Author's Note: Yay, the weekend! Happy Friday everybody! Hope you guys had an easier time of readjusting to school and work after spring break than I did, I'm beat. I did manage to wrangle up this update for you all thoug, and I hope you enjoy! (It's a little bit longer than the other ones. :)

~Lou

Disclaimer: Still don't own the Tracy brothers and still not pretending to, just having a bit of fun. I'm not making any money by posting this.


Floodswept

Chapter Three- In 45 Seconds

Dale slid behind the wheel and hit the gas, tearing through the woods toward their research site, the closest safe zone.

Dr. Burrell pulled out her radio, contacting Zack to tell him to hold the dam, and from the front seat, Gordon placed a hand to his ear making a call of his own. Please let John's upgrades work.

"John, can you hear me?"

It was staticky for a moment before his big brother's voice rang through his ear. "Loud and clear, Gordon. My 'sediment scanner thingie' is working pretty well, isn't it?"

When Gordon didn't laugh or make a joking remark, John knew something was wrong.

"We've got a situation down here, John. There are civilians in the flood zone. I need locations on everyone who used- what trail?" Gordon turned in his seat, asking the hikers.

"Creststone." The young man spoke up. "In Fireside."

"Crestone trail in Fireside." Gordon repeated into his comlink.

"FAB. Accessing now." John said. Gordon decided not to ask if his brother's "access" was of the legal variety or not.

"I'll check the other trails in the area as well, if this trail isn't closed who knows if the others are.." John said.

"Good idea, John." Gordon hadn't even thought to check if the trails were actually closed, it hadn't even entered is mind that people would fail to do something as fundamentally right as close down a flood zone. He hadn't considered that there might be other trails that weren't closed.

Gordon jerked forward as the truck skidded to stop, having reached their destination. The research site was situated in a large clearing, with four or five canvas tents standing in a half circle. The hill they were on directly overlooked the dam, and walking up the footpath was Zack, shivering and soaking wet.

"Dam's sealed!" He called out, breaking into a jog. "Don't know how long it'll hold though."

"Probably give us another hour, tops." Gordon said, then turned his mouth up in a half smile. "Did you fall in the river?"

Zack gave a breathless laugh, his jaw chattering. "Just the shallows. Slipped on the bank."

Gordon shook his head. Running on a riverbank; same mistake Alan had made countless times on his first few water rescues.

Gordon pulled a jacket out of one of the equipment packs he'd stashed in the truck and handed it over to Zack, who took it gratefully, nodding his thanks.

"Woah, dude, is this thing heated?" Zack asked with happy surprise, zipping it up to his neck and shoving his hands into the pockets as Gordon had done before.

Gordon shrugged. "One of the perks of having a job that consistently puts you in hypothermic conditions."

Th two hikers looked at Zack with worried expressions. "Is it safe to be this close to the river?"

"Don't worry, we're upstream from the flood." Gordon said. "It's perfectly safe."

A beeping sound pulled Gordon's attention away. He tapped a finger to his sash and John's hologram appeared floating in front of him.

Gordon tried not read too much into his brother's grim expression. "What've you got for me, John?"

"It's nothing good. The Creststone trail is the only one still open in the area, but, Gordon, there are a lot of people out there. Apparently, this trail is one of the most popular in the area. That's why it wasn't shut down."

Gordon's eyes sparked angrily. "Are you kidding me?" His voice dangerously low. "There are people trapped out there, with no idea what's coming, because some greedy money grubber decided he'd rather have a few extra bucks in his pocket then close down a trail?"

John sighed, wondering if he should tell Gordon this next part. But decided that his brother needed the facts. "Not 'some money grubber.' Connelly. He owns the campgrounds."

Gordon's voice grew cold. "Connelly." He remembered the man. His clipped tone and "mightier than thou" attitude. The facade of concern he had for his trapped miners paled to white in comparison to his obvious distress over the welfare of his mine. He was everything Gordon's father had warned him not to become in the midst of his own privileges.

But even as Gordon's anger flared up, he blew out a sigh and stomped it out. People needed him.

"Any more bad news, Johnny?"

"Unfortunately, yes." John continued, watching the look in his brother's eye. "I've alerted local Search and Rescue, but it's a small town and they only have one helicopter. EOS calculated it, there is no way they'll get to everyone in time."

"Call in Scott."

"Already have, Virgil too. Scott's ETA is just under forty minutes, Virgil's is about an hour. I've reached out to other SAR units, but they'll take longer than the both of them."

"That's cutting it way too close, John." Gordon said, remembering the maybe hour they had before the dam gave out. "There has to be something else we can do."

"I didn't say there wasn't, but it's kind of a long shot. I've triangulated the locations of the hikers by pinpointing the signals emanating from the radios they're carrying. But with all the interference, all I could get were approximations. The hikers can be anywhere within a quarter mile radius."

Gordon frowned. "I thought you said your scanner thing was working, John."

"Work in progress, Gordon. I'm still trying to find a way to sift through the interference." John said, resisting an eye roll. "But that's not the point. If you could get out there, locate some of the hikers and give the SAR guys exact locations instead of estimates…"

"We might be able to save everyone after all." Gordon finished. "I'm already on it, John."

