"Kevin! ...Hey! C'mon, man. Wake up!"
Kevin's brow furrowed, "AJ?"
AJ slumped in relief, the dim light of several flashlights showing the relief on his face, "Kev, you scared the hell out of me! Ya wanna open yer eyes for me, pal?"
Ah... Kevin sighed. So that's why he couldn't see anything. Frowning slightly, Kevin slowly peeled his eyes open. He blinked a few times, his gaze taking in the panic that surrounded he and AJ. Kevin raised a hand to rub the ache at the back of his head, hissing as the touch caused pain to flare.
AJ grabbed Kevin's hand, pulling it away from his head, "Hey, leave it alone, Kev. Ya took a hit to the head from something, pro'bly wood, and it knocked you out. Ya 'bout gave me heart failure when you wouldn't wake up, Kevin."
"What happened?" Kevin managed, trying to sit up.
AJ put an arm around Kevin's back and helped him to sit up, keeping his arm there until he was sure Kevin wouldn't just topple back over, "Well, if ya look over there, I think you'll get the whole story."
Confused, Kevin's gaze followed AJ's pointing finger. When he saw it, he gasped. Kevin knew where he was. He knew he was in the living room on the first floor of the centennial house. No way could what he was seeing be real. There was not a tree laying precariously across the north corner of the house. It wasn't possible. And, it looked so odd, the grotesque tree protruding into the house. There was supposed to be a wall there...
"That's..." started Kevin, looking at AJ and then back to the destruction with wide eyes. "That's... That's a tree."
"Very good, Kevvy," AJ smiled shakily, giving Kevin a soft pat on the arm. "I think it's safe to say your brain wasn't messed up from the knock on the head. You know I'm AJ and you know that's a tree. So... so far, so good."
"Oh, my God," Kevin said softly, the reality of the situation dawning. He stared at the tree. It just looked so foreign, invading the house like an intruder, maybe more like something from a horror movie. Kevin turned his attention to the people milling about, most of them looking scared and lost. Then Kevin thought of something else.
"Howie!" he cried, trying to stand.
AJ helped him up, supporting him when he stumbled, "Whoa, there. Take it easy, Kev. I'm sure 'D is okay, but I haven't seen him... or Brian and Nick."
"No!" Kevin shook his head, wincing at the headache that intensified from it's previous ache to a persistent throb. "You don't understand! I was with Howie when... when that tree fell."
"Okay, okay," soothed AJ, trying to calm Kevin. AJ felt strange. It was always Kevin keeping him calm, not the other way around. AJ shook his head slightly. This was really messed up, "He can't be that far away then, all right? Let's find him, but let's take it slow."
Kevin nodded, letting AJ guide him through the crowd. Kevin felt confused again, the headache throbbing at the back of his head making it hard to think, "Why is everyone still in the building? Shouldn't we be evacuating?"
"Easier said than done, Kev," informed AJ, pulling Kevin around several people and stepping over a shattered antique chair. "The tree fell across and caught just the north corner of the house, but that's also the front of the house. The porch collapsed, blocking the only way out. This is an old house, Kev." AJ stopped and sighed, looking up at Kevin, "The tree's impact caused weak points in the house to buckle, the entire back porch is rubble. People are trapped in other rooms of the house, some people might have..." AJ trailed off.
"Some people might have died," toned Kevin softly, locking his gaze with AJ's.
"Yeah," AJ breathed. He shook his head, trying to shake the bad thoughts away. "So, we're all trapped in here. We tried the windows, but they're all nailed shut. Whoever had this house last sure didn't want anyone to get in. Right now they are debating if we should break the windows."
AJ started walking again, guiding Kevin behind him as some of the wind and rain falling into the open spaces around the tree coated their clothes and wet their hair. It was like a room with a draft that you couldn't block. The holes around the fallen tree allowed the storm in, but were too small and too high to let the people out. The tree had settled into the house, almost as if it were leaning back on it, the lowest point being ten feet off of the ground. Who knew how long the tree would remain where it was. If something in the house shifted, the tree may fall further, causing even more damage and harm.
