▼ 12:00 pm
Area 6, Outer Ring
Factory
SHOCK instantly runs along my spine. Fragments of something are falling from above. Startled, I crane my neck up and see a big crack spreading through the ceiling.
“G-Get away from here, guys!” As I shout, the crack shoots in every direction and the ceiling begins to cave in!
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“Eeeeek!”
“Waaaaaah!”
Everyone screams. Debris, pebbles, scraps of iron, steel frames, and iron plates come crashing down on us like killer hail. We flee in different directions to get out of the epicenter.
“Kyah!” Yuuri slips on debris and falls onto her butt just as a fifty-five-square-foot ceiling panel plummets toward her.
“Yuuri!” On the spur of the moment, I lunge for her and shield her with my body. An impact like nothing I’ve ever felt before slams into my back a second later. “Aaagh!”
I had intercepted the falling panel with my back. With Yuuri splayed out below me, I try to push the panel up with my back. But even more debris crashes down on top of me, assaulting my body with impacts I feel through the panel.
“Gaaaaaaaaaahhh!”
The panel’s weight suddenly increases tenfold with great force. I can’t even begin to estimate how much the mountain of rubble weighs. Three hundred thirty pounds? Four hundred fifty pounds? I try to brace myself with my hands and legs, but my limbs feel like they’ll break under the overwhelming weight.
My eyes lock with Yuuri’s. She’s lying faceup underneath me as I try to hold up the debris on my hands and knees. My pained face is reflected in her frightened eyes.
If I don’t hang in there, Yuuri will be crushed with me! I muster every ounce of strength left in my body to hold out against the crushing weight. Protecting Yuuri is all I let myself think about.
By the time the ceiling stops caving in, Yuuri and I are buried under a mountain of rubble.
“C-Captain Kasasagi…!” Yuuri cries out in fear. Red droplets splatter onto her dusty cheeks. My blood. The back of my head has been split open.
I answer her through the pain: “Don’t you worry, Yuuri. I’ll save you no matter what…!”
“B-But…you’re in worse shape than me…!”
“Oh, this? It’s no more than a scratch.” I force a faltering smile, bringing tears to her eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Captain?! Yuuri?!” Tachibana shouts at the top of her lungs.
I can hear the voices of the other four who managed to escape the wreckage in time.
“Where are you?! Answer us!” Miss Ena calls.
“Don’t tell me they ended up under all this debris?!”
“A-Are they alive?! Captain Kasasagi?! Miss Yuuri?!”
“We’re right here!” Yuuri shouts through the rubble. “Move the debris fast! Or else Captain Kasasagi will—!”
“B-But how?!”
Miss Ena’s question sets my brain into gear. It’ll be near impossible for them to get this rubble off me with just their hands. And they have to act fast before my stamina gives out. I allow my instincts to guide me as I shout out orders.
“Tachibana, Miss Ena, Ukita! Move as much debris as you can!”
“Roger!”
“Moribe, run to base and grab the air jack! It shouldn’t take long if you go through Area 1 to get there!”
“I-I’m on it! I’ll be back in two minutes, tops! Hang in there till then, Captain!” I hear Moribe say as she runs off.
Tachibana’s voice echoes on the other side of the rubble. “Mr. Ukita, Ms. Tsubakiyama, help me with this debris!”
“O-Okay!”
“I will!”
The three of them commence clearing away the wreckage. One minute later and my arms are shaking worse than an earthquake.
“Grrr…!” I can hear my elbows cracking under the weight as they near their breaking limit.
“I-I’m so sorry, Captain Kasasagi,” Yuuri rasps in a mournful voice as she watches my face contort with pain. “…It’s all my fault that you got trapped in here too…”
“Y-You dummy… Don’t apologize…for nothing…!”
“O-Okay…” Yuuri meekly nods, then quietly asks, “But why…why are you going so far to save me?”
I don’t know why. That “voice” I heard could have something to do with it. Or it might be completely unrelated. So I just answer with the role I’ve been given.
“D-Do you even need to ask…? I’m…a rescue…squad…captain… That’s why…,” I choke out between ragged breaths.
“No way… Then why did you—”
Yuuri’s question is cut short by Moribe’s voice on the other side of the rubble. “Sorry for the wait! How’re you holding up, Captain?!”
“Hon…estly…not…well… Hurry!” I holler.
Tachibana’s orders echo back. “Moribe, cut a line from here to here with the engine cutter! Then insert the air jack into the opening! We’re going to lift the debris and pull the two of them out!”
“Roger! Ms. Tsubakiyama, Mr. Ukita, please stand back!” The sound of the engine cutter quickly follows Moribe’s orders. The two rescue workers begin removing the debris from us.
But the muscles in my arms are already past their limit. They could buckle under the rubble’s weight any second now.
I look Yuuri square in the eyes and ask, “H-Hey…Yuuri? …Can you…do me…a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Please…tell me to…hang in there…!”
A heartbreaking expression crosses her face, but she promptly encourages me. “Captain Kasasagi…please hang in there!”
Renewed strength fills my aching bones with those words. “ALLLL RIIIGHTTT!”
I rally every ounce of strength in me and push the debris up with my back. At the same time, an opening is made in the wreckage and light shines on Yuuri’s face. Tachibana inserts the air jack into that opening.
“All set! Everyone, please lend a hand so that the rubble doesn’t collapse while the air jack is inflating!”
“I’ve got you covered!”
“All right! I’ll handle this side!”
“Okay, inflating the air jack nooow!” The debris lifts into the air with Moribe’s signal.
“Captain! Yuuri! Hurry!”
We obey Tachibana’s orders and roll out from under the rubble.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 12:06 pm
Area 6, Outer Ring
Factory
“HAH…haaaaaaaaaaaah…” Out of danger, I collapse on the ground and catch my breath. Every bone in my body aches, and my muscles are shaking and cramping.
I’m amazed I survived that one.
No sooner does that cross my mind than I hear Tachibana’s voice right beside me. “Captain! Yuuri! Thank God you’re all right!” She throws her arms around the both of us.