Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Thirty-nine

IT WAS VERY dark. Dar forced her eyes open anyway, coughing sharply as a lung full of concrete dust invaded her chest. All around her, creaks and groans, crashing, and the sound of screaming could be heard.

She was on the ground, half covered in chunks of plaster and wall, shocked and dazed, and momentarily unable to think past rubbing the dirt out of her eyes in an attempt to use the tiny gleam of emergency lighting edging through a gap in the collapsed room.

Shit. Her scattered mind tried to focus as she rolled over and pushed herself up, blinking her stinging eyes. Kerry. It was too quiet.

“K—” She ended up coughing, as she felt around anxiously, the shadows very slowly resolving into gray, dim shapes in an eerie silence that set her heart pounding erratically. “Hey…hey…” She pawed through the debris with shaking hands, pulling down chunks of wall tangled in strips of wallpaper until she spotted a very still, dusty form half buried under some carpet and what was left of a chair.

Her world stopped.

She scrambled over the rubble and stared at the silent figure, a fear clamping a hold on her chest as she faced the possibility that the worst had happened.

“K-Kerry?” She barely heard her own whisper. “H-hey?”

There wasn’t a twitch of response and in the dimness she couldn’t see any movement at all.

Dar closed her eyes for a long moment, too scared to even breathe.

This couldn’t be happening, could it? Maybe it was all a dream and she’d wake up in her bedroom with Kerry poking her in the ribs.

Maybe?

Please?

You can’t take her from me. Dar’s eyelids drifted open, blinking them a few times to let the tears wash the dust out. Then she gathered her courage and leaned forward to put a hand on the still shoulder, her heart beating so fast it made her shake. Not yet. No...

A soft groan responded to her touch and Dar almost collapsed in sheer relief. “Hey…Kerry?” She clawed the debris aside and very gently brushed the crumbled plaster off her lover. “Sweetheart?” Her voice was shaky.

Eye of the Storm 367

Kerry drew a rasping breath. “Ow,” she answered weakly. “Dar?”

It was too dark for Kerry to see the tears and she was glad for that.

“Yeah. What’s wrong? What hurts?”

Kerry started to turn over, then gasped, and curled into a more fetal position. “My shoulder…oh God…”

Dar examined her anxiously, noting the odd angle under the cotton shirt Kerry wore. “Um…I think it’s…” She bent closer, straining her eyes.

“Maybe it’s dislocated. I can’t tell.” She put a careful hand on the blonde woman’s hip. “How’s everything else?”

Kerry was silent for a moment. “Okay, I think.” She took in a ragged breath. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Dar looked around her for the first time. The waiting room had mostly collapsed, leaving them in a small, irregularly shaped pocket near one side. There was no sign of anyone else and the doorway Kerry’s parents had been standing in was a large mass of silent rubble.

“Something exploded, I think.”

Kerry was facing away from the door. “Wh—?” She stopped. “What happened to everyone else?” She kept looking at a twisted piece of metal in front of her face, so close she could smell the rust on it. Dar hesitated, the light touch on her leg moving a bit and becoming warmer as her lover spread her fingers out over the denim material. “Dar?”

“I don’t know that either,” came the careful response. “It’s just the two of us here. I don’t see anything…anyone else.”

There was a moment of utter quiet. “Dear God, I’m glad you’re all right,” Kerry whispered. “I don’t know what I’d do if I were here…alone.” She eased slowly over onto her back, so she could see Dar, then halted as the faint light reflected off a tear streaked face.

“Careful.” Dar swallowed, putting a supporting hand under her back, as Kerry’s face tensed in pain.

“Augh.” It was like a red hot spike drove into her shoulder and Kerry almost screamed. She bit down on her lip instead, until she could taste blood. “Ow.”

“Okay. Listen,” Dar told her hesitantly. “If you want…I could try putting it back, then—”

“No!” Another jolt. “Don’t touch it…ow…gods…” Kerry didn’t know what to do. Every movement hurt and the pain was getting very intense.

“Kerry, listen—”

“Nooo.” She tried to roll away from Dar, scrabbling in the debris as hands tried to hold her still.

“Kerry. Kerry. Please. Just stop moving.” Dar’s voice sounded a touch frantic.

“I can’t.” She was taking short, shallow breaths. “I can’t stand it, Dar.”

