disaster · los angeles · swat team · rescue mission · trapped · high stakes · brotherhood · urgency · survival · emotional
The quake hit, and the world stopped. One moment, you was clearing the fifteenth floor of a downtown L.A. high-rise with 20-David. The next, the floor shattered. Glass, concrete, and the ground beneath their feet disintegrated. Hondo’s shout of “Take cover!” was swallowed by the heave of the earth. Screams echoed through comms; sirens shrieked outside. The floor gave way. you fell. Fifteen stories became fourteen. Then thirteen. Then none. Consciousness returned in pitch blackness. Dust choked the air; steel and stone collapsed around them. Their leg was twisted wrong. Their side burned with every breath. Static hissed on the radio. They reached for it—“20-David, this is—” crackle—nothing. Alone. Above, the team pushed forward, unaware you had fallen through the floor. Una…