by Jenna Brandt
A few minutes later, Griffin came forward and addressed the group. “Trainees, there has been a natural disaster that we’ve been asked to help assist with search and rescue. The city of Boulder, Colorado, experienced a 6.5 magnitude earthquake an hour ago. There has been major damage to the area. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are trapped inside dilapidated buildings and vehicles. We’ll be heading there in fifteen minutes via our fleet of helicopters. You are to go grab whatever gear you and your K9 partner need and meet at the staging area to prepare for departure. This is what we are trained for. You will be in the most intense, extreme search and rescue conditions possible. Prepare yourself to enter a devastated area.”
The trainees took off for the dorms, but before Ted could leave the area, Bilmont reached out and stopped him. “Aren’t you from that area, Hendricks?”
“Yes, I am. I have a lot of friends that live in Boulder, but that just makes me want to do my job even more.”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to sit this one out?” Dixon offered.
Griffin came up and placed his hand on Hendricks’ shoulder. “He’s got this, don’t you, Hendricks?” Griffin asked, but in a way that made it clear he had confidence Ted wouldn’t let them down.
Ted nodded. “I’m fine. I can handle this. I want to do everything I can to help the people there.”
“All right, then go gear up,” Dixon said, gesturing with his head towards the dorms.
Ted took off. The first thing he wanted to do was call Deanna and see if she had any information about the earthquake. He doubted Clear Mountain was hugely affected by the earthquake. As the town was situated a half hour away, they would be assisting in rescue efforts. She would know exactly how bad it was, which would give him a better frame of mind.
The phone rang four times, then went to voicemail. Not surprising since they were in the middle of a crisis. He quickly left her a message, then hung up and texted her. Even if she was on a dispatch call, she would respond to the text. Nothing. He sent another text message, adding 9-1-1 at the end to let her know he really needed to talk to her. Still nothing. Now, he was beginning to worry. Was there a possibility that Clear Mountain had major damage? He quickly called his parents. His mother answered the phone after the second ring. From her tone, he immediately knew something was wrong.
“What is it, Mom? What’s going on?”
“Have you talked to Deanna in the last couple of hours?” she asked in a pensive tone.
“No, why?”
“She decided to take Maggie to the Boulder Zoo today for her birthday. She sent me a picture from there about three hours ago, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of her since the earthquake. Do you think they made it out before….?” His mother didn’t finish her sentence. He could hear her choking back the tears. His mother was strong, but when it came to her family, she was like putty.
“It’s okay, Mom. Deanna is smart. If they were there, she would know how to keep them both safe.”
“Oh, Teddy, if something happened to either of them, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“It’s going to be okay, Mom. I promise. How is everything in Clear Mountain? Are you and Dad safe?”
“We’re fine; only minor aftershocks. The most that happened over here were a few shattered windows and broken household items. It’s Deanna and Maggie I’m worried about. They were right in the center of it.”
“I know. I’m worried about them, too. I’m going to call one of my friends over at Clear Mountain Search and Rescue and see what they can tell me.”
Aiden picked up on the second ring, but he sounded distracted. “Hello.”
“Hey, Aiden, I know you’re busy with the rescue efforts over in Boulder, but I need to find out what you know. Deanna might have been at the Boulder Zoo with my niece when the earthquake hit.”
“Lindsay told me that Deanna was going to surprise your niece with a trip to the zoo for her birthday. When the earthquake hit, Lindsay tried to get a hold of her without any luck. Since then, we’ve all tried but no one has heard from her since a few hours ago.”
Ted’s heart seized in his chest. Where were they? Were they okay? Did they make it out of Boulder before the earthquake happened, or were they trapped in some building, or on a remote road where no one was able to find them? What if they were hurt and no one could get to them? He had to know what he was dealing with.
“Are you guys already there? How bad is it?”