AJ's dark eyes searched the crowd for their missing friends, concern and fear burning a hole in the center of his chest. They would get through this, they had to. All of them were fine. AJ held onto that hope, knowing it was all he could do. Looking behind him, AJ cleared his throat to continue his conversation with Kevin, knowing the elder needed to know all they were up against. Kevin always had to know what was going on, it made him feel secure and in control of things he sometimes had no control of.
"For now, I guess we have to wait," AJ informed Kevin. "Atleast until the rescue crews get here and get us out."
AJ suddenly smiled, tilting his head back at Kevin, "One good thing about all those reporters and rich people is dang near everyone has a cell phone."
Kevin smiled back at AJ, but then he caught sight of what they were looking for.
"Howie!" Kevin cried, reaching forward for the Latino as he walked toward them.
"Yo, 'D!" yelled AJ, grinning as it appeared that Howie was unharmed. Then he saw the blood on Howie's shirt. AJ's eyes widened, anxiously looking at his friend's face, "Howie?"
Howie gave them a tired smile, maneuvering around a group of people before stopping before Kevin and AJ, "Hey. You guys okay?"
"I'm okay," AJ said quickly, then nodding to Kevin. "Kevin was knocked out for a bit. He scared the crap out of me, but I think he'll be okay. What about you? Your shirt..."
Howie glanced down at his bloody left forearm, moving his other hand to gently grip the limb. He looked up at AJ with a half smile, "This? It's no big deal, just cut my arm a bit."
"A bit?" quoted Kevin, doubt in his voice. He may have a monster headache and, okay, maybe some blurry vision, but the blood on Howie's shirt looked to him that he was cut more that just, a bit. "Howie, that looks bad. Let us see, okay?"
"No, really," Howie took a step back as Kevin reached out for him, shaking his head. "It's fine."
"Howie, dang it..." AJ had to grab Howie's uninjured arm to stop the Latino from shying away. "Howie, c'mon. We have to see how bad it is, so we can help it if we need to. Okay?"
Reluctant, but finding himself trapped--in more ways than one--Howie allowed his friends to examine his arm. He winced, biting his lip as AJ pulled his torn and bloodied shirtsleeve back. He closed his eyes at the gasps that came from Kevin and AJ when they saw his damaged arm.
"Jesus, Howie!" cried AJ, gently holding Howie's injured forearm in his hands as if it were made of glass. "What the hell happened?!"
Howie sighed, wincing as Kevin gently probed the multiple cuts, "I was knocked off my feet when the tree hit, and a chandelier almost fell on me. I rolled away before it could hit me, but not fast enough. My arm caught some of the crystal as it shattered."
"Howie," Kevin spoke softly, looking Howie in the eyes. "You've still got glass in your arm. I can see and feel it. You need to get to a hospital and have it removed. They're just slivers, too small for us to get out without pushing them into your arm even more."
Howie nodded, "That's what I figured. It burns, but not too bad. You didn't have to worry about it. I knew you couldn't do anything."
"Oh, yes we can," said AJ, tearing a strip off the bottom of his designer shirt. "We can wrap it so it don't get too dirty and to stop it from bleeding."
AJ went to work wrapping Howie's arm, Kevin having to hold the arm as Howie tried to jerk it away.
"Ouch!" Howie cried, giving AJ a small glare. "You can take it easy, ya know."
"I am," argued AJ, returning the glare. "If'n you stop tryin' to jerk away, it wouldn't hurt so much! Now, quit movin'. I'm almost done."
"Ow!" Howie winced, "Hurry it up, will ya?"
Kevin closed his eyes. Lord, Howie and AJ would bicker no matter when or where they were. Sighing, he let Howie's arm go after AJ tied off the makeshift bandage, but not before he felt and saw Howie jump at the sound of breaking glass.
