'It hurt. The pain was excruciating. His lungs felt like they would burst into flames. His throat felt no better. His eyes felt dry and he coughed viciously to try to clear his airways. The orange glow was so blinding. He felt arms around his shoulders. Whoever was holding on to him was stumbling just as much as he was. He was so disoriented. The person holding his shoulders guided him away from the hot orange glow and he faintly heard coughing. There was a deafening roar surrounding him and the next thing he knows he and whoever is holding him are being doused with freezing cold water. He is able to hear a voice shouting at him that they must run. He knew the dorm was on fire. It dawned on him who was standing under the torrent of ice cold water with him. It was his best friend and roommate Fermat Hackenbacker.'
Fermat awoke to his inability to breathe. He opened his eyes to be blinded by the bright orange glow of flames. He froze as he looked around frantically for his roommate and best friend. He spotted him lying on their dorm floor clutching at his throat struggling to breathe. He jumped up and knelt by his fallen friend. Gathering him in his arms he practically drug Alan to the bathroom. Slamming the bathroom door and shoving a bunch of towels in front of the bottom of the door, Fermat shoved his friend into the bath tub. Turning on the shower to the coldest water available, Fermat climbed in as well. He knew if they were going to attempt to run through the fiery inferno they must be doused with water to avoid severe burns. He grabbed two wash clothes and got them wet before tying one around Alan's face then following suite. He glanced down at his watch and decided it was emergency enough to contact their family. Manipulating the buttons the emergency signal was activated.
John sat stationed up in Thunderbird 5. He was currently star gazing. He loved being up in orbit for the most part. The only thing he wished could be changed was that he wished he could be closer to his family. God only knows how much he missed them. Jeff his father and founder of International Rescue or if you followed their codename Thunderbirds. Jeff was the integral aspect of IR. Then there was his older brother Scott. He and his younger brothers often referred to Scott as the mother-hen of the family. Then there was Virgil, the aspiring medic of the family. Virgil was much like John in the sense that he had an easy-going nature. However all the Tracy boys carried the famous Tracy temper. When one pissed off Virgil, you had better watch your back. Sometime his temper could be scarier than Scott's or their father's. Gordon was the next boy. Gordon was the Olympian of the family. He was a successful champion of the swimming division in the Olympics and he also was a previous member of WASP. The little prankster was a cherished albeit annoying member of the family. Last but not least was the Tracy boy's favorite baby brother. Alan Tracy. A 14 year old boy with one hell of a wicked sense of humor and very sharp minded. Regardless if he never applied himself wholly in his classes at Wharton's the family knew how smart Alan was. Yeah he missed his family, but he missed his baby brother the most. Regardless of the age difference, he and Alan had so much in common. Both the only blonds in a family of brunettes save for Gordon who had an interesting shade of copper hair.
His reflection was broken by the shriek of an alarm. Wheeling over to pull up his monitor, he blanched when he saw that the alarm was sounding from Fermat's watch. He panicked when he noticed Alan's was not coming up. Fearing the worst, he activated the monitor to Fermat's watch and his pupils dilated when he saw an image of Fermat covering his face with a dripping washcloth. He heard coughing coming from two sources. Fermat started to shout at whoever was coughing. He could hear a loud deafening roar and it drowned out Fermat's voice. He promptly began hollering into his mike in order to get Fermat's attention.
"Fermat! What is the matter? Are you okay?" John watched with baited breath as Fermat opened his eyes and gazed at the watch on his wrist. Closing his eyes he started hacking. He barely managed to get the words "dorm on fire" out before he was coughing again.
John took notice then that the other set of coughing had never stopped. He recognized the cough as Alan's. Being a big brother he had his share of tending to sick little brothers. He noticed the screen kept fading from dark to light. He realized the source of coughing must be smoke!
"Fermat what is going on? Why are you and Alan coughing? Please answer me!" John pleaded with Fermat to give him an answer. The watch monitor came into focus and Fermat began to shout in order to be heard over the deafening roar of flames. However Fermat's voice kept on occasionally being drowned out by that roar.
"Went to bed…woke up…past curfew…couldn't breathe…dorm…fire…Alan…can't breathe." Fermat dissolved into a coughing fit before he could continue. "Shower…cold water…going to run…4th floor…no fire escape…please help!"
John felt totally helpless. He took notice of another light blinking on his console. Answering it quickly he heard the familiar voice of Wharton's headmaster begging the Thunderbirds to come recue some students trapped by the flames. After getting the coordinates he activated the Klaxon. That was the alert that brought his brothers and father to the office so they could get details on the rescue.