“Okay.” Dar carefully slid her calf in behind Kerry’s back to support her. “Easy. Just try to relax. If you get tense, it’s worse.”

Kerry just moaned, but she listened and tried to do what her lover 368 Melissa Good asked. “Okay,” she finally whispered, her cheek pressing against the shattered rock.

“Okay. Now listen.” Dar shifted and braced one foot on the other side of Kerry’s body. “Honey, we have to get out of here, because it’s raining rocks, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You can’t do that hurting the way you are.”

“Dar, I can’t. Please don’t touch my arm.”

“Kerry.”

The concrete around them shifted ominously, sending a shower of small chunks down on top of them. Dar huddled over her injured friend, letting them hit her instead. “We don’t have much time.”

Kerry drew in a shaky breath and curled her fingers around Dar’s ankle. “Okay,” she whispered, the pain almost choking her.

Dar stroked her hair in a helpless attempt at comforting. “Hold on tight,” she warned, hoping she knew what the hell she was doing. The grip on her leg tightened. “Okay, I’m doing it.” She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead, then very carefully touched Kerry’s arm, trying not to hear the stifled whimper. “Easy, baby…easy.”

Dar managed to get her left hand under Kerry’s bicep and laid her right hand on top of the grossly misplaced shoulder. She made a picture in her mind of what she was going to do, then took a deep breath.

“Scream if you need to.”

Kerry knew that meant it was coming and she held her breath, biting the inside of her lip as she felt Dar shift, and the pain exploded through her, wrenching a guttural cry from deep inside her. It grew and grew as Dar pulled the injured arm towards her, a feeling so intense she reeled on the edge of unconsciousness for a long agonizing moment.

Then it was over.

Dar felt the bones slip into place with a sodden click, as Kerry’s entire body relaxed and she started to cry. “I’m sorry.” She sat down in the rubble and Kerry crawled into her lap and she cuddled her in careful arms. “I’m sorry, Kerry.” She stroked her shaking partner with small, helpless motions.

The pain slowly subsided, changing from a raging agony to a tense throbbing, but she could breathe now, at least, and move her fingers without screaming. “It’s…okay,” she mumbled softly. “Oh my god.”

Dar just sat there, with her eyes closed, absorbing the living, breathing body cradled in her arms. The shattered room around her meant nothing. The creaking walls, the sound of falling plaster, the stink, the far off yelling…none of that mattered to her at all.

Not when she’d faced losing Kerry.

That had touched something very deep and she still shook inside from it.

Finally, Kerry was able to ease herself back and look around in the dim wreckage. “Thanks.” She rubbed her aching eyes. “That really helped. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time.”

Eye of the Storm 369

Dar gazed at her and touched the dirty, tear streaked skin of Kerry’s cheek. “It’s okay.”

Kerry tensed her lips into a faint smile then she slowly turned her head and surveyed the wreckage. Her eyes fell on the rubble filled doorway and she stared at it. Then she looked up at Dar in dawning horror.

“D—” A long finger fell against her lips, silencing her.

“We don’t know,” Dar whispered. “Let’s get out of here and we’ll see what happened.”

Kerry’s bewildered gaze moved back to the door. “They were just there, Dar.” Her voice cracked. “And…what about…I have to find Angie…and…your mother and—”

“Shh.” Dar helped her stand up. “One thing at a time.” She stumbled over to where one collapsed wall revealed a storage closet, its contents spilling out. “There’s some sheets here. If I can find a knife…or…maybe I can rip them. I can make a sling for you.” She plucked at the linen. “Or maybe I can use a pillowcase…that’s smaller—”

“Dar,” Kerry supported her injured arm with her good one and made her way slowly over the debris, “why don’t you just use one of those?”

She indicated a canvas item dangling from a box, its straps hanging limply.

“Oh.” Dar retrieved the sling and climbed down. “Sorry.” She helped Kerry get it over her head and adjusted the buckles. “I’m not really thinking straight.”

Relieved by the support, Kerry tucked her fingers into Dar’s and led her back over to the one possible exit, a plate glass window now half crushed, its panes darkened. They both jerked as the ceiling settled and chunks of plaster rained down. “Okay.” Kerry’s voice wavered. “Now what?”

