Chapter Forty-Six:
Buried!
HATTORI POV
Hattori groaned as he blinked his eyes trying to get the haze to vanish from his eyesight. Slowly he started to sit up, only to stop when his head began to throb with a vengeance. Gasping in a breath, his chest tightened in pain and he lowered himself back down to the ground.
"Heiji?" whispered a voice from a way away.
Hattori tipped his in the direction of the voice and attempted to make out who had said his name. Everything was blurry and he couldn't seem to focus.
"Hattori, can you hear me?" the voice called again.
He recognized that voice. Who did it belong to? It was someone he knew. It was… It was…
"Ha…ku…ba", he got out before he was forced to start coughing.
His entire throat felt like sandpaper, but he was shocked that when he had started coughing he felt something wet fly out of his mouth. The pain was extreme as his breathing and coughing rattled his chest.
"D-Don't try to talk", said the voice, "You are…in bad shape."
"W-what is wrong?" he whispered, luckily not triggering another coughing fit.
"I will speak to you mentally. Serious, Heiji, don't talk."
"Can you hear me?" asked a voice in Hattori's head.
"Y-yeah", he responded.
"What hurts?"
"E-Everything", he laughed, "My head, my throat, my eyes, my chest, my stomach…"
"Alright."
"What can you see?"
"It….It doesn't look good Hattori."
"Tell me."
"You have a large piece of sharp metal sticking through your chest and you have a lot of blood from a head wound. That's all I can make out from where I am."
"W-What about you?"
"…"
"Hakuba?"
"I have a broken leg I think…"
"How bad?"
"…"
"Saguru!"
"It's pretty bad."
"How bad is that?"
"It's a compound fracture"
Hattori was silent. That was really bad. It means the bone was sticking through the skin and he was losing blood at a high rate. At least with his own injury so long as he didn't move the metal would keep the blood from pouring. At the moment, both of them were in critical condition and if they didn't get help soon…Hakuba would be at risk first.
Another thought struck Hattori all at once.
"What about Shinichi, Kuroba and the FBI lady?"
"I tried reaching out to them, but so far nothing. I think they are all unconscious at the moment."
"Great", whined Hattori, "I hope they are only unconscious."
"…" Hakuba was silent for a moment, "You and me both, Hattori-kun."
Hattori closed his eyes as the pain from his head spiked.
'Please Kudo…be alive' he thought as he drifted into an uneasy sleep.
DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC
KID POV
Kaito could feel the darkness hounding his senses. He had been attempting to reach out and see what the explosions were about, but he hadn't expected to be caught up in a void of fiery images. The things he saw…he couldn't even begin to describe them. They honestly didn't make that much sense to him, but it was like his body was responding without him even truly acknowledging things. He felt…scared, anxious, and more than anything…trapped. Trapped? His mind began searching for a reason. Why was he trapped?
A deep pain in his arm and a pressure across his legs and stomach were the only things he could feel as light began to break through the obscurity and the visions cleared from his view as a different type of darkness set in.
"…aito…Kai…to…" a voice began to cut through his silence as he forced his eyes open.
The first thing Kaito saw upon opening his eyes were billows of smoke overhead. It made his eyes sting and water, but he blinked it away as he turned to locate the source of the voice. He came across a blurred figure to his right, laying unmoving beside him.
"H-Hey", he tried to call, but his voice stung from the smoke he had obviously inhaled during the time he had been unconscious on the floor of what he guessed to be the auditorium.
"Shhh", a voice whispered, "You're okay, try not to breathe to deeply."
Kaito nodded, refusing to move at all as he stared at the ceiling for a moment. A gentle hand touched his shoulder and he looked over, his eyes finally focusing some. He was startled when he made at Shinichi beside him. The boy looked a little worse for wear. His brown hair was sticking up from sweat as a steady stream of blood ran down the side of his face and pooled beneath him. He had several cuts on his face and his skin was far paler than it normally was.
"Y-yeah", came the equally weak reply, "I think I-I have a c-concussion. Trying to stay a-awake."
"Oh", Kaito replied, his own eyes wanting to droop.
"Stay awake, K-Kaito", Shinichi said as he shook the boys shoulder.
"Why what's wrong?" he whispered as he struggled to re-open his eyes.
"I need to ask you some q-questions first and I think you have a minor c-concussion also."
"Okay", he whispered.
"Does anything hurt?"
Kaito thought for a moment before he began trying to move different body parts. He gasped in a breath, tears stinging his eyes as he tried to move his right arm without luck. He found that he couldn't move his legs either.
"M-My right a-arm is b-broken I think. C-Can't move my l-legs."
Shinichi looked down and grimaced when he saw why. Kaito's arm was twisted in a very grotesque shape, though luckily the bone didn't seem to have broken skin. He also noticed the metal support beam from earlier laid across the teen's lower half.
"C-Can you feel your legs?" Shinichi asked, worried.
Kaito paused as he attempted to move his toes. He sighed in relief when he found he could.
"Yeah, just s-stuck."
Shinichi also gave a sound of relief as he nodded and leaned back a bit against the wall. They were both surrounded by fallen pierces of the roof, barricading them in their small corner, but at least they were alive.