A loud blaring alarm sounded throughout the Tracy Island. The family who had just finished breakfast raced to Jeff Tracy's office to be informed on the nature of the rescue. Upon entering the screen activated and there was the face of the second son in the Tracy family John. His face was pale and he looked frightened. Jeff stepped forward and words started stumbling from John's mouth.
"Alan and Fermat are in danger! Their dorm is on fire! Alan and Fermat woke up to smoke and fire all over their room! They can't breathe! The headmaster said there are trapped students. Fermat activated emergency signal! Begging us to save them! Please you must hurry!"
Jeff and the other Tracy brothers stood there shocked. Jeff immediately jumped into action and hollered "Thunderbirds are go!" The boys all ran to their portraits and prepared for the rescue of Wharton's school. They were not just going for their brother or Fermat, but because the headmaster contacted and just said students were trapped in the blaze. He would have identified if it was one or two students, but he didn't specify so that meant there were more students trapped beside the first two boys. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 we're set for takeoff.
"Okay Scott let's go and save these kids. Under no circumstances are we to reveal our identities as Alan's family. This is strictly professional. Gordon, Virgil is that understood?" Jeff did a quick run through with his sons.
"F.A.B. dad!" The combined replies from the three boys were heard loud and clear, before the birds took off at an even paced speed.
The moment that John signed off from the emergency call, Fermat grabbed Alan's arm and hauled him to his feet. Alan had not stopped coughing. It was beginning to sound very painful. Alan had thrown up at least twice from coughing really hard. Both boys were thoroughly soaked to the bone in the freezing cold water. Their pajamas were plastered to their bodies as they crawled out of the bathtub. Grabbing a wet towel Fermat wrapped it around the door handle. He knew not to grab at the handle in case the flames were on the other side and had heated the metal handle. Grabbing Alan and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, Fermat opened the bathroom door and immediately wished he hadn't. The heat from the flames pushed both boys back from the door. Both boys looked at each other and held hands. They knew they were going to run and they didn't want to get separated. Fermat grabbed the towel off the bathroom door handle and he and Alan ran through the flames.
Alan tried not to scream as the flames licked at his skin. He already was unable to breathe, and the increased pain of the flames searing his skin was horrifying. Both boys were barefoot. But Alan was wearing a tank top and lounge pants. Fermat at least had a t-shirt on to cover parts of his arms. Alan could see the pained expression cross Fermat's face as he felt the flames lick at his skin as well. Wrapping the door handle in the towel, both boys braced themselves to be pushed back by a wall of flames. Upon opening the door it was just as they had expected. The hallway glowed ominously with an orange glow and the heat was stifling. Crouching down both boys dropped to their knees in order to get away from the worst of the flames. Crawling as fast as they could they begin navigating toward the stairs that they knew led to the next level. Upon reaching the stairs they stood up and ran down while holding hands.
Dropping to their knees both boys dissolved into a coughing fit again. Overwhelmed by the need to stop and rest, Alan realized that should they do that they will die. After getting their breathing under as much control as they could manage while inhaling smoke and ash they dropped to their knees again and began crawling again. The groan of burning wood could be heard and Alan and Fermat turned when they heard the stairs they just ran down cave in.
Shooting a frightened tearful gaze at each other, they made the decision to run not crawl. Granted they knew the rules that when escaping a fire, they were supposed to remain on their knees and crawl to safety…but it would take too long and they might die quicker. Grabbing hands they both stood up and took off at a sprint. Reaching the staircase in a matter of moments, the boys were terrified to see the stairs engulfed in flames. They would undoubtedly be badly burned by running over those steps but it was a matter of life and death. Burns could heal, death could not. Alan grabbed Fermat and pulled him onto his back. Alan was willing to take the brunt of the burns for his best friend. Fermat struggled before Alan took off at a sprint down the stairwell. Tears ran down Alan's face and he coughed. His feet felt raw and they throbbed worse than his arm when he broke it as a kid. He could faintly smell his flesh burning and as he reached the bottom of the stairs he couldn't take the pain. He collapsed to his knees and started dry heaving. Fermat crawled off his back, and grabbed one of Alan's arms and slung it over his shoulders. Pulling Alan up with him, both boys ran as fast as they could on burned feet. Fermat's feet stung and his leg felt like the muscle was pulling. Fermat was aware that he had a pretty serious burn on his leg. Fermat and Alan both prayed that they made it through the fire and that they would be rescued by the Thunderbirds.
Scott flew Thunderbird 1 as fast as he could. He could see a distant glow of orange in the dark night. It was well after midnight in Massachusetts. He keyed up his mike and spoke to the entire Thunderbird crew.
"ETA is 10 minutes. I can see the school from here. The fire is pretty bad from what I can tell. Have any of you heard from Fermat or Alan recently?" Scott used his commander voice when addressing the Thunderbirds. However everybody could hear the hints of worry and mother hen creeping into his voice.