John held up a hand to stop Gordon from hanging up. "One hitch though, Gords. What are you gonna drive?"

Gordon grinned. "Don't worry about it. I've got an idea."

Hanging up his holocom, Gordon turned around to the band of researchers behind him. They'd been so quiet he'd almost forgotten they were there.

Dr. Burrell stepped forward. "How can we help?"

A sheepish smile grew on Gordon's face. "I need to borrow your truck."

~TB~

The rusted out pick-up was not by any means a Thunderbird, but it was still better than riding around in a bulldozer. Still, a pick up truck didn't exactly scream "I'm a member of the most elite organization of emergency responders in the world." Which might explain why Gordon was having such a difficult time making people believe him.

"You're not listening to me." Gordon told the two teenage boys, his patience wearing thin. "Your lives are in danger. In half an hour, this entire area will be flooded."

"Yeah. Sure, dude. We're not just hopping into the back of some random guy's truck."

Gordon refrained from rolling his eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately, as if explaining something to a small child. "I'm not just 'some guy'. I'm an International Rescue operative and I am trying to save your lives."

One of the the kids sucked his teeth. "Like we're gonna believe that, bro. We're not idiots. If you're International Rescue, then where's your Thunderbird?" He asked for the umpteenth time.

Gordon let his eyes close briefly, inwardly thanking Alan for never being anywhere close to this level of obnoxious. He was seriously beginning to consider knocking them both out with a sedative and dragging them into the truck.

"Exactly, man." The kid's friend spoke up. "Kidnappings happen everyday, dude. We're outta here."

This time Gordon did roll his eyes. Did they honestly think kidnappers walked around in wetsuits all day?

Glancing back over at the truck, Gordon cringed at the uncomfortable expressions of the other hikers he'd already picked up as they watched the two teens walk away.

Ah, this was embarrassing.

Gordon tapped a finger to his sash. "Hey, Johnny, I could use a little help here." He muttered from between his teeth.

"Already on it, little brother. Search and Rescue is approaching your location now."

A moment later the sound of helicopter blades sliced through the forest, and the strong gusts whipping up dust and leaves were enough to make the two teens hesitate. And when an SAR operative dropped down through the canopy on a zipline, they stopped in their tracks.

"Duuude, that was dope."

Thankfully, after Search and Rescue's little demonstration, the two boys agreed to be transported and the rest of Gordon's evacuees were loaded into the copter without incident.

Though Gordon did notice the SAR guy glance over at the pick-up with an amused expression.

Gordon slid into the seat of the truck, turning the key in the ignition and listened to the truck sputter to life. It was a sharp contrast to the sounds of the powerful rotors, growing more and more distant as it made its way to the checkpoint to drop off it's passengers.

Gordon was used to people trusting him with their lives on a daily basis, who knew they were so cynical on the day to day? All of this would just be so much easier with a Thunderbird. Not to mention faster.

Scott was still about ten minutes away. Enough time to track down another group of hikers.

Gordon steered the truck to the next closest blip on his map. He pressed down on the accelerator, realizing with a worried frown that his next set of coordinates were moving dangerously close to the swollen river. They weren't planning to try and cross it were they?

Suddenly, there was a long beep in Gordon's ear, then John was speaking, not even waiting for him to pick up.

"Gordon, your timetable's been moved up. The dam is going."

Gordon almost swerved off the road. "Now? I thought had thirty minutes!"

"Well, now you've got thirty seconds. A tree fell into the river and it's going to crash into the dam."

His first instinct was to turn around, find somewhere high to wait out the flood. But then Gordon thought about that little blip on his map, the people who had no idea what was coming.

His foot slammed down on the gas and a small, insistent voice in the back of his head told him he would never make it. Gordon couldn't tell if it was being pessimistic or rational. Was it possible he wouldn't make it? Was it even possible he could?

But John didn't offer him the statistics. Didn't say that the numbers were not in his favor. Didn't tell him to get to high ground or climb a tree. John was smart enough not to bother with instructions Gordon would ignore, not when he knew that his brother would take that sliver of a chance at life over certain death any day of the week.

But the voice of John's silence said that he wasn't as hopeful.

Gordon caught glimpses of the water between clumps of foliage as the forest began to thin. The trees were lost in Gordon's peripheral, falling away unnoticed as his attention remained wholly focused on the river.

There was no charm in Gordon's eyes as there so often was when watching the water. He knew a killer when he saw one.

Gordon's grip on the wheel turned his knuckles white as EOS began counting down the seconds, her voice was like an explosion in the pressured silence, loud and sudden before fading into the background.

Gordon was driving alongside the river now, and a little ways up ahead he could see the hikers crossing over to the opposite bank on a little footbridge.

They were on the wrong side of the river. Gordon had only been able to dig a trench on this side, the flooding on the other side would be much much worse.

The truck sped up the bank, mud flying from under the tires as Gordon blew the horn, the blaring sound catching the hikers attention.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Gordon registered EOS' finishing her countdown. Five… Four… Three… Two… One.

