Book 2: Chapter 24: City in Crisis (1/2)
The APD were being overwhelmed. Dan could have figured that out, even without his inside information, just by watching the news. Downtown Austin had turned into a madhouse. Open warfare between gang members and police, a dozen fires had broken out, and now a riot was forming in the midst of the besieged areas.
Dan had been called in as a crisis volunteer, ordered to help resupply and reinforce the handful of trauma centers that had been set up across downtown. The underfunded, undermanned APD were stretched to their limit, and other public services were not doing much better. Emergency vehicles were being forced to prioritize, and hospitals were quickly being overwhelmed.
”Be careful,” Abby told him, as she tightened the strap of his duffel bag. She worried over his clothing while Dan ran down his mental checklist of what he needed to bring. Abby straightened the collar of his shirt, and smoothed out the wrinkles on his shoulders.
He smiled at her. ”I'll be fine.”
”Things get crazy in times like these,” she told him, still anxiously straightening his clothing. ”Keep your eyes open, and be ready to run.”
Dan gently took her hands in his own. He squeezed reassuringly, and repeated, ”I'll be fine.”
She stared at him for a moment, before wrapping him in a tight hug. ”You better be.”
Dan hugged her back, then pulled away. He planted a kiss on her forehead, then her lips.
”You should stay here until this blows over,” he advised. ”I'll be back.”
He stepped out of the universe.
Dan reappeared at a street corner, next to a downed STOP sign. He could see one of those broad canvas pop-up tents set up across the street. They were commonly used as emergency hospitals when a victim's injuries were too severe or numerous to transport them safely. In this case, there simply weren't enough ambulances, nor hospital beds, to go around.
People moved in and out with controlled haste. He saw victims being carried in on stretchers, and the inside of the tent was filled with cots. There were medics shouting orders and volunteers in orange vests setting up a perimeter. Dan flashed his identification badge at them as he approached, and they gave him a nodded acknowledgement.
There were no police that he could see. Signs of their passing were obvious: that constantly fluctuating whine of sirens moving back and forth in the distance, or the occasional reflection of blue and red flashes racing past glass windows. And beneath it all, the low wailing keen of an air raid siren, something Dan had heard only once before. It was a warning to all who could hear it. There were villains about! Shelter or flee!
Dan supposed he should count himself lucky to have only heard it twice. The first barely even counted; it was in his first few months, watching Atlanta burn on live TV from the comfort of Abby's home. More than a year had gone by since that day, without anything major plaguing Dan, or even the country. No villain attacks, nothing that made national news, at least. No random disasters. Nothing terrible or catastrophic. Truly, a lucky year.
Dan did not feel very lucky.
He jogged towards a person shouting orders. Everything was much more chaotic than he was used to. Without police officers around to act as an obvious chain of command, things were messier, though still getting done. Dan could see several large trucks lining up on either side of the street. One of the drivers stepped out and began directing traffic elsewhere, allowing space for the emergency workers to do their jobs.
The man nominally in charge noticed Dan as he approached. Dan quickly produced his volunteer badge, color coded and classified based on his abilities. The long string of gibberish letters was meant to summarize the many applications of Dan's power. The man stared at his badge for several seconds, clearly calculating where best to park this new asset.