Commander Gray, who had gotten out of the car first, was asking him about the situation.
"How did the accident happen?"
The slightly overweight county sheriff, though injured in the head, seed relatively conscious, though still shaken, and stamred.
"Uh, a coyote suddenly darted in front of the car. Graham jerked the steering wheel hard, and we rolled over."
Commander Gray glanced down the slope and continued, "How many people are in the car?"
Seeing the surrounding LAPD officers approaching, the sheriff cald down a bit.
"20 prisoners, and two guards."
Noticing he was unsteady, Commander Gray quickly stepped forward to support him.
"Did any prisoners escape?"
"Probably."
Seeing the sheriff lose consciousness, Commander Gray loudly ordered, "Go down and count the number of people."
Zoe, standing nearby, picked up the walkie-talkie and called the command center.
"Command center, this is 7L10. We're at the accident scene. I'm declaring a city-wide tactical alert. We need a large number of ambulances and additional helicopters for the search."
"Dispatch all available officers from Rampart to North Hollywood to the scene for the search. Search the surrounding area, centered on the accident site, within a ten-minute walk radius."
Jack drew his pistol and followed the others down the steep slope to the still-smoking bus.
These modified prisoner buses, with sturdy guardrails outside the windows, prevented people from being thrown out and scattered even when tumbling down steep slopes.
However, when they reached the front of the bus, they saw a prisoner in an orange uniform lying outside.
Tim pressed on the man's carotid artery and shook his head, indicating it was a corpse.
Jack and Nolan stood guard on the overturned bus, while the relatively petite Angela and Hannah crawled through the shattered windshield at the front.
Inside the vehicle, a dozen wounded n lay sprawled on the ground, so still groaning, others already lifeless. An injured county sheriff saw the two won trying to get up, but Angela stopped him, gesturing for him to remain still.
"The ambulance is on its way. Briefly describe the situation."
"Seven prisoners have escaped. They took my keys and my service weapon."
Angela imdiately reported over the walkie-talkie.
"Attention all units, seven prisoners have escaped, at least one ard."
Nolan noticed movent in the bushes in the distance and shouted, "Situation observed at ten o'clock."
Tim signaled. "Go check it out, be careful."
Jack thought for a mont. He couldn't be of much help here. So many seriously wounded prisoners — whether they were worth saving or not — he couldn't just go up and do nothing. So he gestured to Tim.
"I'll go too. It's too dangerous for Nolan to go alone with the escaped prisoners ard." He then followed into the bushes.
Behind the bushes was a path leading into the dense forest. A large trail of blood stained the fallen leaves and branches. The two exchanged a glance and took turns providing cover as they entered the woods.
They hadn't gone far when they heard a man's painful groan ahead. Nolan was about to shout when Jack, his focus heightened and his senses sharpened, patted his arm, signaling him to pay attention, and then quickly stepped forward.
They found the third county sheriff, the deputy captain, who had lost his left leg and was still desperately trying to crawl forward.
"Hey. Relax, let help you."
Jack knelt down, one hand on the other man's shoulder, performing a healing spell. The man was clearly on the verge of hemorrhagic shock and was already unconscious.
John quickly turned on the walkie-talkie and called: "7A15, I need an ambulance, imdiately. Location: 60 yards east of the accident scene. Male, around 50 years old, critical condition."
Jack pulled out his belt to apply ergency hemostasis while trying to hold down the still struggling injured man.
"I have to get help, soone ran away, I have to get help."
"Hey, don't move, backup is here. What's your na?"
"Graham."
"My na is Jack, this is John. Your colleagues are all saved. Lie down and don't move, the ambulance will be here soon."
Graham's face was pale, his lips were trembling, and his voice was broken.
"W-Will I die?"
Jack gestured for John to help lift the man's thigh, tied a knot in the belt, and put it around the severed limb before answering.
"With here, you won't die. Just bear with it."
Before he could react, Jack yanked the belt and tightly bound the still-bleeding severed leg. It wasn't a matter of necrosis now; if the bleeding wasn't stopped, the guy would die.
Graham was too weak to even scream; his body convulsed, and he almost fainted.
"Hey Graham, stay awake, okay? You'll be alright."
Jack kept patting the other's cheeks, not daring to let him pass out.
Graham's injuries were too severe. His leg hadn't been stopped bleeding in ti, and he had crawled nearly a hundred ters on the ground. Even Jack's healing skill could only barely maintain his vital signs. Moreover, as ti went on, Jack's head began to spin — a consequence of his depleted ntal energy.
The kind-hearted Nolan couldn't bear to see this scene; his face showed pain so intense he was almost crying.
"You'll get better soon, you know? You'll get better, just hang in there."
"This is 7A15, when will this damn ambulance arrive?"
Jack listened intently, faintly hearing the ambulance siren, and quickly patted the anxious Nolan.
"Nolan, the ambulance is here. Go et the paradics, I'll watch over him here."
Nolan nodded, turned and ran out, arriving with the paradics in less than two minutes.
They placed the injured man on a stretcher and helped carry him to the ambulance. Graham, gradually regaining consciousness, suddenly grabbed Nolan's arm.
"Tell her… I love her."
Just as Nolan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he quickly leaned close to his lips and asked, "Who does she an? Who do you want to tell?"
Graham looked like he was about to collapse, muttering, "Beth, tell Beth."
Watching the ambulance drive away, Nolan stared blankly at Jack, who was rubbing his temples.
"Do you think he'll survive?"
"Probably. We'll go to the central hospital together after the mission tonight and find out. We can also see your old fla while we're at it. Haven't you asked her out lately?"
Nolan almost twisted his back from Jack's sudden change of topic, looking a little embarrassed. "I apologized to her, but I've been too busy these past few days to ask her out."
Jack patted him on the shoulder. "Seize the opportunity. The last ti I saw her, I noticed her wedding ring was missing from her left hand."
Nolan stamred a few tis, then sighed. "Jack, Carrie did tell she's currently going through divorce proceedings, which is why she ca to Los Angeles. But do you really think this is a good opportunity? After all, we haven't been in touch for so many years."
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