Colonel Garrett arrived and, taking one look down the dark hallway, spotted Leva immediately. He exhaled as he removed his hat. “Good evening, folks. How are you doing?”
“What happened?” asked Jordan as Anna continued to breathe in the oxygen as Dr Oya held the mask to her face.
Dr Oya put the transparent, plastic mask over Anna’s nose and mouth. The little girl’s huge, watery eyes stared at the woman. The doctor smiled kindly and nodded, emulating taking a deep breath. Anna did, then coughed abruptly.
“There we go,” Dr Oya said, rubbing Anna’s back as she let the girl lean forward as she hacked up a lung. “That’s smoke inhalation,” she told the little girl. “That’s more dangerous than the fire.”
The door of the duplex opened and Simon Reyes entered. He found Lieutenant Ashemore sitting on the floor, his right hand on his knee. The Navy SEAL looked at the youngest member of his team and asked, “Report.”
“Emergency services are responding, sir,” said Simon. “There’s a fire truck.” He shrugged. “Not much else to say.”
Ashemore asked, “Did we get her?”
Leva dropped inside the house as flames began to billow out of the walls. The hallway was full of smoke, the air thick and gray. In the corner of the destroyed kitchen, Anna was crying, curled into a fetal ball. Jordan fell onto his back in the middle of the kitchen, blood spilling out over and draining through the bullet holes in the splintered wooden floor.
Carol entered and, seeing the extent of Jordan’s injuries, screamed. A horrible, ghastly sound, she howled in utter panic. She lunged at her husband, hysterical and knocked Leva aside as she clutched to him. She screamed his name and tried to pull him close.
Leva made it to the kitchen area at the rear of the house and collapsed. She fell onto the floor that had been ripped to splinters by gunfire. Fewer bullets occupied the air in here, but only because so many had already chewed through the walls, floor, and cabinets.
Leva set Anna down in the corner, the child awkwardly posed having been picked up mid-panic during a gunshot. Leva simply laid her on her back and then rose, looking through the windows at the back of the house. In the backyard, she saw Jordan and Carol looking into the house in utter horror. But while Carol watched in total confusion and terrified shock, Jordan had a different look on his face.
Teach The Sky 