thirty one
"do you copy?"

—

—

   "LYNN! DO YOU COPY?"

...

   "EVELYNN Kennedy, please answer if you can hear us!"

...

   "Evelynn!"

   And after what seemed like hours of being passed out, Evelynn Kennedy finally peeled her ocean blue eyes open to her surroundings. She let out an exasperated groan, feeling almost every bone in her body exploding in pain. More so, a ringing in her head.

   Lynn shakily rose her now dirty with dust and bruised arm and brushed her fingertips against her forehead. When she brought them close to her face, she could see the bright crimson red that stained her skin.

   Just as Lynn pinned her hands under her body, it hopes she could raise her body up from the crushed rubble beneath her. She was cruelly interrupted as a piercing pain rippled throughout her abdomen. She let out the loudest of groans, not even being able to stop herself, and she groggily dropped her gaze down to her stomach.

   Lynn let out a loud gasp as her eyes landed on her pumping in agony wound; which appeared to be a slim, metal pole that was tore right through her upper left abdomen. The once silver pole was covered in bright red blood, and she couldn't determine whether or not it hit a desperate area. Lynn let out a shaky breath, leaning her body back down to the ground as she tried her best to catch up with her breathing.

   "I pulled a Chimney," Lynn slightly scoffed, and she was sure it was probably just the shock settling in. "Damn."

   "Does anyone copy!?"

   Lynn switched from staring at cement blocks near her body, almost laughing at the fact this was most definitely not some whacked nightmare and was real life. Her eyes landed on her radio resting near her shoulder, almost surprised the banged up object was still functioning. She recognized Bobby's voice, and she pondered on how long the man had been trying to get ahold of her.

   Lynn groaned as she rose her arm again, pressing the button of the radio, which seemed to slip all of the slim energy she still had.

  "H-Hello?" Lynn spoke softly, and her throat felt as dry as a desert, and she immediately released from the radio as another moan escaped her lips, like the pain from her abdomen wound only seemed to be growing by the second.

   "Evie? Is that you?"

   Lynn swallowed whatever amount of spit was buried in the back of her throat, and she let out a deep breath as she recognized that instead of Bobby's voice, it was Buck.

   "Evan," Lynn practically choked out, and she suddenly felt herself swelling with emotion. "Hey, awkward timing..."

   Lynn noticed that her body was only getting weaker and weaker by the second, so she flipped a switch on her radio that would consistently keep her line running, even without her having to keep the button down.

   "Eve, where are you?" Buck questioned, apparently not loving the joking manner the woman had. And she let out an exhausting cough, trying to keep as much together so she wouldn't appear weak.

   "I-I'm not sure," Lynn replied, still having a hoarse throat. "It all looks the same."

   "Are you hurt?" It was now back to Bobby's voice, and Lynn was almost surprised to hear the worry cross his voice.

   Lynn let out a sigh, slightly lifting her head to meet contact with the steel pipe peeking throughout her skin, her blood covering the mess. She tucked on her work shirt, using practically all the strength in her arms to rip off a small patch of clothing. She pressed it against her open wound, in hopes she could slow down the bleeding as much as possible.

   "I, uh, I have what looks like a pole with a sharp end...Bobby, it went through my abdomen."

   The line was quiet for a moment, and she knew it was most likely everyone trying to process what the hell Lynn meant. Or maybe just to process what the hell was actually going on.

   "It's bad, Bobby."

   "We're going to find you, Lynn, we are," Bobby responded, and no matter how much Lynn wanted to believe his voice, it was laced with hesitation. "Hen is down there with you, but it doesn't seem like her radio's working. Lynn, can you move at all? Could you try to find a way out?"

   "I can't, uh, I think the poles stuck in the broken up cement," Lynn explained, merely moving an inch where she cried softly in pain. She felt pitiful knowing that her friends, that her captain, that Buck, could hear her struggle. "I'll bleed to death if I move."

   "We're going to find you, Evie," Buck stated, and Lynn could hear the emotion pouncing in his voice. "I promise."

   Lynn let out a few more coughs, and then rose her hand to switch off her radio. She couldn't possibly let her coworkers, friends, anyone, hear her struggle.

   "I'm not going to die down here."

•••

"Hello!?"

Lynn groggily opened her eyes at the unknown sound, and she immediately recognized Hen's voice. She let out a shaky breath in relief, and she turned her head a bit towards the direction she heard the voice.