"What the hell?" Howie sputtered, dark eyes looking for the source of the sound.
"Relax, 'D," assured AJ, who looked sideways at Kevin. "Guess they came to a decision about the windows."
"Yep," nodded Kevin, who then shut his eyes as a wave of dizziness hit him. He swayed.
AJ grabbed Kevin's arm, "Whoa, Kev. You okay?"
"I'm fine," he answered after a moment, opening his eyes and blinking rapidly to focus. "Just got a bit dizzy."
"Dizzy..." AJ repeated, worried. "Just stay with us, 'kay Kevvy?"
"I'm fine," Kevin stated, staring hard at AJ.
AJ stared right back, then over at Howie. He shook his head, "And we wonder where Nick gets his stubbornness. Everybody is always fine, even when they're bleeding or have been hit hard enough on the head to pass out. Yeah, we're all just fine."
Suddenly, sirens filled the air, breaking through the noise of the continuing storm. A small cheer went up from the crowded room, relief at the help to come lightening spirits and easing fears.
"Form a line!" came a shout to the trio's far left. "Just form a line and everyone will be able to get out. Careful of the glass!"
Howie looked at Kevin and AJ, "I guess we're getting out of here."
Kevin shook his head quickly, letting out a groan at the pain that flared but still managing to speak his argument, "We can't leave! Nick and Brian are still missing."
AJ grabbed Kevin's arm as the elder swayed again. AJ didn't think Kevin even knew he was off balance, "We know that, Kev. They have to be somewhere around here, though. They couldn't have gotten too far away from us."
His dark eyes searching the crowd that was slowly shrinking, AJ bit his lip in indecision. He didn't know where Nick and Brian were, but he did know of Kevin and Howie... and they needed help. The only way they were going to get help was by leaving the house, but then he would have to leave Brian and Nick, too. AJ's mind whirled. What was he supposed to do?
A groaning crack suddenly shot through the room, a collective gasp bursting forth from the crowd as the tree suddenly dropped a foot further into the house. Dirt and small debris fell at the sudden movement, the weakened house moaning and shifting in response to its open wound. The floor beneath their feet shuddered and cracked, oddly disorienting to those who stood upon it.
"Shit!" hissed AJ as he had to hold his arms out to keep his balance, shifting his feet.
Kevin muffled a groan, closing his eyes at the dizzying motion that turned his stomach. As soon as he fully closed his eyes, Kevin had the horrible feeling of his mind spinning and tipping. He snapped his eyes back open, his vision fluxing in and out of focus. Aw, gawd... He really felt like crap.
The house finally settled again and the space was filled with an eerie silence as the people waited with bated breath for anything further. Slowly, confidence returned to the crowd and people began to evacuate through the busted windows again, perhaps even more urgently wanting escape.
"That," gasped Howie as he gripped his arm in pain, having almost fallen in the shaking and stretched the cuts in his attempt to steady himself, "That... was NO fun."
"Damn straight," confirmed AJ, running a shaking hand through his wet hair. He glanced at Kevin when the man failed to add to the conversation and his dark eyes widened, "Kev!"
Kevin was hunched over and leaning dangerously to his right, his face downcast as he swayed severely. AJ reached out for him, a hand on each shoulder as he tried to get a response from his older friend, "Kev? You okay?"
Kevin found his vision to be going completely out of focus and slowly dimming as his headache intensified. He thought he had heard AJ's voice, but it seemed so far away. He barely even felt AJ's hands on his shoulders. Just then, his head did a particularly distinct flip and his vision began to go dark as consciousness left him.
"Jesus!" cried AJ as Kevin suddenly collapsed into his arms, almost taking him to the floor. AJ wrapped his arms around Kevin, shifting to get a better hold of him as he tried to look into Kevin's face, "Kev? Hey, c'mon Kevin! ...Please, answer me..."
AJ looked at Howie, his expression broken. Howie broke his eyes from Kevin to stare fearfully at AJ, "Wha- What do we do?"
