Buzzers and alarm bells were sounding everywhere. The lights flickered and the warning lights cast red shadows across the walls as they spun. The ship quaked and I was thrown through a door and into some other crewmen. I didn't have time to apologize as I rebounded back into the hall and stumbled off towards the family quarters. It took more time than I really had, but I finally got back to my family's door. I pushed through the door as soon as it slid open.
"Christian?" I wailed. I called and called, fearing the worst, until my younger brother's bleach blond head peeked out from his room.
"Eliot!" He yelled over the chaos and alarms outside our door. He pushed furniture out his way to get to me, "What's happened?" His blue eyes were pierced with fear. I could only just shake my head. My body had been stiff ever since the alarms went from yellow to red. I didn't know anything, except that I had to check on my family. I gave him a quick hug.
"Stay here. Be safe. I'll come for you." I turned to leave. Sickbay would need me.
"Ella!" Christian looked beyond worry, "Engineering's been hit hard. I heard over the intercom--" Without any other words I shot out into the hall and towards the nearest Communication Panel.
"Kilkenny to Engineering." I barked, holding onto the wall to steady myself with one hand, the other covering my twisting stomach. I couldn't get a picture, but the audio came through all too well. No one answered at first, everything was hissing pipes and snapping wires, until I heard a body slam into the Communication Panel on the other side.
"Yes, yes what is it?" The voice of an engineer reached me.
"Is Eli Kilkenny alright?" I launched at the man without a second's hesitation.
"What, the little redhead?" The crewman asked, sounding a little put off that I wasn't asking something more relevant to what was happening. If only he knew how important this was.
"Ha- you've seen him? Yes- yes, my little brother. Is he ok?" I begged.
"Yeah, Scotty has him... He's just fine." The engineer added when I cried a bit, he just didn't recognize it as relief.
"Th-thank you so much!" I choked, closing the channel and running back towards the lift. I rode it right to the sickbay and was affronted by a horrifying sight; I fought back the sickness in my throat and steeled myself. I could help these people; I had to help these people. It was more than my job. I waded through the injured and dying until I found the face I was looking for.
"Kilkenny, where is your uniform?" McCoy shouted at me from across the room. I rushed over to him.
"I'm not on a shift." My reply was cool and straightforward, but we shared a look of deeper meaning.
"First aid to the newly admitted." He told me, resting a bloody hand on my T-shirt. My brown eyes bore into the older man's for a second longer before I nodded and wove between the bodies back to the entrance, pulling my long mahogany red curls into a ponytail as I went.
It was time to save some lives.
~*~
The quaking had stopped, the bombing had ceased. The halls, recently buzzing like a beehive, were now deathly quiet. I was to be found pounding my way down to Engineering and my baby brother, my echoing footfalls being the only source of noise. I came to a halt when I saw two figures approaching hand-in-hand. My lips tightened and my eyes narrowed, welling up with grateful tears.
"Eli!" I called to him, kneeling as he let go of our cousin's hand. His eyes swam when he saw me.
"Ella!" My youngest brother howled, running to me with tears streaming down his face. I caught him in a strong embrace. He sobbed on my shoulder and gripped my bloody shirt in his tiny five-year-old hands. I squeezed him and put a hand on his little head.
"Thank you... for keeping him safe." I told the man standing slightly apart from the emotional sight. He nodded solemnly and sent me the faintest flicker of a smile. My cousin Scotty wasn't one to be speechless, but there weren't many comforting or understanding words to be had right now.
Rapid footsteps announced the appearance of McCoy with my other brother Christian. He flung his arms around the pair of us and I felt him shudder and convulse. He muttered thanks and prayers quietly under his breath, the words coming out in a wispy croak.
McCoy stepped over to Scotty and clapped him on the back. They seemed sad, not piteous, but sad. Maybe they were sad for all the repairs that would need to be done, maybe they were sad for all the dead and wounded, or maybe they were sad for our unfortunate little family. Sad that my parents couldn't be part of the huddled, shivering mass before them. Not ever again. Sad that Eli had only known his mother and father a scant four years. Sad that Christian secretly still hasn't gotten over the pain from their premature deaths. Sad that I was only seventeen and had to be a parent for her two younger brothers.
But my poor, unfortunate, little family couldn't cry anything but tears of joy. Because we had lived one more day; survived one more tragedy; and got to share just one more moment together, as a family.