From Intern to Family | 9-1-1 Fanfic

Chapter 28

I got slightly nervous when I saw Carla poke her head out her window, trying to get a better eye. All the cars seemed to be in a standstill and nobody knew what was going on. It was rather unsettling.

A few people walked past the car, heading towards the front of the queue and Carla clicked her seatbelt.

"I'm just going to see if everything's okay. You boys sit tight." She stated. I nodded, assuring her I'd keep Chris safe in the meantime.

Speaking of the boy, he had gone oddly quiet when Carla left the car. It seemed my uneasiness had rubbed off on him too. I sent him a calming smile, attempting to assure him that everything was okay. I couldn't see Carla anymore, meaning she had walked off pretty far.

People began shouting from behind us and I looked back. I couldn't see anything, so what was happening?

A loud grumble echoed from the ground beneath us and I tensed instinctively. More shouting echoed from in front of us now and soon we were surrounded by worried people.

Another noise echoed through the street and the car shook unsteadily.

"It's collapsing!"

"Someone help!"

The voices barely registered before I pulled Chris towards me. His head crashed into my chest as I felt the weight of the car being forced downwards by gravity.

Bits of road work crumbled around us and I couldn't do anything but watch as the road disappeared from all around us.

I squeezed the boy in my arms, anticipating the hard impact of the motorway below. Our bodies were catapulted forwards upon impact, but the seatbelts kept us from going too far. My body groaned at the whiplash. I had a good enough grip and cover on Chris that he didn't suffer as much of the impact.

But it was still painful.

Large pieces of debris rained down from above, smashing the windows and caving the roof of the car inwards. Screams echoed from outside and I sucked in my first breath of air, trying to understand what just happened.

The bridge collapsed.

Judging from the view outside, we were trapped under some rubble too. In fact, a car had landed on the hood of our car- only adding more damage. There wasn't anyone inside, so the driver must've walked away to see what was going on.

My mind flicked to Carla, knowing she wasn't in the car. Did she go down like us? Or was she okay?

"Cooper?" A shaky voice whispered and my eyes snapped down to Chris.

Focus on the situation now. I could worry about Carla once we got out of here alive.

I softly rubbed his arm, "Are you okay?" I asked, feeling a small nod against my chest. He was a little sore, which was understandable. We had already began to bruise from the impact and I saw a cut on Chris' head, knowing I had a similar one on mine.

The rubble left a small gap that would be big enough to stand in. A larger piece of debris creaked from above us, clearly weighing heavily on the car roof.

"Okay Chris, we're going to get out of the car. I'm not sure if this roof is going to hold." I mumbled, slightly uncertain.

I pushed my body weight against the car door, feeling the heavy metal push back against me. With my entire body weight behind me, I forced the door open and helped Chris out first.

The roof groaned again and I quickly scrambled out. Somehow, my foot got caught in the seatbelt as I tried to climb out. I glanced up at the large piece of rubble, shouting in shock when it came crashing down on the roof.

My leg flared in agony and a scream tore through my throat. Chris shuffled forward, saying something I couldn't understand. The pain interrupted all my thoughts and I fought to stay conscious.

"Cooper please- Are you awake? Cooper!" Chris cried.

Despite the pain, I reached my hand over and gently grasped his. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm okay. It's going to be okay." I rambled, forcing the words past my gritted teeth.

A jagged rock fell from above, catching Chris on the shoulder. He hissed in pain and my eyes flashed with worry. It sliced through his shirt and left a bloody cut in its wake.

He shuffled forward more, trying to curl into me. I tried to move, crying out when it tugged at the pain in my leg. Still, I spent the next few minutes manoeuvring Chris so he was mostly hidden by my own body.

The rubble seemed to stable itself above us, letting me have some relief that nothing else was going to fall on us for now.

"I want Dad and Buck. We need help." Chris yelled.

My head throbbed and it felt like the pain from my leg was spreading through my entire body. I was still aware that this pain was only bearable because I was likely in shock. I fished through my pockets, feeling relieved when I felt my phone inside.

It was very cracked, making me slightly nervous until the screen flashed.

"I'm calling them Chris. It's okay, I swear we're going to be okay." I promised.

I ignored the blood dripping from my fingers as it was sliced by the glass, instead choosing to pick the first contact I saw. Somehow I managed to have a single bar of service, which made me think someone out there was trying to help me.

The phone began ringing and I clutched Chris close, shivering at the rumble of rubble around us. It carried on ringing. The noise became insufferable and I gave up on the previous hope I had. Then, the device clicked in my hand.

"Cooper?" Buck answered.