Chapter 19

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Chapter 19

(The accident scene----->)

A/N- This chapter is in Nate's POV...

 

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed as we got to the accident scene to see the car tittering in the very edge of the ravine, with the white waters of the river rushing greedily by a good twenty feet down below. The other vehicle involved in the collision was wrapped around a tree on the other side of the road with a mass of steam billowing from the mangled front end. This was going to get messy real quick, and I already heard my lieutenant barking orders into the radio to have the special operations of Ladder 29 called to move their asses for possible event of a swift water rescue. He took a breath and hollered at us to move out and try to get a tow line on the wobbling car. He wanted to try to get it secure enough to attempt to extract the frantic occupants. He split us into two teams, one with the jaws of life, to help the possible survivors trapped in the crumpled car. And then my team, to attempt to secure a line. I was the lightest one in the bunch of burly men, so it was voted that I was the one to go out on that unstable ledge. I chucked the oxygen tanks, and some of the heavier equipment attached of my turnout gear. My crew helped to strap me into the safety harness and finally the ropes were connected to the multiple clamps.

Sweat poured off my like the rushing waters at the bottom of the ravine as I inched out onto the ledge. The mad spin combined with the weight of the car, had weakened the rocky ledge. With every step I took the ground whined and crumbled a little more under my feet. My kept my eyes on the car and I made out that there were two occupants, two young girls, and their hysterics weren't helping the situation at all. They were huddled together in the middle of the front seat, but their panicked movements were causing the precariously perched vechile to wobble even more. I slowly inched further and held up my gloved hands and gave them what I hoped was a calming signal, but they were too far gone to pay attention to anything other than their predicament. "Shit!" How did Thad do this nerve wracking shit? Give me a five alarm fire and a hose, and I am a happy man.

I was almost there, If I reached out just another inch or two, my fingertips would touch the front bumper of the car. Something bright and red caught my eye, but I didn't dare take my eyes of the front of the car. The trick was to get the rope around the front axle, but with the car rocking the way it was, I could get crushed underneath it. "Fuck." I balled my hands into fists and closed my eyes for a brief moment.

"You are doing good, just breathe. What is your assessment?" The deep baritone crackled through my earpiece, the one voice that was able to calm my racing pulse and help me refocus on the task at hand. I quickly accounted the position of the car and instability of the ground underneath it. And Xavier immediately came up with the solution of getting the line around the axle closest to the front tire. The trick was getting the girls to calm down enough to get them secured in a harness harness and pulled in. I with his deep voice murmuring reassurances and praise the entire time, I was able to secure the vehicle. The girls all but rushed the car door, but I managed to get them to shut up long enough to listen. I knew they were scared and I feared the were going to rush me and cause us to topple over the side of the unstable ravine.

I got the first girl out of the car and secured to the safety line. She was shaking, but she followed my instructions and little by little she scooted towards stable ground, from there the guys could pull her in. The second girl seemed a little bit more hysterical, she had a death grip on the steering wheel sobbing that she was scared of heights, and that she couldn't move. I coaxed her and talked to her but she was frozen in fear. All of a sudden the car shifted and I barked at her to move her ass, and it worked. She literally threw herself out of the unstable vehicle and launched herself right into my arms and held on for dear life. I managed to crab walk backwards with her choking the shit out my ass. When the ground stopped shifting, I planted my butt on the firm soil and tried to pry the girl off of my poor abused neck with no effect.

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