Dar faced the thick glass. “Guess we find out if all those years of martial arts were worth a damn.”

“Dar, you can’t—” Too late. Kerry felt the air move as her lover took a step back, then launched herself forward, turning and slamming the glass with a picture perfect kick. The surface buckled and with a surprising groan toppled outward, sending debris raining everywhere. “Wow.”

Outside the skewed sill the corridor wall had collapsed, leaving a tiny, triangular space near the floor, full of plaster chunks, that led into a further darkness.

“Guess we crawl.” Kerry sighed. “C’mon.” She sensed no motion behind her, so she turned. “Dar?”

Her lover was very still, one hand resting on the now empty frame, her eyes fixed on the tiny space left open to them.

“You okay?” Kerry came closer, peering up at her in the very dim light. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with. I want to see where everyone is.”

Dar’s jaw muscles twitched. “I can’t.” Her voice was hoarse.

“Wh—?” Kerry turned and looked at the opening, then back at her partner, seeing the sweat rolling down Dar’s face. “Oh my god. You’re claustrophobic?” The confirmation was clear by the expression. “Dar, it’s 370 Melissa Good the only way out.”

A visible shiver shook the taller woman.

Kerry fought the panic that nibbled at her. “Dar.” She took her lover’s hand, which was icy cold. “I’ll go first…okay? And you just come with me.”

“You go.” Dar’s voice cracked. “Get out of here.”

Kerry lifted a hand and touched her cheek, gaining eye contact.

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not going without you. We both get out of here, or neither of us will.”

She had no choice. “I’ll try.” Dar allowed Kerry to very gently guide her to the window and paused. “Wait.”

The dimly seen pale eyes turned her way in question.

“Let me go first.”

She stepped over the sill and into a personal little Hell.

It would be belly crawling. Dar slowly got down on her knees and peered into the dark tunnel. I can’t do this. Already her hands were shaking and her stomach was in knots. Just the thought of going forward made her want to get up and run in the other direction.

She felt Kerry’s hand close on her calf. “Ready when you are,” the blonde woman’s steady voice prodded her and she reluctantly dropped down onto her hands, somehow forcing herself to move closer to that tiny, narrowing tunnel.

She couldn’t.

But she had to, for Kerry’s sake.

Just think about that, Dar. That’s what matters. Close your damn eyes, and just do it for her.

Kerry tensed her lips and watched Dar lower herself to the ground and start to crawl forward. She edged along after her, using an elbow and both knees, keeping her injured hand resting on Dar’s leg. She had no idea what it felt like to be claustrophobic, but she did know she’d never seen her lover so obviously coming apart. “Take it slow, okay? I’m short a paw.”

Dar had to smile a tiny bit at that. She kept her eyes firmly shut and kept moving, the first bit of the tunnel wide enough to admit her shoulders without touching. Okay. She could hear the rumble as the building settled again and a bit of rock fell on her back. It also felt warmer. She move a hand forward and sensed something close to her head, but opening her eyes only found shadows. She moved aside anyway. “Watch your head up here.”

“Okay.” Kerry’s muffled voice came back at her. “You doing all right?”

“Yeah.”

Her voice didn’t sound all right. Kerry inched forward, then yelped, as she put her hand on a nail.

“What?” Dar tried to turn around and realized she couldn’t. Her whole body shivered.

“It’s okay. Just a nail.” Kerry winced. “Go on.” The dust got in her Eye of the Storm 371

nose and she stifled a sneeze.

Now the walls were getting closer. Dar could feel the brushing against her arms and the top of her head and she ducked in reflex, becoming more and more uncomfortable.

A few more feet and she banged her head against a piece of debris and halted, now really feeling the tunnel pressing in on her. Cautiously, she felt ahead of her position, finding the space moving to the left, and getting lower and tighter. She also couldn’t feel any air coming down the tunnel and she hesitated, considering telling Kerry to just back up, that they couldn’t go any further.

Then she let her head drop and laid down on her belly, drawing in a breath full of concrete dust and fear. “Gets close up here,” she muttered hoarsely, preparing to crawl. Kerry’s presence suddenly came closer and she felt a hug around her leg, then a gentle pressure that sounded suspiciously like a kiss. “What was that?”

“Me saying thank you.”

“Uh huh.”

