Finding Kate

Chapter Twenty Three: Hurricane Anthony

Yet he knew he could never give up the property even if he was practically living with Kate. He needed a safe haven in case things went bad again like they had when she'd left years ago. He knew it was stupid to think like that but the experience had scared him emotionally. His feelings had been brutalised by her absence, which was why he refused to let go of that Bungalow.

It was Delko's voice that drew him away form his thoughts and back to their current task in hand, or rather Delko's grumbling.

"A category two hurricane and we get sent out to a traffic accident. What's up with dispatch?"

Speedle sighed; twisting his head towards the scene of the accident, his eyes landing on Alexx crouched down next to a body trapped underneath a car.

"They're slammed with thousands of calls. They take them one at a time until order's been restored." Speed explained, picking his way through the fallen trees and debris, as they made their way to Alexx.

"I'd hate to see what a Category Four looks like." Delko muttered, clambering over the remains of a tree.

Speed raised his eyes skyward, checking out the humongous storm clouds that hung above them, before shaking his head.

"So would dispatch."

The back garden was a mess; panels were strewn across the small space, as was the blue plastic covering that had once had a use. The small, black spiky fence framed the area, marking the line of territory from neighbouring gardens. There was a noise that rasped along with the wind; it seemed out of place, odd even. It was coming from a metal sheet that was resting upon the fence. The noise was getting louder now with every step I took.

Maybe there was a cat trapped underneath the metal...

The noise sounded familiar but I couldn't place where or how and that's when I saw the shoe.

It was protruding from metal sheet; fresh blood marred the blue sock that was attached to it, jolting me into action. There was blood, meaning there was someone trapped underneath.

I responded without thinking, my hands groping for the metal sheet, to yank it off them. The action caused pain, pain so violent it caused a dizzy sickness shooting straight through me. My chest was on fire, the strain had tore through my muscles, causing black spots to dance in front of my eyes before I focused on what was below me.

My chest tightened as a gasp expelled from my mouth.

It was the face I saw first, Hispanic in origin. His eyes were wide, the whites of them clearly showing as they darted from side to side. His pupils were dilated, caused by the lack of oxygen I assumed from the fact he was impaled on the fence through the chest. He raised his head as much as he could towards me, blood trickled from the side of his mouth, it had stained his right cheek.

There was blood under his nose and I knew what it meant if he was breathing out blood. His breath was coming out in short, shallow gasps, I could hear the bubbling in his throat as he took each one. His whole body was trembling from the shock and from the strain of trying to keep himself supported.

I placed one shoe on the wall, and leaned forward balancing on it so I could look the middle aged man in the eyes without him having to strain himself anymore than he had too. The situation was too dire to do anything but make him more comfortable.

There were tears in his eyes as he looked up at me, hopeful, his face full of panic and relief as I stood there, pursing my lips together, trying to take the next step to distracting him.

"What's your name?" I asked the first thing that popped into my head.

"Martin." The effort was tremendous and I knew that him talking was not gong to be a good idea, not with all the damage that had been done to his chest.