"Scott to John. Come in, John."

"Uh, you do remember that I'm home, right? In fact, if you look to your left, you'll see me waving to you."

"Oh, right…"

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"Hey, Virg?"

"What's up, Gords?"

"Um, well, if you don't mind, I could kinda use a hand here. My back just totally gave out."

"Yeah, sure. Where are you?"

"Well…you're not going to like this part…I'm on the beach way on the far side of the island. You'll either have to somehow get a hover sled through the jungle or take a boat."

"Hey, that's perfect, actually! John was just saying that he wants to brush up on some of his EMT techniques. We can turn this into a hands-on training session – I'll leave it up to him to figure out how to get to you, treat you and extract you from the danger zone. Thanks, Gords!"

"Uh, no problem. Just glad to help out..."

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"Hey, Alan?"

"Yeah, Gordon?"

"Your turn."

"Huh?"
"You remember how I came and towed you back to shore last week because you did something to the engine of the speedboat?"

"Hey, I didn't touch that engine-"

"You remember how I sacrificed my whole afternoon for you, Alan? How you called, and I came to the rescue, no questions asked? Without me, you would have been stranded. You would have just drifted away and been lost forever to the Pacific."

"Unless I had called Scott…"

"You owe me, Alan…and it's time for you to repay that debt."

"What exactly are you asking me to do?"

"Come and get me. I ran out of gas."

"Fine, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

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Alan stared at his watch, oddly fascinated by its cracked face. Communication normally flowed so rapidly and effortlessly between him and his brothers, all thanks to the tiny devices strapped to their wrists. They took their watches for granted, he knew – until that line of communication was lost.

With a sigh, he tried again. "I still don't know if you guys can hear me," he said softly into his broken watch, "but I'm trapped on sublevel B in the parking garage. I think the whole place could collapse at any time. I understand if you can't get to me, and I just want you to know that I-"

His words were cut off by a loud crash. He flinched, bracing himself, expecting to be buried by another tidal wave of debris, but instead, he heard voices.

"Alan! Where are you?"

"Over here!" he hollered, waving.

Scott, Virgil and Gordon charged over and began hastily digging him out.

"Could you guys hear me? I didn't know if my watch was even working," Alan said, wincing as they pulled him to his feet and began hustling him back toward the Mole.

Scott cast a wary glance at the cracked ceiling. "We heard everything, but we couldn't get through to you. Amazing how we take these watches for granted until they break, huh?"

Alan smiled as Scott said almost the same thing as he had been thinking earlier. "Well, I'm glad I didn't just spend twenty minutes talking into a dead radio."

They piled into the Mole and backed out just as the building collapsed.

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"Hey, Johnny, did you hear about the guy who stayed up all night wondering what happens to the sun when it goes down?"

"Uh, no…"

"It finally dawned on him!"

"Been reading your collection of corny joke books again, huh?"

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"Hey, Virg!"

"Gordon, this had better not be another dumb artist joke…"

"Oh, it isn't."

"Well, good."

"At least, I don't think it's dumb!"

"Gordon!"

"Why did the bald man paint rabbits on his head?"

"Because he was a crazed lunatic, just like every other person in every single 'joke' you've ever told me."

"No…because, from a distance, they look like hares! Get it – hares? Hairs?"

"Yes, Gordon, I get it. Hey, I think I'll start a bonfire later. Want to come? You can bring all your joke books."

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"Virgil, move!"

"Oof!"

"Virg! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Whew – that was close! Thanks, Scott!"

"Any time."

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"Hey, Johnny?"

"Still home, Scott. See me waving? From the other side of the pool?"

"Sorry – habit."