"Hen?" Lynn barely yelled out, and she had clenched her jaw in pain as it rippled throughout her body again.

"Lynn!?"

Lynn didn't have anymore energy to shout again, so she stayed quiet but she knew Hen was on her track by the shuffling noises. When she finally saw Hen poke her head out around a small corner, Lynn almost let a tear drop from her blue eyes.

"Hen..." Lynn basically cried out, sending a sad smile over to her friend.

"Oh, my God, Lynn," Hen breathed out, taking a second to process Lynn's bloodied body. From her head and her abdomen, Lynn knew she was rapidly losing blood, and if she didn't happen to get out soon then it would be too late.

"You know, it's gonna leave one hell of a scar, huh?" Lynn teased slightly, letting out a laugh but it was quickly replaced with fits of coughing she couldn't control.

"You need to stop talking," Hen stated, and it was like she had snapped into action because she rushed forwards Lynn.

Just like Lynn did awhile back, Hen ripped some of her own shirt and then pressed it firmly against Lynn's wound; seeing that her previous clothing was already bleeding through. Lynn was clenching her jaw so tightly she was afraid she'd fracture that too.

"Yeah," Lynn muttered, letting out a slight groan as she rose her head a bit, leaning forward so she could see Hen. "My radio...it's working."

Hen must of understood whatever Lynn was trailing about, because she then hooked her slender fingers around the mechanism and flipped that same switch from earlier.

"Hello, does anyone copy?"

It took a second for anyone to reply, but Lynn let out a breath of relief when she heard the other side buzz.

"Hen, is that you?" Bobby questioned, and it seemed like there was enormous emotional release.

"Yes, Cap, it's me," Hen smiles softly, but it was more sad than anything else. "Where are you guys? Lynn needs medical attention, now."

"We're trying our best with our thermal cams, but it seems like as soon as we make any progress it all falls back down," Bobby replied, and Lynn cringed up her face at the bad news. "What about you, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Bobby," Hen responded, and then her eyes met with those of Lynn's, and she read her face.

"You have to try to find a way out."

"I'm not leaving Lynn behind," Hen instantly stated, and she rose her hand to place it on Lynn's shoulder; giving her a reassuring squeeze. "W-We can find some other way, we can—"

"—Hen, I need you to find a way out so we can find a way to Lynn," Bobby explained, and it was like two emotions crossed Hen's face; fear and worry.

Lynn swallowed hardly any spit, because her throat was as dry as could be, and then she sucked in a deep breath through the pain. She then shakily rose her hand, placing it on top of Hen's.

"He's right, Hen."

Hen then tore her eyes from heavily staring at the radio, and then glanced over towards Lynn. She immediately shook her head, while wrapping her fingers around Lynn's hand tightly.

"I'm not leaving you," Hen commanded, and it looked as if she had determined eyes and a tense jaw.

"You have a kid, you have a family," Lynn started, and her voice was more hoarse than usual, but still filled to the brim with emotion. "Like Bobby said, if you find a way out, they'll come for me. You're not leaving anyone behind, you're helping me."

Hen took a second to process everything of what Lynn was saying, and she looked guilty to the fact she'd leave her friend behind in order to find a way out for herself.

"I mean it, Hen," Lynn continued, squeezing Hen's palm as tightly as she could while she placed her head back of the hard rock. "Find a way out."

Hen took a deep breath while glancing back to Lynn's wound, and then back up to Lynn. She had to swallow deeply so she wouldn't let any of the wetness that was growing in her eyes, and she quickly swiped away a tear as she nodded slowly.

"I'll come back for you, Lynn, I promise," Hen stated, and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around Lynn's head softly, careful of her head injury.

"I know you will," Lynn smiled, trying her best to control her breathing so Hen wouldn't see how afraid she was back to being alone. "I know."

"I promise."

And with that, Hen slowly peeled her palm away from Lynn's and started shuffling towards another small tunnel that had been formed in the rubble.

After Lynn determined Hen was most definitely far enough where she wouldn't be able to hear the brunette away, she let a soft sob rack her body. She was back to being alone, and the biggest thing haunting in the back of her mind, was that she was going to die alone.

a/n: sorry!! i had accidentally updated this yesterday because i thought i had finished it, but my dummy self didn't realize i actually had some left to write🤦‍♀️