"Negative on hearing from the boys. I have heard no more from the headmaster either." John's cool and level-headed voice was heard in the mike.
"Scott, Virgil, Gordon hurry! We must get to Wharton's before any lives are lost!" Jeff's worried father/calm commander voice broke the pandemonium running rampant through the boy's heads.
"F.A.B.!" The boys replied before cutting communications.
Fermat kept up an agonizingly slow pace with Alan. Both boys were exhausted and they were in severe pain. Neither could breathe and neither could see properly. They leaned on each other for support and held hands refusing to be separated. They could care less how it might look to the staff and students outside. It was a form of comfort both boys needed at the current time. Alan limped along painfully as his feet throbbed. Alan held his right arm that which was not currently attached to the hand in Fermat's grasp to his chest. His arm was killing him as he was sure it was burnt or cut by the falling beam from earlier. Hell it could even be broken.
The washcloth Fermat tied to his face had long since dried up. But instead of removing a dry washcloth from his face, Alan decided to keep it as a form of barrier between the flames and his painfully scorched lungs and throat. Alan's eyes felt like they were swelling. They burned but he knew not to rub them as the ash and smoke is what is affecting his sight. They were finally on the bottom floor and were hurrying as quick as they could with the injuries sustained. Fermat limped almost as painfully as Alan was doing. He had been hit by the same falling beam that hit Alan earlier except it hit his ankle. So now his feet, ankle and leg hurt. His lungs burned and he kept offering Alan his asthma puffer. Both boys were using it to try to lighten up their heavy breathing. They could faintly hear sirens and knew they were close to freedom. Looking at each other, they tightened their hold on each other's hands and despite their injuries began to run wishing to be free from this hall of flames.
Scott, Virgil and Gordon landed their Thunderbirds and disembarked. They looked around frantically in search of their baby brother Alan and Pseudo-brother Fermat. All they could see were a bunch of tearstained faces and none of the faces were their family. Gordon ran ahead to speak with the headmaster about the locations of the trapped students and to gather how the fire started. Scott and Virgil prepared to run into the fire, when two soot covered bodies came rushing from the flames. Both boys fell to their knees and dropped on their sides to try to stop the flames from burning them more. A loud keening about the pain of the flames that were on their backs could be heard. Scott and Virgil wasted no time in patting out the flames that clung to the boys' forms. Scott and Virgil had no way of knowing that the two boys they were aiding were the boys they were searching for. Their skin was black from ash and their voices were scratchy. Both boys began hacking and coughing. Each inhale sounded like someone was breathing through a straw.
Scott grabbed one boy and Virgil grabbed the other and hauled them away from the fire should the building collapse. The moment the boys were laid on the snow covered ground a fair distance from the burning building, Virgil and Scott wasted no time in removing the washcloths from the boy's faces and placing their personal breathing devices oxygen masks over the injured boy's faces. A thunderous groan could be heard and Scott and Virgil turned in time to see the entire building collapse. They noticed Gordon running towards them from Thunderbird 2 and he was carrying two back boards. Upon arrival Gordon informed them that all the students were accounted for. Nobody was too badly injured except for these two. However they were still unaware that these boys were Alan and Fermat. It was not until the boys were loaded onto the back boards did they make their identities known. As Scott and Virgil lifted the back boards a badly burnt hand shot out from one board reaching for the other. Thankfully the boards had a hover capability so they did not require more than one person to push them. The badly burnt hand gripped the other burnt hand gently.
"…Mat…y'okay?" The taller boy asked as he reached for the companion who ran through the flames with him. Grasping his hand he refused to loosen his group.
"…An…m'fine. How'r you?" The smaller statured boy voiced.
Both boys began coughing harshly and the taller one released the other hand before reaching up and pulled off the oxygen mask before leaning over the edge of the back-board to vomit on the ground below him. Gordon smoothed the soot laden hair away from the taller yet ill/injured male's face. He had told the headmaster he and the other Thunderbirds would give them medical treatment and take them to the hospital if necessary. The headmaster readily agreed, and sent Gordon on his way. As Gordon walked along beside one of the boys, he took notice of a very familiar watch on one of the boy's wrist. However he wanted to attempt to wash some of the ash from these boy's faces before allowing his thoughts to wander to Alan and Fermat. It would not be good for the boys to have the ash on their body. Upon entering Thunderbird 1, both of the injured boys were greeted by a bright light needed to examine their injuries. The medic grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting the clothes of both boys. After removing the injured boy's burnt clothing, Virgil grabbed a moist sponge and began to slowly rub it against the shorter boy's face.
