Pom, pom, pom, pom…

“It’s his heartbeat,” Kira called out. “He’s right under the fallen chimney.”

“Those stones are propping up half the house,” said Marcus. “We’re not moving them.”

“As long as his heart’s beating, we are,” said Jayden. “Out of the way, Walker.” He slid down next to Kira and called for help from the others. “Yoon, get me rope, and tie the other end to one of the horses.” A moment later the soldier dropped a stiff nylon cord in between them, and Jayden huffed, reaching out to loop the rope around the rock. Kira pressed the scope to the stone again.

Pom, pom, pom.

“I can still hear the heartbeat.” She turned, looking for beams of wood. “Marcus is right, though—if we move this now, the whole first floor will come down on him. Here, brace it with this.” She pulled on a long joist, still attached to shards of wooden flooring, and Jayden shoved it into place, propping up the rubble.

“All set.” Jayden called out orders to the wagon driver. “Take her forward, Yoon! More … more … okay, the line’s taut, now just an inch at a time.”

The rope stretched tight; Kira couldn’t see the stone move, but she could hear it scraping loudly against the stone floor below. “It’s working!” she shouted.

Jayden called more orders to Yoon. “Keep going—nice and slow, that’s perfect. Now ready on the line.” The stone dislodged from its hole, and Jayden grunted as he helped shove it to the side.

Kira turned to the open hole, eyeing the makeshift support beam nervously, when a shape in the darkness stopped her cold. She hadn’t seen it before—it had been behind the stone.

It was a human leg, severed just above the knee.

“No,” she murmured. She reached forward cautiously, probing the jagged edge where the bone had broken. Crushed, she thought, feeling the damage. The chimney fell and snapped his leg right off. How can he still be alive? She pressed her scope against the next stone.

Pom, pom, pom.

“Bloody hell,” said Jayden, crouching behind her, “is that his leg?”

“It means we’re close.”

“It means he’s dead,” said Jayden. “That chimney would have pulverized him.”

“I told you I can hear his heartbeat,” Kira hissed. “Give me the rope.”

The rubble shifted, and Kira closed her mouth and eyes tightly against a hail of rocks and dust. The rafter above her groaned, and she heard shouts of alarm from the soldiers above.

“Get her out of there!” called Marcus.

“He’s right,” said Jayden. “This is coming down around us any second. One dead man isn’t worth losing a medic.”

“I’m telling you, he’s alive.”

“Get out,” Jayden snapped. “If we can’t dig him out of here, we definitely can’t dig you out.”

“This is a human life,” said Kira. “We don’t have any of those to spare right now.”

“Get out!”

Kira gritted her teeth and inched forward; Jayden swore behind her, reaching for her feet, but she kicked him away.