The Rescue of Rhea Dunn

The staging area settles into tense preparation. Grant spreads a hand-drawn route map across an ammunition crate, marking the municipal garage beyond the sealed corridor.

A burst of static answers from the radio, followed by three clipped knocks and a whisper too distorted to understand. The barricade groans under renewed impacts.

Cpl. Bawer checks magazines and assigns two uninjured Marines to hold the inner barricade. The wounded Marine remains seated beside the medic, while the crate carriers reinforce the entrance.

Grant folds the map’s corner against the wind stirring through broken masonry. Beyond the barricade, impacts multiply, and the radio emits another fragile burst of static.

Rhea moves with Grant and Bawer through the broken storefronts, then spots a steel service door standing shut beneath a faded municipal sign.

The room beyond is secured: shelves brace the inner door, the windows are barred, and no movement answers the careful sweep. Rhea enters first and positions themself between Bawer and the exit.

Bawer stops beside a desk buried under old maintenance forms. Her rifle remains lowered but ready, while the corridor outside carries only distant impacts and radio static.

For one suspended second, Cpl. Bawer’s guarded expression falters. Then she places a firm hand against Rhea’s chest and creates space between them.

Her hand drops, but she does not retreat toward the door. The refusal leaves the room colder, while her eyes remain on Rhea with wary, practical interest.

Cpl. Bawer taps the maintenance forms, revealing a grease-marked service note beneath them: the garage’s east access can be opened from this room, without crossing the main entrance.

Rhea clears the forms aside and joins Cpl. Bawer at the service panel. Together they expose a rusted release wheel and a cable running into the wall.

Rhea braces their weight against the wheel while Cpl. Bawer works the latch. The metal resists, then gives with a sharp snap as the cable tears loose.

The east access remains sealed. A section of plaster drops beside the panel, exposing a narrow maintenance cavity and the cable's broken end disappearing into darkness.

Cpl. Bawer retrieves a folding flashlight and angles its beam into the cavity. The passage is barely wide enough for an arm, cluttered with conduit and fallen masonry.

Rhea steadies the flashlight while Cpl. Bawer reaches into the cavity. They clear loose plaster and guide the broken cable around a buried manual lever.

Rhea bears down on the lever as Bawer works the latch. Rust flakes scatter, the mechanism shifts, and the east access door opens inward with a restrained groan.

Beyond the door, a narrow service lane runs between the municipal building and the garage wall. Dust coats the concrete, but the route is clear to the next junction.

Bawer slips through first, rifle raised, then signals Rhea forward. Behind them, the service door settles nearly shut, leaving the shelter and its distant impacts out of sight.

Rhea follows Bawer into the service lane, keeping their steps measured and their weapon ready. The municipal wall rises on one side, the garage on the other.

Bawer advances beneath faded loading signs, pausing at each corner to scan the empty lane. Dust shifts under their boots, but nothing moves among the parked utility carts.

At the next junction, the garage’s east wall comes fully into view. A reinforced personnel door stands closed beneath a dark security camera and a peeling evacuation notice.

Bawer moves to the entrance and lowers herself beside the frame, pressing an ear near the seal. The lane remains quiet as Rhea holds the approach behind her.