A moan of pain could be heard coming from the taller of the two injured boys. Gordon grabbed another sponge and wet it slightly. Lightly rubbing it across the boy's face, Gordon's eyes widened to discover the face he was washing was none other than his little brother. Two sharp intakes of breath could be heard in the sickbay of Thunderbird 1. Glassy blue eyes opened and gazed around in an attempt to clear his vision. Gordon grabbed the eye wash realizing that Alan probably had debris in his eyes.
"Virgil! I have Alan!" A choked voice said. Another voice responded with "I have Fermat" Hearing the exclamations Scott clenched his jaw in realization that the two boys they had rescued were Fermat and Alan. Both boys were badly burnt and Scott was piloting Thunderbird 1 to the nearest Burn unit hospital. ETA was 1 hour and Scott was not pushing the engines for the turbulence could further harm the injured boys.
Gordon placed a towel just beneath Alan's head and began running the eyewash over his face. The moment the sterilized water got into his eyes Alan began moaning from the burning intensity. After Gordon removed the eye wash, he dabbed gently at Alan's eyes. Alan gazed up into the face of his older brother. Alan began shivering violently from pain and shock, Gordon grabbed a blanket to cover his half naked brother. As the blanket was laid over Alan's quivering form, a breeze that was created by the blanket caused Alan to jerk. A moan could be heard and Virgil stopped what he was doing to Fermat to come look at his little brother. His face paled as he lifted the blanket slightly and observed the burns that covered Alan's legs and feet. They were easily a high grade burn. At the minimum they were 2nd/3rd degree burns. Moving his gaze higher he looked at Alan's chest, shoulders, and neck. They were covered in 1st and 2nd degree burns. Alan's hair was singed and Virgil noticed Alan was not moving his right arm. Pulling the blanket down slightly, Virgil winced when he saw Alan's humerus bone had been broken. He really hated to do what he was about to do. He had to set the bone using forceful traction, and he knew his brother would undoubtedly scream. Turning slightly he ordered Gordon to lightly sedate Fermat and ran forward to inform Scott what he would be doing. As he came back into the infirmary he grabbed the sheath of his combat knife from his belt.
Stepping forward he opened Alan's mouth and placed the sheath in between his teeth. Alan looked around dazedly before gasping for air deeply. After Fermat had been sedated, Virgil ordered Gordon to come and hold Alan down. Gordon felt bile creep up his throat and swallowed thickly realizing the type of pain Alan was about to undergo would hurt like a sonnavabitch but it was unavoidable. Gazing into the frightened, pain filled blue eyes both Virgil and Gordon felt their hearts break. They had never seen their baby brother look as vulnerable as he was currently. Nodding at Gordon, Virgil keyed up his mike to inform John and base that he was currently dealing with an injured individual and that he was shutting off his mike. After breaking the connection between both links Scott, Virgil and Gordon muted their mikes in preparation of the scream that would fill the medi-bay. Should Jeff, or John key in they will not have to hear Alan the baby of the family scream like he was being murdered. Placing one hand on Alan's right wrist and one on his shoulder, Virgil took a deep breath before counting down in his head.
'…One…Two…Three!' Virgil pulled hard on Alan's arm and if Alan clenching his jaws on the sheath was no indication of the pain then surely the blood curdling scream was. Scott in the cockpit swallowed thickly himself at hearing his little brother scream like somebody had stabbed him repeatedly. He had never heard any of his brother's scream like that before. Closing his eyes briefly, Scott took a deep breath to calm his fried nerves. After setting the bone with forceful traction, Virgil set about to splint Alan's arm. His face was pale and he felt sick to his stomach after causing his brother such immense pain. Tears lightly ran down his face. However chancing a glance at his other younger brother, Virgil's eyes widened at the sight of Gordon's green shaded face. Grabbing an emesis basin from the cupboard, Virgil thrust it into Gordon's hands as he lost the battle with his stomach.
Gordon faintly remembered hearing his little brother and best friend/partner in crime scream. However that memory only brought the contents of his stomach to the surface and he was vaguely aware of an emesis basin being placed in his hands and he lost the battle with his stomach. After heaving up his breakfast, Gordon was vaguely aware of his brother Virgil guiding him to a chair on the other side of medi-bay. Chancing a glance at Virgil, his gaze wandered back to Alan. The kid still had his jaws clenched tightly around the sheath of his brother's combat knife. Tears streamed in heavy torrents down Alan's face and choked sobs could be heard from the 14 year old. Sweat was dripping down Alan's ashen face and it appeared that his face burned with a fever from either the injuries or exhaustion. Directing his gaze at Alan's other hand he noticed that his knuckles were white as he clutched at the blanket that had been laid over top of him