They could hear the trapped crew from the protected side of the storage wall.
That became the first useful fact. The workers were separated from the exit, but they had reached a raised service pocket beside the foundation. The engineer made them describe its floor, supports, and the barrier’s movement before she allowed anyone outside to call it safe. It was a better position than the broken path. It was not a promise about the next hour.
Bram stayed where he could keep speaking to them. The defense crew held a short screen along the outer approach while the local operator reported the equipment’s condition. Eli helped carry the two volunteers who had stumbled out to the receiving corner, then returned for a bag left within reach of the clear path. He stopped when the engineer stopped him. Nothing in the bag mattered enough to test the seam with his weight.
Tessa met the injured volunteers beyond the likely surge path. One had a split lip and pain along her ribs; the other kept trying to stand on an ankle that would not hold him. Tessa asked them to sit and tell her what had happened while a medic examined them. The woman answered Bram’s questions about the foundation crew between breaths, impatient with the pain that kept interrupting her.
