I was watching "The Dumpling Paradox," today, and I started thinking about earthquakes, so I researched them and decided to write this story.
"This is so weird," Penny said. "We get to spend the night in your room without Sheldon interrupting us!"
"Mmmm." Leonard yawned, rolling over to face her. "So much more pleasant this way."
"Because my stuffed animals can't stare at you here?" she joked.
"That is a slight bonus," he said. She grinned and curled up against him. "Where did he go again?"
"Raj took him to the comic book store." He kissed her forehead. "Why are we talking about Sheldon?"
She laughed. "Because I said how nice it was to be able to have sex without him knocking on the door telling us to keep it down."
"Ah, right." He slid his arms around her. "It is nice, isn't it?"
They both began to drift off to sleep. It was a nice, clear night, and the stars were brighter than usual for the city. Feeling Penny relax against him, Leonard found himself drifting off to sleep.
He wasn't sure how long they had been lying there when he felt a slight rumbling. Thinking that Penny was having her typical pre-sleep twitches, he tried to ignore it, but then realized that the shaking was intensifying, and that it was not restricted to the woman beside him-the entire room was shuddering! He raised his head in confusion.
"What's that?" Penny whispered, sitting up and looking around.
He could barely see her in the dim light. "I think it's…" the shaking intensified. "Earthquake!" He jumped out of bed and pulled his jeans on, reaching for his shirt with his other hand.
She reached for her shirt; putting it on in such haste neither of them realized it was inside out and backwards. "Come on," she said, jumping into her shorts. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him toward the door. He was in a daze, not believing that this was happening. The entire building was shaking, and as they entered the living room, he heard an earsplitting crash from above. Pieces of the ceiling began to rain down on them, and one struck Penny on the shoulder as she reached the door and pulled on it. Nothing. Leonard rammed his shoulder into it, and still it didn't budge. He tried again, and the pain that shot through his arm was in vain; the door still didn't move.
"It's blocked!" Penny wailed, clawing at the door. Her fingers began to bleed, but that didn't stop her.
"Stop that," Leonard said, getting between her and the door. "That's not going to help!" He was yelling at her, his voice strained. The rumbling continued.
Penny seemed to realize that trying to scratch her way through the door would do nothing. She spun around and headed in the opposite direction, the falling pieces of ceiling causing her to stumble as she moved about.
"What are you doing?" Leonard asked, the fear escalating when he saw her grab the cushion off his chair and head for the window.
"We need to get out of here!" she said.
"No! Penny!" She always got irrational when she was afraid.
"Come on!" She shouted. "We're not that high up!"
"Penny, that's suicidal!" He had to stop her!
"Leonard, please!" She begged, coming back over to him and grabbing his arm. Tears were flowing freely down her face. "We'll die if we stay here!" She turned back, clutching the cushion to her chest. "Come on!"
Leonard had seen the fear in her eyes, and he knew that she was perfectly capable of plunging out the window in the belief that she was saving herself. She was panicking, and he couldn't blame her-they were in a pretty bad situation. Was this how it was going to end-having to choose to die from a four story plunge or being crushed inside a collapsed apartment building? Penny clearly thought the window was the better option, but she wasn't known for good split-second decisions.
He couldn't let her die that way-if they stayed in the building they'd have a chance-a slim chance, to be sure, but a bigger chance that falling four stories with only a cushion as protection. As she turned, he pushed her, and she fell facedown onto the couch. He followed her down, the rubble raining on them. He pulled the cushion from her hands and put it over their heads to shield them from the wreckage that was falling. One of Penny's fumbling hands found his and gripped it tightly as they heard more crashing from above. Leonard's back was being pummeled with debris, but at least Penny was safe beneath him, shielded from the missiles.
They were trapped on the fourth floor of an old apartment building during a violent earthquake. Their chances of survival were slim, but aside from jumping from the window to a horrible death, they had no other option.
For those of you waiting for more of "The Equine Expansion" or "The Camaraderie Support" I'm working on them. I just don't want to post crap, so I need to make sure it's decent stuff before I post it. Oh, and I'm going to follow all five characters here, so the name of the chapter is who I'm going to focus it on.