AJ's shaken and unsure gaze looked from Howie to the crowd that was exiting through the windows, then he let it fruitlessly search for two missing faces. Finally, AJ's brown eyes landed on Kevin's unconscious from in his arms and Howie's too pale face. Pressing his lips together, AJ made his decision.
"We leave."
He was cold... and wet.
He shifted and realized something else. He was on the floor and he had one score of a headache. Brian groaned in a useless attempt to make it go away, but the headache's dull throb remained and it even worsened at the back of his head. Grimacing, Brian moved an arm to reach his hand to massage the pain at the back of his head and gasped at contact, his eyes snapping open. What he found was a rather large bump that was extremely tender to the touch.
Slowly, Brian pushed himself up into a sitting position. He gave the room a moment to stop spinning and then took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out. It helped, a little. Waiting for his vision to focus, Brian lost his breath at what eventually formed in his sharpening gaze.
The "room" was a complete catastophy. The entire side opposite him was collapsed, parts of tree branches mingling with the house's broken structure. The grotesque sight was shadowed and only partially illuminated by the lightning and strange flashing red and white lights that came from beyond the room, the blinking light breaking through by way of the gaping hole above Brian's head that also allowed the cool rain entry to keep him thoroughly wet.
Looking down, Brian noticed that the floor he laid on was decidedly... off. Just a small ways beside him the floor abruptly tilted down into the part of the room that was collapsed. It was almost as if something were trying to suck the room underground.
Raising a hand to rub gently at his forehead, Brian moved his gaze lazily behind him. He froze completely, not believing what he was seeing before him. Slowly, the memories returned and Brian gasped. He ignored his head's consistent ache an crawled to Nick's crumpled, still form. As he leaned on his left hand, Brian winced and switched to only using his right to reach his friend. He must have landed on it bad or something.
"Nick?" Brian ventured hesitantly, leaning over Nick when he reached him.
Nick laid on his stomach in a loose fetal position, his face turned away and hidden from Brian's gaze in the shadowed room. Capturing his bottom lip in his teeth, Brian carefully grasped Nick's shoulder and pulled Nick toward him, rolling the blond onto his back.
"Oh, my God," cried Brian at the sight of his friend's face. "Nick? Oh, jeez... Please answer me, Frack. Just--please..."
Dark, red blood covered the entire left side of Nick's lax face, including his neck and a large portion of his shirt. The dark liquid caught the flashing lights that broke into the room and glistened, the sight sickening Brian. He unsteadily used his good hand to carefully brush Nick's short blond hair back, his southern features cringing at finding parts of the blond color stained red.
Brian managed to rip off one of his shirt sleeves, part of the seam already torn, and used the cloth in an attempt to clean some of his young friend's face. That's when he found the wound, dangerously close to Nick's temple and still slightly bleeding. Folding the cloth, Brian pressed it against the open wound. He had to stop the bleeding.
Through all of this, Nick never moved or made a sound and it scared Brian. Again, Brian tried to reach his best friend.
"Nick?" he called, still leaning closely over the still form. "C'mon, Frack. Time to wake up... Please, Nick? Hey, someone is stealing your Playstation! ...It's AJ! He's going to sell it on e-bay! ......I'm serious, Nicky!"
Nick never made a sound or movement.
Brian felt his eyes tearing. He blinked and the hot tears fell to mingle with the cold rain. Brian now pleaded, hand still pressed tightly against the wound, "Nicky, please... You have to wake up. Nick... Nick, c'mon. You're really scaring me..."
At Nick's continued silence a single, broken sob escaped Brian's lips as his eyes squinted with tears. He pressed his lips together as more sobs silently shook his frame. Sniffing softly, Brian cried over his silent best friend.
AJ sat within the ambulance with his head in his hands, eyes closed as he hoped that he had made the right choice. Lifting his head, AJ looked from Kevin lying on the stretcher before him to Howie who sat on the other side. Howie was staring out the open back doors at the damaged house, the Latino's expression lost and worried.
