it so that our team can help yours get everyone out of the building.”