Chapter 416 - Danger and Trouble (10)

11 May, JL International Mall, City F

As he could not easily spot Lexi Matthew looked around and could see two teenage girls staggering towards him. He quietly said "Come here. I am a soldier, and if you follow me, I will take you outside for you to get medical treatment."

He could see that neither of them heard him, for Matthew moved a couple of paces carefully towards them before saying "My name is Matthew, and I am a soldier here to help people. If you follow me, I can help you outside to see a doctor."

Matthew paused, and eventually saw the two girls react to his presence. They were in shock, and quickly looking at them, he could see both had wounds on their extremities, one on a leg and the other on an arm. "My name is Matthew, and I am here to help you. If you come with me, I can take you to doctors outside."

While neither spoke, as Matthew motioned to them pointing along the corridor that he had come through they started slowly moving in that direction. Matthew turned and headed back along the corridor to the entry he had used, checking every few paces that the teenagers were following him.

After a slow process, taking around six minutes he finally got them to the entrance, and saw six soldiers, running towards him, with protective gowns and masks on. Joseph had gotten the word to soldiers that then needed to treat the scene not only with blood and body products being present but the risks of chemicals that impacted clotting and other bodily functions.

"Get these two for medical treatment."

"Yes General."

Seeing the teenagers being taken away, Matthew noticed that during his time inside not only had the military presence increased, and multiple tents were in various stages of erection. Further he could see an increased police presence and that media were starting to gather. That was inevitable, but at the same time it would impact not only the recovery but the investigation.

As he walked towards the command tent, Matthew was approached by Joseph who quietly said "When I came out I was informed that there was more senior police officers present."

Matthew nodded, turned, and looked towards the soldiers getting set up. He asked, "And they…?"

"Under control boss. Despite all appearances, those soldiers here do not lack the understanding of what needs to be established as a priority. The Command headquarters was quickly established, but we are awaiting the balance of communications equipment to come through. Next priority has been the triage facilities and a field hospital for urgent procedures for those who cannot be transported to have the surgery."

"But the medics are awaiting on significant supplies." Seeing a nod from Joseph, Matthew continued "That needs to be dealt with. This could have happened anywhere, and there should not be a lack of critical medical supplies to deal with this situation. What if..."

"Boss, your wife will be fine. The best thing you can do for her is focus on the initial disaster recovery, and we will find out if it was her and what has happened to her. But let me make this clear, I have let you go presently, because it is not definitive that it was Lexi we saw, and therefore you can maintain some objectivity. If you lose that or we locate Lexi I already have instructions from Head Honcho I am to remove you from duty and take command until someone more senior arrives."

"Insubordination…"

"No not insubordination boss, reality, and I have orders from above you.

Matthew paused, looked to Joseph, and said "Why do I just feel that you stuck your tongue out at me?"

Joseph laughed and said "At least you are not as serious as you were. Come on."

Matthew looked to where the police were gathering and headed quickly in that direction with Joseph trailing after him.

Firmly, on arrival he said, "Who is in charge?"

"I am," came a female voice. "Inspector Long, and I am head of the police district here. You must be General Rong."

"I am."

"General, I have spoken to my counterparts in City K and national police headquarters. I have called in all available resources at my disposal, but they will take a few hours to assemble. The issue is the owner, JL International."

Matthew shook his head and added "Not an issue."

"Private civilian infrastructure means we need…"

"Stop there", Matthew responded firmly. "Those first here did not tell you, that is not an issue. We have permission and someone from JL International headquarters will he here soon."

"Protocol dictates that we have to wait until a director is here."

Matthew shook his head. Idiots. He thought that he would be dealing with someone who had been informed. But no, juniors trying to cover themselves. "You already have a director on site, and there is permission to enter and do what is necessary."

Inspector Long looked around, before stating in an uncertain tone "I see no one."

Angrily Matthew said "I am standing right here. I have already spoken to the board. Formally I am appointed as a non-executive director of my family's company and take no role, in this circ.u.mstance until someone arrives from JL International, I am the director on the ground for this emergency. If you want to doubt me, call JL International, and speak to the president." Staring around at those officers he had already had confrontations with "But I guess your subordinates to not tell you everything. They are too busy protecting themselves, rather than the job at hand."

Sensing Matthew's anger Joseph added "We have already been inside, carefully. Our initial observations is that there appears to be minimal structural damage, the bomb was designed to maximum civilian casualties. Our focus needs to be on recovering victims and the deceased. But just look," Joseph paused and started pointing around the area, "There is no securing of the scene. Get that sorted, while we get facilities set up to deal with matters."

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