“C’mon, Dar. You’re always inviting people to kiss your ass. Who else but me would have the guts to actually do it?”

Dar bit her lip as her frame shook with an unexpected laugh. Then she faced the tunnel and crept forward, squirming through the tiny space, trying not to think of anything but the moment she’d be out of the damn place.

It got tighter and tighter and Dar had to force herself forward each small bit, battling her own mind as much as the uncomfortable space. She crawled determinedly around a crooked bend then halted, as her head banged into a piece of collapsed wallboard and the collision caused a heavy board to drop down over her shoulders and pin her in place.

She couldn’t move. Her hands pushed against the ground ineffectively and the board settled lower, shoving her face into the sharp rocks.

“Dar?” Kerry’s concerned tone floated forward.

Dar felt panic rising and she was almost helpless to stop it. She struggled, her breathing coming in short sharp gasps as she tried to dislodge the board.

“Hey…hey…take it easy. Let me…” Kerry’s hands moved up her.

“Oh…god. Okay, I can…damn it, this piece of… Dar, stop fighting it. Let me try to help.”

It was almost impossible to do. All her instincts were urging her to move. Twitching, she managed to hold herself still as Kerry worked at the obstacle, hampered by her injured arm.

“I think I can.” Kerry’s voice was strained. “Ow…oh, wait, I think I’ve got it.” She tensed her muscles and pulled backwards, feeling the wooden plank shift. “Ah. Hold on a minute there, Dar. I’ve almost—” The motion surprised her, and she jerked, then felt the walls around her start to move. “Oh…sh—” She managed to throw her body forward over Dar’s just as the tunnel collapsed around them, pinning them together and blocking any chance at retreat.

372 Melissa Good It was her worst nightmare come true and Dar found herself frozen, unable to move as her mind recognized what had just happened. They were trapped, with only a tiny bit of air.

They were going to die.

She could feel Kerry’s warm breath on her back, where the blonde woman was pinned as they lay in a momentary, numb silence.

Dar swallowed, already aware of the stuffiness of the air around her.

Her panic surprisingly receded and she turned her head to one side.

“Ker?”

“Mmm?”

“Doesn’t look good.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Dar. I thought I was helping.” Kerry pressed her face against Dar’s back, breathing in her familiar scent. “Are we out of options?”

“I think so.”

They were quiet for a few breaths. “I’m glad we’re together,” Kerry finally whispered.

Dar blinked in the darkness. “Me too.”

“I always thought I’d be scared…” Kerry fell silent as they listened to a soft rattle of debris falling and shifting, far away. “I guess this is where we’re supposed to say all sorts of profound things to each other.”

“I guess,” Dar replied. Thirty years. She reviewed them in silence.

And only the last one meant a damn thing. “I’m sorry we never got to go to Key West.”

Kerry felt sleepy. “Maybe in our next life,” she murmured, “we’ve had such a short time in this one.”

It’s always too short. Dar felt a tide of frustration well up inside her.

“Yeah.”

“I love you, Dar.” Kerry pressed her lips against the warm back.

She couldn’t answer for a minute, around the lump in her throat. “I love you, too,” she finally rasped. “You know you’ve been the best thing in my life, right?”

A sniffle. “Ditto.” Kerry sighed. “I wasn’t ready for this to happen,”

she murmured softly. “I just found what I wanted, Dar. I don’t want to give it up yet.”

“Me either.” Dar felt a deep sense of anger rising. She tensed her muscles and tried to straighten her body out as her feet gained a purchase on the fallen debris behind them. She could feel the heavy pressure of the wood over her shoulders and her spirit rebelled against its captivity. “I know it’s pointless, but…” She coiled her legs up and set her back against the wood.

“Wh-what are you doing, Dar?”

“Trying.” There wasn’t any reason or thought behind it. She took a breath, then pushed, straining her muscles against the obstruction. It didn’t budge even slightly, but she tried harder, reaching inside and calling up slumbering reserves of strength she rarely ever had tapped.

She closed her eyes and an echo of memory flowed through her, the Eye of the Storm 373

stale air made her head buzz, and smelled a sharp, harsh scent and just decided she needed to be out of where she was.

Kerry needed to be out of where she was. No way was she going to let Kerry die. No way.

No.

Way.

