A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(39)

When he finally managed to suck in some air, he coughed violently, choking on the grit that filled his throat. He flopped onto his stomach and retched, bringing up thick gray globs, although at least there was no blood in them. Propping himself on one elbow, he blinked up at the nightmarish vision of a palm tree wreathed in flame.

The Strip was on fire.

He hauled himself into a sitting position and stared. The air was hazy with dust and smoke, but he could see that he was surrounded by overturned cars and broken trees, some of which were burning. Rubble from the exploded volcano was strewn in every direction, along with the twisted metal wreckage of fencing and lampposts. Behind the smoking crater where the volcano used to be, flames had engulfed the entrance to the Mirage.

There were bodies everywhere.

The ringing in his ears began fading, but he wished it wouldn’t, because now he could hear the agonized screams and anguished sobbing all around him. Even worse was the return of his sense of smell, which brought with it the stench of burning flesh.

Gagging, he turned his head. A man lay a few feet away from him, open eyes unseeing in death. Like Levi, the man had been hit by flying debris-but he’d been struck by a piece so large that his chest had caved in. He must have died on impact.

Levi blinked away the tears that sprang to his eyes and did a quick inventory of his own body. He hurt all over, a deep, pervasive ache, but he could breathe okay, and he was pretty sure his ribs weren’t broken. He struggled onto both knees, then one, then to his feet, at which point he staggered sideways under a wave of lightheadedness that almost took him back to the ground.

Once he was confident of his balance, he started toward the epicenter of the explosion. The fires were worse here, since flaming debris from the volcano had been launched into the thick foliage on all sides. But the volcano was also surrounded by a shallow man-made lagoon, and he could hear the sonorous blare of a fire truck’s horn growing steadily closer.

Frantic screaming caught his attention. His head swung toward a woman whose clothes had caught fire; she was slapping uselessly at the flames, clearly panicked, just screaming at the top of her lungs over and over. He ran for her, scooped her into his arms, and jumped into the lagoon, dousing the blaze.

Other people had the same idea, leaping into the water to put out or avoid the fires, helping those who couldn’t move themselves. After Levi made sure the woman was all right, he pulled himself out of the lagoon. His arms were throbbing, and he noted with a sort of distant concern that he’d been burned.

Uniformed officers and paramedics were racing through the area, triaging survivors. The fire department had arrived and was working on the hotel and the cars burning in the street. Dozens of uninjured bystanders had rushed into the fray, dragging victims out of the paths of the fires, freeing them from smashed cars, shepherding them to safety.

“Help! Oh God, help me!”

Not far away, a man lay sprawled on the sidewalk. A metal bar-a piece of the destroyed fence-had impaled him through the thigh. He started reaching for it.

“No!” Levi fell to his knees at the man’s side, grabbing both his hands. “Don’t pull that out.”

The man stared at Levi, his face chalk-white, his eyes enormous with animal fear. Levi showed him his badge, though it didn’t seem to make an impact.

“I know it hurts,” Levi said. “But you have to leave it in for now, or you might bleed to death.”

“No.” The man shook his head furiously. “No, it’s gotta come out. It’s gotta-”

He strained against Levi’s hold, trying to get to the bar, crying and cursing. Levi contained the man’s struggles as best he could without causing more damage and glanced around helplessly.

“Officer!” A woman in a cocktail dress and a torn, bloodied sash dropped next to him, pulling off a tiara with a tattered veil attached. “I’m a doctor. I can stay with him. And most of my friends are in the medical field.”

She gestured to a group of women who were helping each other to their feet, caked with dust and grime. Some were bleeding, others limping, but all had faces set with grim determination.

“We’ll help however we can,” the doctor said.

“Thank you.” Levi got to his feet and surveyed the scene, overwhelmed by his hellish surroundings. He’d never witnessed devastation like this. It was almost impossible to process.

If only he’d been faster, smarter-

“Levi!” bellowed a deep voice, loudly enough to be heard over the panicked din.

Levi spun around until he saw a broad form standing head and shoulders above everybody else. “I’m h-” he tried to shout, but had to stop and hack up another lungful of nastiness. “Dominic! I’m over here.”

Dominic caught sight of him and rushed over, grasping him by the elbows. “Levi, oh my God, are you hurt? You’re burned!” He looked at Levi’s forearms, then pressed his fingers to Levi’s temple. They came away bloody. “You’re bleeding.”

Levi hadn’t known that. Some of the debris must have hit his face. “I didn’t get here in time.”

“You son of a bitch.” Dominic crushed Levi against his chest, and his voice broke on a sob. “You fucking asshole.”

Clutching at the back of Dominic’s shirt with both hands, Levi shook uncontrollably.

“Hey, big guy!” said a nearby voice. “We need your muscles.”