“I’m not going to sugar-coat it, Ted. The quake hit in the center of downtown, and spread from there. Between the people trying to get out and the damage, the roads are impassible. We can’t get into the inner part of the city, so we’re helping on the outskirts. If I could, I would try to get to the zoo myself to look for Deanna and your niece. You know how much we all care for them both, but I can’t leave my team. The captain wants us to help where we’re at.”
“I understand, Aiden. The good news is that DCSR is being deployed to the area. We’ll be going in via helicopter, so we’ll be dropped near the epicenter.”
“I’ll be praying you find them both safe and sound. I’ll text Lindsay, too, so she can have the church prayer group do the same.”
“Thanks, Aiden. I really appreciate it. Stay safe.”
“You, too.”
As Ted ended the phone call, he wondered how bad the damage was. Earthquakes never happened in Colorado, which meant that structures weren’t built to withstand the type of stress they caused. If Deanna and Maggie were near any of the buildings that came down, they could be hurt, or worse.
Ted pushed the thought from his mind. He couldn’t think like that. He needed to focus on what he could do, meaning getting to her last known location quickly to perform the best search and rescue of his life.
What on earth was that noise? Deanna thought as she shook her head back and forth. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t stop ringing. She tried to take in a deep breath, but she felt herself cough instead. Something was choking her every time she tried take in a breath. She coughed three more times. Dust, heavy, thick dust is filling my lungs. Why is it so dirty in here? Better question, where am I?
Deanna couldn’t remember where she was or how she got there. She opened her eyes and tried to look around, but everything was dark. My phone. I have a flashlight on my phone. She made an attempt to reach out to search for her purse, but she was boxed in by something on all sides. She barely had a few inches around her in each direction. Did she even have her purse with her? Maybe her phone was on her. She patted herself down, and to her relief, found her phone in her jeans pocket.
She touched the screen and it lit up to show Ted’s face on it. Ted. I wish he was here with me right now. Where am I, anyway? I can’t remember. Deanna racked her brain, trying to recall where she was and what happened to her. She clicked the flashlight icon on her phone and scanned the area.
From what she could make out around her, there were chunks of concrete, wires, and glass everywhere. She couldn’t see anything that made sense. Nothing looked right. What happened?
There was a small whimper from nearby. Deanna flicked her wrist in the direction, hoping the flashlight would reveal she wasn’t alone. “Is anyone there?” she choked out, but she wasn’t even sure if it was loud enough for anyone to hear.
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t see anything. No one responded. Maybe, she imagined the whimper, anyway. Maybe, she made it herself. She wasn’t sure what was going on.
There was a sudden tremor beneath her. Everything started to shake again. Suddenly, the memory of what happened came flooding back. An earthquake, that’s what happened. I was at the zoo with…Maggie! Where’s Maggie? Deanna started frantically moving her flashlight around, hoping to find the little girl she considered to be her own niece. She had been standing right next to Deanna, looking at the snakes in the reptile house.
Snakes…reptile house…if any of them got free during the earthquake, they could be anywhere by now. Deanna started twisting around
, freaking out at the thought of the creatures crawling all over her. After several seconds of panic, she forced herself to calm down. She needed to get it together for Maggie’s sake. Deanna took two deep breaths, then rolled over onto her stomach and started to scoot forward. “Maggie? Maggie, where are you? If you can hear me, call out to me.”
No answer, but she wasn’t giving up. She continued to scoot further along, hoping she wouldn’t run out of room or run into anything that was slimy.
“Maggie, Maggie, please answer me,” Deanna pleaded.
There was another whimper; this time closer than before.
“Maggie, is that you?”
“Deanna?” she heard the little girl ask in a frightened voice.
“Yes, sweetie, it’s me. Where are you? Can you call out to me?”
“I’m over here,” Maggie whispered a little bit louder. It sounded as if the little girl was to the left of her.
Deanna continued to move forward and, when she finally felt some space to the left, she turned. She inched her way another couple of feet, and to her relief, felt the bottom of a shoe. “Is that you, Maggie?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, the tremor in her voice clear now. “I’m so scared, Deanna. Everything keeps shaking. I can’t see anything. And I keep hearing…that.”