There was no loud crash or deafening rush of water. Most people this far downstream wouldn't know the flood was coming, but Gordon knew the water, and he could have sworn that the river quivered, for just a moment.

John's voice was back in his ear. "Forty-five seconds before the flood hits, Gordon."

Another countdown.

Gordon lurched forward in his seat as he slammed on the breaks, and he was out of the truck before it was even fully stopped.

Running up to the edge of the river, Gordon shouted across, waving his hand in the air. "Hey! You need to come back!"

The hikers shrunk back, and seemed ready to turn around and disappear into the forest. Realising how crazy it must seem to be yelled at across a river by a guy who just sped up in a pickup truck, Gordon forced himself to appear more composed.

Thirty seconds.

His stride was quick, but he didn't run as he made his way to the footbridge. Gordon rose his voice over the river, careful to filter out any frantic tones. "I'm with International Rescue," He said pointing to the IR symbol on his sash. "You're in danger!"

The hikers were directly across from him on the other side of the bridge, and Gordon's heart clenched when he realised that four of the five faces staring back at him were children, maybe twelve or thirteen years old.

The man standing in front of them wore a hesitant expression, there was a second that lasted far too long when Gordon thought he would turn away from him, but then he ushered the kids onto the bridge.

Twenty seconds.

Gordon ran forward to meet them, dodging the driftwood that the river threw at his feet. He could hear the water roaring now.

"Come on, move!" He shouted, pushing them ahead of him and bringing up the rear. "Climb the tree, hurry!

Ten seconds.

The two kids in the front reached land, sprinting across the stretch of empty ground before hauling themselves into the closest tree, the other close behind them. They were going to make it.

But the river threw them one last curveball.

A wave launched a branch out of the river, aimed right at Gordon's feet. It caught between his ankles and threw his balance. He could feel himself falling, the sound of rushing water growing louder in his ear.

There was no railing.

Then a face filled his vision, a determined one. The girl who'd been running ahead of him. She reached out a hand and caught his own.

No.

His weight jerked her over the edge, pulling them both into waves. The cold was a shock to their skin and the current yanked them away from shore faster than Gordon could react.

There was suddenly so much noise in his ears as Gordon struggled to hold onto the girl and keep their heads up.

John was shouting at him through the comms. Gordon couldn't remember the last time he raised his voice, John never yelled. But Gordon couldn't hear any of what he said over the roaring, screaming water.

Zero.

The flood hit him like a concrete wall, slamming into his body and sending him under. It was strangely quiet underwater, a distorted kid of silence, a panicked kind of peace.

Gordon kicked his legs furiously, lungs burning and heart pounding. The cold seemed to seep into Gordon's bones, making his limbs heavy and his skin numb. His head finally broke through the surface, and gasped in a desperate breath. "Loud" didn't even begin to describe sounds, it was like being inside a thunderclap.

Gordon struggled to keep the girl above the waves, her body was limp in his arms and he prayed she wasn't dead. He tried with a futile effort to swim to shore, but he was no match for the floodwaters, and the currents tossed him around like a leaf in a storm.

A piece of debris from the footbridge slammed hard into his chest and he gasped out in pain, swallowing a mouthful water as wave washed over his head.

The water rushed into his ears again, swallowing the sound.

Kick your legs. He did without really knowing why, he felt sluggish and far away.

Keep your head up. Why? It was so quiet underwater. Keep your head up!

The instinct took over his body and his head broke the surface.

Noise rushed in. His lungs gasped in painful breaths. His limbs moved like wood.

Another piece of debris rushed up the river, striking his back this time, and eliciting a choked scream from Gordon as a spasm of pain shot up his spine. His vision blurred and tunneled to a pinpoint, then went completely dark. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the pickup truck, tumbling down the river and headed right at him.

~TB~

John's face blanched as he stared at his holo-display, watching the flood sweep away the yellow dot that represented his brother's life.

John's eyes skimmed Gordon's vitals, numbers that were so much more than numbers. Fear clenched his stomach as he took note of the erratic breathing pattern and racing heartbeat, and Gordon's temperature, which was rapidly dropping to a dangerous level.

And John was too far away to do anything about it except stare at the stupid numbers.

He called someone who was closer. "Scott?"

His brother picked up immediately. "I know, John. I'm two minutes out." Scott's words came out quick and decided, but John could hear the slight strain in his voice that gave away his brother's fight to keep down his panic.

It occurred to John that though Scott was thousands of miles closer, he was still too far away too, and likely blaming himself.

Neither of them had to tell the other just how much could happen in two minutes.

"John!"

EOS' shout tore him from his thoughts and he turned sharply to face her. John had never heard her sound so scared before, but he never got the chance to ask her what was wrong. That became abundantly clear.

A long, thin, shrill sound cut through the air like a cold metal blade, sending shivers up John's spine. A holoscreen appeared in front of him, yellow faded into glaring red. Where peaks and valleys should have been, a single line stretched across the display.

Gordon was flatlining.


...

Sorry to leave you guys hanging that (But not really XD), I'm hoping to get the next chapter up by next Friday, but looking at my week next week I'm not sure. If it's not that Friday it'll definitely be up sometime over that weekend. See you all next week!

~Lou