“Breath Alex, Breath!” Jacob forcefully commanded throughout the compressions as tears rolled down his face.
Blowing air into his brothers' lungs one last time, Alex gasped out as life returned to him. Grabbing Alex and pulling him close to his chest, Jacob held his brother in a tight embrace.
“I thought I lost you.” Said Jacob, the fear and joy evident in his voice.
“What happed?” Asked Alex softly, with a rasp and confusion in his tone.
“They brought the whole building down on us Alex... but it’s okay now, it’s going to be okay.” Said Jacob, still holding his brother tightly against his chest.
With the adrenaline of the situation beginning to wear off, Jacob could feel the sensation of warm fluid running down his arm. The pain from the fall quickly catching up to him and presenting all over his body. Sitting Alex up on a large piece of rubble beside him, Jacob could see the soot, cuts, and dirt all over his brother through his tattered clothing. With Alex staring, half dazed, into the light spilling in through the wall, Jacob painfully began adjusting himself to see the source of his bleeding. ripping off a torn piece of fabric from his shirt, he tied it around a large cut on his forearm, grimacing as he pulled the piece of cloth tightly around the wound.
“Are you hurt bad anywhere,” said Jacob, as he quickly checked over Alex.
“No,” responded Alex softly, as he shook his head slowly from side to side.
Satisfied his brother was not severely injured, Jacob peered into the vaguely lit cavity of rubble trying to see if he could find his mother among the debris.
“Stay right here,” Said Jacob, as he turned to move through the tight space, noticing something in the distance.
“Is it mom?” Asked Alex, with a notable worry in his tone as he looked across at the faint figure.
“I don’t know, I have to go see... You need to stay put though.” Responded Jacob, looking briefly back at Alex to ensure he was not following.
Slowly and painfully, Jacob moved through the cramped space over sharp and rugged debris. Coming up beside the figure, he could hardly recognise the woman as his mother, the faint light enough to expose the severity of her wounds. Tightly holding his mother's hand, Jacob looked over her torn and crushed body. Buried upto her chest with large slabs of concrete, it was as if she were part of the building itself.
“I’m here...” Said Jacob, fighting back the tears.
Angie slowly tuned to look at her son, the pain and confusion evident on her face as she struggled to breath and form words. Moving closer to his mother as she tried to speak, Jacob could feel the tears now streaming down his face. He fully realized, in that moment that his mother was dying and there was nothing he could do to save her. Murmuring between whispered and forced breaths, Angie tried to form words. All her efforts only resulting in sputtered and fragmented gasps of breaths. The strain proved to much as she drew in air one last time before succumbing to her injuries.
“Mom... mom...” said Jacob, in a strained whisper.
A sharp pain resonated from his chest, as Jacob laid across his mother and broke down and sobbed. The brief period of mourning was interrupted by the beam of a flashlight being cast down from above, illuminating a mostly intact floor above through twisted metal and concrete. Jacob could hear two men talking above as the light paned around the cavern, barely missing both Jacob and Alex. Leaving them safely hidden in the shadows.
“Live one over here.” Said one of the men, in a language Jacob had never heard, as he turned his light away.
“Unsuitable for recruitment, terminate.” Said a second unintelligible voice, followed by the loud snap of a rifle.
Alex jumped following the noise of the firearm discharging, sending some nearby concrete fragments rolling down across the rubble and debris. The light from the flashlight burst back into the cavity this time shining right on Alex. Screaming and crying out as he panicked, Alex started quickly making his way across the ruins towards Jacob. As Alex passed by, one of the men reached down through the web of twisted metal and wire. The man's black leathery military garb and respirator style mask under thick brass googles became exposed against the bright beam of the flashlight. Grabbed by the hair, Alex begin screaming and violently thrashed as he pulled at the man's hand in a desperate attempt to free himself. Darting towards Alex, Jacob grabbed a nearby piece of concrete. In a violent act of desperation, Jacob began smashing the piece of rock against the man’s arm for several seconds until he withdrew in pain. Taking Alex by the hand, Jacob quickly manoeuvred through the narrow space toward the opening in the wall.
“New recruits!” the man yelled repeatedly to call for reinforcements, as Jacob and Alex fled below among the mess of twisted debris.
“Hurry!” Said Jacob, as he frantically helped his little brother through the extremely narrow maze of rebar and concrete, barely big enough for either of them to squeeze through.
Briefly looking back across the dark space, Jacob could make out, among the light from the flashlight trailing him, that one of the men had broken through into cavity. Arriving at the break in the wall, Jacob urgently helped Alex between the metal bars. After managing to get Alex to the other side, Jacob could see their chaser quickly approaching from behind, crawling face down through the narrow space. Picking up some nearby stones, Jacob started hurling the objects at the man, in a desperate attempt to slow them down. Hitting the man hard in the googles, Jacob heard him
