Pinned beneath collapsed concrete, I listened to the voices coming from outside.
I tried to move my mouth, but no sound came out.
Only those hazy, blunt voices flowed into my head…
The voices of the Segwang Special City Disaster Management Agency agents, steeped in deep fatigue and bewilderment.
“For now, we’ve stopped any additional collapse. …Over the radio, we’ve also been told that from this point on, rather than containment, we’re to prioritize rescue….”
“There are still civilians in the concourse too…. …so many, too many have died….”
“What do we do, Team Leader? The selection criteria….”
The voices grew farther and farther away….
‘Ah.’
They probably didn’t have time to save someone trapped under here. I understood the situation very slowly.
The sound of the agents moving away, leaving the collapsed heap of concrete behind, spread through the steel rebar touching my cheek in vibrations across the cold floor….
“Agents.”
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.
The school counselor’s voice.
That voice, so hoarse and cracked, sounded low and muffled, as though they too were trapped inside concrete like I was….
“There is… an agent… in here……”
“…!!”
“They’re… down below,”
A brief commotion seemed to stir among the agents, and then it sounded like they were approaching.
“Who are you?”
“I’m… I’m a counselor at Segwang High.”
“Ah!”
As if they had recognized who it was from those words, hurried footsteps rushed closer. Then came the noise of concrete and twisted rebar debris being cleared away.
At that movement, a shard of wreckage lodged in my back shifted and collapsed further to the side. I felt the pain spreading through my body in a dull, muted way….
I couldn’t move.
“Wait.”
A calm voice spoke.
“…How did someone like…