Sewers pt.3

Lobert ran back to the service house and unlocked the door, then hurried down the stairs, where he opened the next door.

"Sorry for making you wait!"

Lobert was in quite a good mood, but his mood died abruptly.

On the floor next to the pumps, Marc lay motionless on his stomach.

An icy chill ran down Lobert's spine.

"Stop that shit, it's not funny."

But Marc didn't move.

Without wasting any more time, Lobert sprinted further down the stairs to help Marc.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Lobert stood rooted to the spot. The gas detector!

The situation was serious.

Lobert held his breath and ran back up the stairs.

He had all kinds of thoughts flowing through his head, but one on how to help Marc was not among them.

"Think! Think! Think!"

Panicked, he pounded his forehead with his fist, as if it were helping him come up with an idea.

Where was the gas coming from?

No, that didn't matter now.

Would he just carry Marc out?

Marc was heavy and he couldn't hold his breath for long enough, so that wasn’t an option.

What to do, what to do?

The more time passed, the greater the pressure Lobert was under.

Maybe the gas was flammable and he could just burn it?

No chance, Marc was still down there.

Tie the hose around him and pull him with the truck?

But the hose wasn't flexible enough for that.

Lobert rushed through idea after idea, but none were good.

All while Marc was currently dying.

But then Lobert had an idea that seemed promising.

Lobert ran up the stairs and started the service truck.

There was no time to loose.

He grabbed the hose from the truck and dragged it down the stairs.

Just before the point where his gas detector sounded the alarm, he turned on the valve and the hose came to life.

He would simply suck up all the gas!

Lobert walked down the stairs with swift steps, a strong draft of air coming up behind him.

He had made quite a bit of progress and the gas detector was still not sounding the alarm. It had to have worked!

Just a little further and he could help Marc.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached Marc; still without a warning from the detector.

Lobert grabbed Marc beneath his arms and began dragging him up the stairs.

He bent over Marc and looked to see if he was still alive, but he couldn't tell.

But Lobert didn't like to let fate roll the dice.

Granted, he was no paramedic, but he tried his best with the scraps of first aid he could remember.

Lobert lifted Marc's head slightly and took a deep breath.

Then he pressed his lips to Marc's and began to blow air, as hard as he could, into Marc's lungs.

Once, twice, thrice... nothing happened.

Lobert couldn't be sure if that helped in any way.

He had to get help, and that as soon as possible.

With a swift caution, Lobert put Marc's head back on the stairs, rushed upstairs and through the first door that led to the pump room.

He saw a faint light in the distance and a couple of men to whom the light belonged.

Lobert called up to them, "Heey! Help! My friend's unconscious! There's been an accident! Please help!"

But instead of bringing them over, that just seemed to chase them away, and they ran off.

He cursed at them.

"Everybody's just acting for their own interests, huh?"

Hoping someone with some solidarity was there, Lobert dashed to the surface and looked around again; there was no person in sight.

"To hell with it!"

Left to his own devices, Lobert ran back to the pump room, grabbed Marc under the arms and pulled him up step by step.

He didn't even bother to lock the doors as instructed; all that mattered was Marc's life.

With the last of his strength, Lobert lifted Marc's motionless body into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel.

Lobert caught his breath briefly, and at that moment another scrap of first aid came to his mind.

"That's it!"

In addition to blowing, the person had to be pressed in their chest.

At regular intervals, Lobert pressed into Marc's chest as hard as he could.

Once, twice, then thrice.

Lobert took a deep breath and once again tried to fill Marc's lungs.

Twice Lobert repeated this before coming to the conclusion that he would have a better chance if he drove off immediately.

"Navi, take the fastest route to the nearest hospital!"

Fastest route to the nearest hospital is calculated...

The service truck started rolling.

Would you like to inform the hospital of your arrival?

"Yes!"

While the car was driving, Lobert continued to apply first aid, in case it did any good.

He couldn't let Marc die, Lobert thought to himself. This was his fault.

If he had gone to the bathroom during his break or given him his gas detector, Marc wouldn't be dying now.

In Lobert's defense, he had been constantly bugging him to get a gas detector, but Marc didn't listen to his complaints.

The detectors weren't cheap, plus Marc had been with the water company for a long time and there had never been any problems with any gases.

And in the tiny chance that something would come up, Lobert would have his gas detector; Marc could hear the alarm just as well whether it was his detector or not.

But all that did not count at the moment. Marc still had to take care of his little brother. If he died now, there would be no one to take care of him.

Maybe an orphanage would take him in, that would be the best case.

Worse, one of the gangs would take him in.

But even that was better than starving in the streets or the coup de grace of a heat stroke.

After a little while, Lobert realized that the autopilot was not going fast enough for him; he couldn't afford to lose any time.

"Navi, show me the rest of the way to the hospital and turn off the autopilot."

Turning off autopilot...

Lobert didn't have a driver's license yet, but it couldn't be that hard to drive a vehicle.

With a complete disregard for traffic rules, he pressed the pedal to the metal and sped toward the hospital; he was almost there.

For never having driven before, Lobert was doing quite well.

He even thought of blowing the horn to get the cars out of his way.

For the few cars that didn't respond, Lobert weaved his way past with surprising finesse, he must have had a natural talent.

In the distance he could already see the lights of the hospital, including the unmistakable large holographic red cross.

"Just a little more Marc, you won't die today."

Lobert slammed the brakes all the way down and parked in the driveway of the hospital.

A couple of paramedics were already waiting with a stretcher.

The truck automatically unlocked the doors.

"He's in the passenger seat, hurry!"

The paramedics pulled Marc onto the stretcher and hurried into the hospital.

Lobert tried to run after them, but a nurse stopped him. "Is this man an acquaintance of yours?"

Marc was in better hands now, and there was nothing he could do to help anyway, so instead he answered the woman's questions as best he could.

One question worried him, though: "Is he insured?"

"N-no, I...I don't think so." Lobert stuttered.

"Well, that's all. If you'd like to wait, I'll show you to the waiting room."

"Yes please."

"Follow me."

The nurse took him to a room with many rows of chairs, about half of them occupied.

A feeling of gloom presided; some were nervously rocking back and forth on their chairs, many were coughing and almost all were looking at the floor with a troubled look on their face.

Lobert picked one of the unoccupied seats and slumped into the chair, full of exhaustion.

Most of the people here were probably going through their own crisis, Lobert thought to himself.