A hot surge of energy hit her in the gut and she uncoiled, a yell of rage erupting from her chest as her body straightened, to the sound of crashing and a roar and a blast of hot, stinking air. Dar reeled on the edge of unconsciousness, dimly aware of hands grabbing her and voices hammering at her ears that were curiously familiar.

Kerry felt things move around her and she tried to keep hold of Dar as plaster and drywall collapsed on top of them both. She knew a moment of total panic, then the debris behind her gave way and she tumbled out of the tunnel and into a clear space. Ceiling tiles dropped on top of her head and she rolled, trying to get into the clear. Then her motion was stopped by something solid and she flailed an arm out, making contact with unexpected fabric and warmth.

“Kerry!” Never had a voice been more welcome. Kerry blinked her eyes open through the plaster dust and made them focus on Andrew’s dusty, scarred face. The tall man knelt at her side and pulled the drywall off her. She clutched at his arm, pulled him over awkwardly and hugged him. “Easy there.” He gently freed her of the plaster and ended up on the floor with Kerry in his lap. “Lord, ah am glad to all hell to see the two of you.”

“Same here.” Kerry managed a smile, as she carefully sat up, cradling her arm and looking around. Dar was sprawled full length in the dirt, with her mother kneeling over her, and she could smell smoke nearby. “I’m glad you’re both all right.” Her eyes went to the far corridor, blocked by the collapsed ceiling.

Dar lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath. The voices came much closer and she felt fingers touch her forehead, for a moment throwing her back into childhood, when a fall from the tree outside their base quarters had dazed her. It had been the same touch and she opened her eyes to see her mother crouched over her, an anxious look on her face.

“Dar?” Ceci said.

“Hi, Mom,” Dar murmured. “Watch that last step. It sucks.”

Ceci went still for a second, then her face creased into a wry smile, as she shared the memory. “What luck. You’re already at a hospital.” She looked over to where Andrew was tugging Kerry free of the last of the debris. “I’m glad we found you. There’s a fire in the next section. We have to get out of here.”

That explained the heat. Dar caught her breath and looked around.

What had been the nurses’ station was now just a mass of rubble and the ceiling had fallen down in the corridor, blocking the way forward. Kerry scrambled to her feet and, as Dar watched, she walked over and laid a hand on the blockage. The emergency lighting was a little stronger here 374 Melissa Good and displayed the liberal bloodstains on Kerry’s cotton shirt, from the scratches and scrapes covering her skin. Dar looked down, finding herself in the same condition.

“Dar?” her mother prompted her gently. “Are you okay?”

Dar didn’t think so. Too much was happening too fast. But she gathered her wits and nodded. “We had kind of a tough time getting through that mess.”

Ceci patted her shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s see if we can find a way out of here.”

They both stood and walked over to Kerry and Andy. Dar suffered a hair ruffling from her father, as Kerry thumped against her in a heartfelt embrace. She put her arms around the smaller woman and exhaled, trying to put the very recent past behind her for the moment.

“Thank you,” Kerry uttered. “I don’t know how you did that, but thank you.”

Did what? Dar deferred the question until later. “We have to get moving.” She indicated a half passable exit to the right.

Kerry lifted her head, then moved away from Dar to the piles of debris blocking the way towards where Angie’s room was. “How can we get through here?”

They gathered behind her. Dar put a hand on the fractured wall.

“Kerry…it…” She fell silent. The heat was increasing. “I don’t think…”

“Dar,” Kerry picked up a chunk of concrete and tossed it aside, “my family’s behind here.”

“Kerry,” Andrew went to her side, “ah think whatever it was that blew up, was right up under that wing there.”

Kerry looked at him. “I have to know for sure.” She pulled another bit off and threw it behind her. “I’m not going to live my life—now that I have one again, thank you, Dar—wondering if there was something I could have done to help them.”

A thin haze of smoke had started to drift in and the heat was getting uncomfortable, but Dar merely sighed and set to work, tugging on the stubborn concrete in an attempt to clear the wreckage. She glanced at her parents. “Why don’t you guys go on?”

“Why don’t you grow wings and fly?” Ceci retorted. “We’d better hurry. It’s going to get nasty in here.”

They started to work as an eerie roar became subliminally audible, along with the echo of far off screams.