The scraping got louder and louder as it drew nearer to our location. Sweat started to bead on my forehead and my hands were clammy. I shifted my grip on the steel rod, the tension in my fingers tightened around it. Reese breathed heavily, the dust made the air dense and hard to take decent breaths in and out without feeling like we were inhaling the earth itself.
Scape. Scrape. Scrape.
Time seemed to slow and the waiting was becoming unbearable. I fought the urge to run, overriding my natural instinct to react. More debris fell from the trembling ceiling, landing to the side of us, but we didn’t flinch. Our survival depended on being able to take on whatever was coming around the corner.
“Reese? Ariah?” A croaky voice called out in a loud whisper, then started coughing.
“Roderick?” Reese exclaimed, quickly dropping her stance and running in the direction the voice came from.
I dropped the steel rod and ran too, scrambling over the piles of concrete and steel that had formed on the floor.
When I rounded the corner from the changing rooms to the main gym, Reese was already in Rodericks arms hugging him tightly. I ran and jumped onto them, enveloping both of them in excitement.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Roderick! I’ve never been so happy to see you in all my life!” I cried as I put my head on his chest. Reese stepped back allowing my big brother to embrace me.
“Hey little sis!” Roderick said, his voice hoarse with emotion. I looked up at him, his face was covered in concrete dust and blood.
“Are you okay?” I said suddenly worried, looking at his weary eyes.
A groan came from the ground next to us. I hadn’t noticed anyone else, I looked down.
“Eamon?!” I gasped. He was lying on a makeshift stretcher with two metal bars on either side with Roderick’s sweatshirt tied between them to make an area for Eamon to lay on.
“I found him under some rubble. He’d managed to get inside the janitor’s shed and I heard him calling for help as I was running here from the basement. Luckily the shed had a high concrete foundation that went halfway up the walls, so we were able to lay low while the light pulses passed by.” Roderick explained, looking down at Eamon’s gaunt figure as he did so. “Then the earthquakes started again and we got stuck for a few pulses. He was too heavy to carry, so I quickly made a stretcher to drag him on while we were hiding.”
“Is he okay?” I asked worried about my friend.
“I’m not sure.” Roderick replied. “He’s in a lot of pain and I’m not quite sure what to do to make him feel better.”
I bent down to Eamon and took his hand softly. Holding it in mine, I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb to help comfort him.
“Eamon? Eamon? Can you hear me?” I asked gently, hoping that he was going to be okay.