There was a hissing noise coming from the other side of the concrete right next to them. Deanna quickly flashed her light at the area. Luckily, nothing was there, but it didn’t mean it would stay that way.
“I think it might be safer over where I was, Maggie. Let’s crawl over there.”
Deanna had the little girl go first, then followed behind her. Once they were safely back in the area that Deanna hoped would remain snake-free, she thought about what they should do next.
“Let me try to call someone,” Deanna said, hoping her phone call would go through. It was a long shot, considering most, if not all, the cell towers were probably down.
She dialed 9-1-1. It immediately went to a busy tone. She tried twice more, with the same result. Either it was out of order due to the earthquake, or the circuit board at the call center was overloaded. Either way, she wasn’t getting through to them any time soon. Next, she dialed the Clear Mountain substation, but she got the same results. Who else could she call? Ted was in Texas, but at least he could get a hold of someone to help them. She clicked his number and it didn’t go through either. She tried again with the same result. She debated trying a third time, but figured she had nothing to lose. To her relieved surprise, this time the call went through.
He answered the call right away. “Deanna, is that you?”
“Yes, Ted, it’s me. I don’t know how long this call will last. The reception isn’t good, and my battery’s running low.”
“How are you? Is Maggie with you?”
“Yes, we’re together. We both got banged up, but I think we’re okay as far as I can tell. My head hurts a little, and I have a ringing in my ears that won’t go away.”
“Me, too,” Maggie whispered, wrapping her arm around Deanna’s waist. “And it’s hard to breathe.”
“She’s right, Ted. It’s hard to breathe in here.”
“Where are you?”
“We’re at the Boulder Zoo. We got trapped in the reptile house. Ted, it’s a mess in here. I barely found Maggie. I’m not sure how anyone is going to find us in here.”
“My team should be arriving in the next few minutes. I asked them if we could start at the zoo. They agreed. I’m going to find you both, Deanna. I promise you. No matter what it takes, I’m going to find you and bring you both home safe.”
“That sounds good. I think I’ll rest until you get here,” Deanna said, the need to sleep starting to make her eyelids feel heavy.
“No, don’t do that, Deanna. You and Maggie need to stay awake. I think you both might have concussions. If that’s the case, you can’t fall asleep. Talk to each other; keep each other awake.”
“Okay, we’ll do that,” Deanna promised, forcing herself to stay alert. “Just hurry, Ted. Between the loose snakes in the area, the air that’s getting dirtier by the minute, and the building continuing to shake, I’m not sure how long we can last.”
10
With nowhere for the helicopters to land, the twenty-one teams combined from missing persons and disaster relief repelled down via ropes with their K9s strapped to their chest. Once on the ground, Ted and Titan took off for the reptile house. He had already looked it up on the map while they were en route, and knew the quickest way there. It wasn’t easy, and Ted had to continually remind himself to remain calm, and to not push himself or Titan too fast. Rushing could get them both hurt or killed.
“Wait for us, Hendricks,” he heard Griffin say from behind him. His three instructors came rushing up, along with Mark Turano and several other of his teammates. “We want to help you find your girlfriend and niece.”
“Thanks, I could use the help.”
“We’re family at DCSRA, which means they’re family,” Bilmont said. “We take care of our family.”
A half hour after their arrival, they reached the reptile house. Deanna had said it was a mess, but that was an understatement. If he didn’t know from his map on his phone it was supposed to be there, Ted would have thought it was a pile of rubble. It looked like a bomb had hit it. He couldn’t even find a door to enter.
Maybe Deanna could guide him to where they were. He dialed Deanna’s number, but this time it didn’t go through. It was a busy tone.
“Let’s spread out and search the area,” Dixon suggested. “You two and Bilmont head to the north,” he pointed to some of the trainees. “Burdue and I will take the east, Griffin and you two can take the west, and Hendricks and Turano can take the south.”
