[Disclaimer: You're Under Arrest! is property of Kosuke Fujishima. This is a
work of fanfiction. No unauthorized reproduction or commercial use of this
piece is permitted.]
Accidental Intentions
by James Chu
Sunlight streamed down from the sky through holes in the clouds, illuminating
the central highway with alternating patches of light and darkness. Small wet
patches still lingered on the pavement, waiting for the sun to dry them out.
---
Barrel into receiver, receiver into stock.
---
A small Susuki econo-box raced home beneath the overpass. Several
motorcycles squeezed between the lanes of traffic, passing trucks and
minivans.
---
Scope onto rails, magazine into receiver.
---
A couple luxury sedans passed by, cruising along past an old beat up station
wagon.
---
Charging handle to the rear, safety off.
---
A brightly colored bus rumbled toward the overpass. A small police car kept
pace with it.
---
Finger off trigger guard, steady pressure.
---
The front right tire of the bus exploded. Strips of rubber flew out of the
wheelwell as the tire quickly disintegrated. The bus's brakes locked, the
rear tires smeared burnt rubber on the pavement. The police car accelerated
as it tried to get out of the way of the foundering behemoth. As the bus
settled forward due to inertia, the front right wheel rims touched the
pavement in a shower of sparks. The bus suddenly wrenched to the right as
the rear left tire lost traction and the bus initiated an uncontrolled skid.
Chunks of asphalt puffed out from a pit in the ground. The police car made
a final lunge left as it avoided being crushed by the bus. The front tires
of the bus turned even further right as the driver grabbed the wheel in a
panic move. The bus turned over and slid toward the overpass columns. The
police car braked a bit, attempting to use its puny brakes to slow down the
sliding bus. With a sickening crunch, the bus slammed into a support column,
sending concrete chips showering down. Everything became strangely silent.
---
Natsumi bolted out of her seat before the car had come to a stop, nearly
ripping off her seatbelts in the process. She grabbed the emergency release
on the bus roof and tore the hatch off, tossing it several meters away.
Quiet crying and moaning wafted out of the passenger compartment along with
the pungent odor of fresh vomit. Natsumi turned her head to peer around the
concrete column that had nearly bisected the bus.
Miyuki was wrenching the other emergency cover off with all her strength.
It finally gave way and Miyuki ducked her head into the compartment.
Natsumi looked inside the bus. A slightly bloodied, but otherwise coherent
woman stared at back her in shock. Several crying schoolchildren clung to
her in desperation.
"I'm here to help," called Miyuki from the other side of the bus.
Natsumi flashed a nervous grin to the folks on her end, "Yeah, we're here
to help you."
The schoolteacher blinked for a moment and then remembered the situation that
they were in. She gave a wan but encouraging smile to the children clutching
her clothing and softly instructed them to exit the overturned vehicle as
carefully and as orderly as possible.
The children obeyed. Natsumi gave out a breath of relief when she noted that
the childrens' injuries were all superficial cuts and bruises.
Miyuki shattered the momentary sense of calm with a terse command from her
side of the bus, "Natsumi, I need you!"
Natsumi made her way around the shattered reinforced concrete column, taking
care not to let her clothing snag on steel wires. She gasped when she rounded
the edge of the column -- the bus was much more heavily damaged on this end.
Another teacher and many schoolchildren sat in a group a few meters away from
the bus, the teacher grasping many of the children in a teary hug.
Natsumi could only see Miyuki's back from her angle of vantage, it was clear
that her partner was tending to someone. Natsumi rushed over and into the
hatch. Miyuki was attemptinng to bangage the side of a small girl with a
strip of cloth torn from her skirt.
"Natsumi, get the first aid kit."
Natsumi hastily backed out of the bus and ran to their patrol car. She
popped the hatchback open and grabbed a long white box from beside her
beloved minibike. She also grabbed an emergency blanket roll and a
portable spotlight. On the way back to Miyuki, she tossed the blanket to
the schoolteacher.
Natsumi crawled back into the bus and kneeled next to her partner. With the
illumination from the spotlight, she could tell that the small girl had taken
a nasty laceration on her leg, possibly from the shattered glass or from a
protruding bolt. Miyuki grabbed some gauze and pressed it hard over the cut
and then let Natsumi wrap medical tape around the leg.
Miyuki turned to Natsumi with teary eyes, "I called HQ while you were getting
out of the car. Yuriko said that ambulances are on their way."
The little girl murmured through gritted teeth, "I feel cold."
The girl's face started to take on an ashen quality and her eyelids started
to flutter. Miyuki shifted herself a bit and reached around a twisted
support bar to get a better grip on the makeshift bandage. Natsumi layered
both their jackets over the child, lifted the child's good leg onto an
overhanging chair and then tapped the radio hanging from her left shoulder.
"Yuriko where are those ambulances?!"
Yuriko's harried voice crackled from the handpiece, "They should be there in
under a minute. What's the status?"
"We're trying to get this thing under control. We got a child here that's
losing too much blood."
Miyuki looked up, her cheeks now wetted with tears, "We need an ambulance,
Natsumi! She's bleeding to death out here!"
"We have paramedics on route. Hold on Miyuki! Administer pressure for now,"
crackled the radio.
The sound of distant medical sirens filtered into the bus. Natsumi got up
from her knees and peered out the hatch. She saw an ambulance advancing
toward the bus along the highway shoulder.
---
This is a work in progress... I need some prereaders, though.
JC