AJ let his gaze fall upon the house, forcing himself to take in every aspect of the destruction. Secretly, as AJ had left the house with Kevin's unconscious form and Howie, he had hoped that Nick and Brian were already outside, that they had just missed seeing them inside. It didn't take long before he found out that his two friends were still trapped within the house. He had asked people if they had seen them, and he kept getting negative answers until one man said yes, but the last time he had seen them was when the lights had went out and they had been at the top of the stairs of the second floor, about to go into a room. The man hadn't seen them since and the door to the room he thought they went into was completely blocked by debris and wooden beams.
Devastated. That was the way AJ felt at the moment. Two of his four best friends in the world were trapped in that house. He didn't even know if they were still alive. One thing that AJ did know was that he wasn't going to leave again. He would not leave this place until his friends were found and found alive.
Letting his brown gaze fall on Kevin, AJ sighed. The paramedic had said Kevin had a concussion, not severe but not mild either. The ambulance was going to leave in a few minutes. They were going to take Kevin in for observation and a CAT scan, just to be safe. They were taking Howie in to free his arm of the glass and for stitches. AJ wanted to go with them, but he had already made his decision. The paramedics had said they would both be fine and he, himself was fine, so AJ was going to stay. He had left Nick and Brian once, he wouldn't do it again.
The bleeding had finally stopped and Brian had carefully removed the pressure of the cloth. Weary, Brian shifted to sit against the wall. He still remained at Nick's side, his good hand resting on the steadily moving chest.
It had to have been an hour or more since Brian had woken up when Nick began to wake up. Nick groaned and shifted slightly, only to groan again, louder this time. Brian instantly became alert, hope soaring within him at his friend's possible return to consciousness.
"Nick?" he asked urgently, his eyes flitting over Nick's face. "C'mon now. You can do it, Nicky. Wake up for me."
Nick moved more, rolling his head slightly. His face twisted in a pain filled wince, a shallow cry parting his lips as he slowly cracked his eyes open.
Brian smiled at the open eyes staring up at him, happiness at Nick's return raising his hopes. Brian moved his hand to grasp Nick's shoulder and was about to speak when at the touch, Nick recoiled back with a frightened gasp. Stunned, Brian watched as Nick quickly moved away and pushed up against the wall in a sitting position, one shaking hand raised to hold his head as he panted in obvious fear.
"Nick?" Brian called, reaching a hand out. He froze as Nick jumped at his voice, hand still gripping his head as he looked around.
"No!" Nick hoarsely cried, still moving his head as if searching the room. "Get away! Just get away!!"
Shocked, it took Brian a moment to respond. When he did, he forced his voice to remain steady and reassuring.
"Nick... Nick, it's me. Brian." Brian slowly moved forward, "You recognize my voice, don't you? Brian Littrell, the Frick to your Frack. C'mon... Do you recognize me, Nick?"
Nick finally looked in his direction, seeming to fight something within himself until he finally, hesitantly, spoke.
"Brian?"
Nick's voice was so soft that Brian barely heard it above the storm, "Yeah, Nick. It's Brian."
Brian reached Nick's side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Nick jerked but didn't move away. Instead, Nick seemed to accept Brian for who he said he was and shuddered suddenly, offering up in a trembling tone, "Dark."
Brian, although relieved that Nick seemed to be coherent, frowned at the single word, "Yes, it's a little dark Nick, but there are those red and white flashing lights. It's not totally dark and even the lightning helps."
Nick suddenly froze, "Red and white lights? L-lightning?"
Brian was becoming more confused by the second, "Yeah... Nick, what's wrong."
Nick lifted his eyes, the blue orbs blank as they stared past Brian. When he spoke, Nick's voice was barely audible and it trembled more with each word uttered.
"Brian... I don't see any lights. I- I can't see..."
