Ryder did not give up hope and continued to look for Valerie and Preston while at the same time, helping the other injured comrades and even the enemies on the way. He gritted his teeth when he and Matt tried to lift one of the slabs and Ryder froze immediately when he saw the condition the man underneath that slab was. His entire face had been smashed and he was utterly unrecognizable. They could not even make out if he was an officer or a gang member.
Matt too stood frozen when he saw the blood and gore and he felt miserable. But this was not the time to break down. Carefully, he and Ryder moved the body away from the fragments and laid the man on flat land while they stared at his lifeless body. This was the first fatality after the explosion.