The teams took off in their designated search areas. They worked their way through the rubble, letting their dogs sniff anything that might help them locate Deanna and Maggie. It was a slow process, and there were even a couple of close calls with some reptiles that had escaped their cages. Ted wasn’t sure if any of them were poisonous, but he wasn’t about to get close enough to find out. He just hoped Deanna and Maggie were able to steer clear of them as well.
“Maggie, don’t fall asleep. You need to tell me what you want to do when we get out of here.”
“I want to go home,” the little girl whined. “It’s so cold in here. I don’t like the cold.”
“I know, Maggie. I don’t like it either, but your uncle is coming. He’s going to find us, and soon we’ll be nice and cozy by a warm fire.”
“That sounds nice,” Maggie sighed with contentment. She curled up against Deanna. “I like to fall asleep by the fire.”
“No, Maggie, you can’t fall asleep,” Deanna lightly scolded, shaking the little girl to keep her alert. “Your uncle said we can’t fall asleep.”
“He’s bossy,” Maggie said in a way that made it clear she didn’t like it. “But I still love Uncle Teddy.”
“I know. I do, too.”
Maggie started squirming, moving her legs back and forth.
“What’s wrong, Maggie?”
“I don’t know. I feel like something’s in my boot.”
“What do you mean, there’s something in your boot? Do you mean like a rock?” Deanna asked, hoping that was the case rather than the possibility that something slithered inside.
“I don’t think so. It’s moving,” she whimpered. “Get it out, Deanna, get it out! There’s a snake in my boot!”
Deanna reached down and grabbed the little girl’s shoes. She yanked them off, and something wet and gooey came tumbling out. Deanna shrieked as it scurried up her body, stopped just at her face, and licked her. She clicked on her flashlight, petrified of what she would find. To her utter shock, it wasn’t a snake at all, but just a small, green lizard. As soon as the light hit the creature’s eyes, it took off running in the other direction.
Deanna let out a heavy sigh of relief. “It was just a lizard.”
�
�This time,” Maggie cried out. “What if a snake finds us? I heard them hissing earlier.”
“Ted will get to us before a snake does,” Deanna said, trying to sound optimistic. “It’s going to be okay.”
Some time had passed, and Deanna wasn’t sure how much. She was trying to save what little battery she had left. It was hard to stay awake, but she was managing to do it. The more time passed though, the harder it was to convince Maggie to do the same. If it wasn’t for Maggie, she might have given in to sleep and was considering it when she thought she heard something.
“Deanna, are you here? Maggie, can you hear me?” the familiar voice of Ted called out.
“Yes, yes, we’re here,” Deanna croaked out.
“Deanna, Maggie, answer me if you can,” Ted continued.
“We’re right here,” Deanna yelled as best she could.
“Uncle Teddy, come help us,” Maggie cried quietly.
“Maggie, Deanna, say something,” Ted pleaded.
“I don’t think he can hear us,” Deanna lamented. “I think the rubble’s too thick and we’re too far beneath it. All this dirt in the air is making it impossible for us to shout loud enough.” Deanna felt around for anything she could use to help them. Her hand came across a piece of metal. It felt like a pipe. She picked it up and started pounding on another piece of metal. She continued over and over, hoping he would hear it.
Just as she was about to give up, she heard Ted say, “I think I hear someone pounding on something below. It sounds like it’s coming from down there.”
There was movement above them; pieces of rubble and debris were being shifted around. Light started to come through the cracks of the concrete walls, and to her sheer relief, she saw Ted’s face come into view. He was surrounded by several other men in blue uniforms.
“It’s them. I can see them both,” Ted shouted in excitement. “We’ve found them.”
They continued to remove enough rubble until they were able to get to Deanna and Maggie. They came down into the area, checked them out to make sure they were safe to move, then helped them out of the hole.