"You weren't doing so g-good before. What happened with the v-vision?" asked Shinichi, wincing as he moved his head to look at the teen who was staring up at the ceiling.
"Don't know", he whispered, "I think…I think Snake is still alive."
Shinichi's eyes widened in surprise. The man known as Snake; he remembered Kaito explaining to them that the man had killed his father, the first Kaitou Kid and was now after the son, the second Kid to take the world stage.
"Why do you think that? I t-thought you said he was dead?"
"I thought he was", agreed Kaito, "If H-Hakuba and I were affected, than he could have been as well. I should have checked into it more than I did."
Kaito's eyes widened almost at once.
"Hakuba!" he gasped, "Is he alive?!"
He immediately began closing his eyes, trying to reach out for his friend. He had to know if the other was alive or not!
HAKUBA POV
Hakuba winced as he sat up the best he could, his leg still bleeding rather heavily. He had stripped off his sweatshirt and tied it around the wound, but he knew he needed real help. The dangers of blood loss would become a real problem soon. Then of course there was Hattori. He knew the other was awake because he heard the wheeze of his breathing and the occasional wet cough that sounded in the darkness.
He was worried.
The other teen had a pretty large iron bar sticking through his chest, a few inches below his heart. If they pulled it out, the teen would die almost immediately. If they left it in though, it would soon begin to fester and he would have an infection and possibly a lifelong problem to deal with in the future if they are able to save him.
Saving him was something Hakuba didn't want to think about. He knew the likelihood of anyone finding them anytime soon, especially if the rest of the university was in the same condition would be unlikely to happen right away and time was not something he or Heiji had much of. Then of course there was still Agent Starling, Kaito and Kudo to think about.
Were they also in a bad way? He wondered.
His thoughts were disrupted by a familiar feeling and he laughed in relief. Here was the answer to at least one of his questions. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he smiled as he began speaking to his friend.
"Kuroba, are you alright?"
"Hakuba?! Thank God! Are you alive? Well obviously you are." (Nervous laugh) "You are not about to die anytime soon are you?! Is Hattori with you? Is he alive? What about Agent Starling? Hakuba? Hakuba!"
"Calm down", Saguru demanded as he sighed, his mind being overwhelmed by the boy's thoughts about his urgent need to understand the situation, "First tell me how you are and if Shinichi is with you."
"Shin-Chan is here with me, but he has what I think is a major concussion. He is struggling to focus and stay awake, but other than a few cuts and bruises he is okay."
Hakuba sighed in relief. He was glad to hear Kudo was alright. He knew it would put Hattori at ease a bit more.
"And you?" he asked.
"…" Kaito was silent a moment as he thought about how best to describe his situation to the other teen.
"I'm alright."
"… Define alright", Hakuba asked, worried.
"My right arm is broken and my lower body is pinned to the ground. I think I have a slight concussion too, but no other problems on my part. I think we got out a bit lucky."
Hakuba smiled in relief. The others silence had worried at him first.
"What about you Haku-chan?"
"Well…"
"Well?" pushed Kaito.
"We may be in a bit of a pickle. I don't want to worry you guys but Time is not on our side."
"…" Kaito was silent as he repeated the words over and over again to himself. What did Hakuba mean "Time isn't on our side?" His eyes grew wide and he paled several shades when his bruised head finally translated the words. They were in bad shape. Very bad shape.
"What is wrong?"
Hakuba paused before sighing. He had to tell them the truth. To hide it would only put them at a greater risk and should help arrived and they were unresponsive, he would need someone to be able to explain their situation.
"I have a broken leg. It's a compound fracture. Blood loss is…it's going to be an issue."
"… and Hattori?"
"He's in really bad shape, Kaito. He had a piece of metal about three feet in length sticking through his chest a few inches beneath his heart. He can't move because of it and if he tries, he coughs up more blood than he is already. I think he may have some lung damage. Also, I haven't been able to locate Starling. She could be dead…"
Kaito laid there in shock. Hattori and Hakuba both were literally dying and they needed medical help as soon as was humanly possible. The question was, would they be able to get to them in time?
"Can you reach someone on the outside for help?"
"I could try…but honestly if they aren't willing to hear out a strange voice in their head it won't be any use."
"True. I think Shinichi has his phone on him still. I will see if we can do anything on our end, but the reception signal may not be enough…talk to me, if anything happens, okay?"
"You got it. I will keep reaching out for Starling as well. Let me know about the phone when you can. Also…let me know if your situation gets worse, alright?"
"…I will. How did you know?"
"You always try to hide things and … sorry, I dug a bit deeper into your thoughts. You should have told me you can't feel your legs."
"I can move my toes, but the pressure is beginning to get to me…Shinichi is already having a tough time breathing. We have a lot of smoke where we are. I didn't want to worry him more when there is nothing to be done."
"He should know the whole situation though, Kaito. We are a team now."
"I know…I'm not alone."
"You are not alone", agreed Hakuba, "Contact me if you need something."
"Right, same to you."
Hakuba sighed as he shook his head. All of them were in a tough situation. The others may not be facing blood loss, but they were facing smoke inhalation risk and Kuroba… he was facing paralysis. Help had better come quick, because being buried under a mountain of debris was not what he considered a good way to go about dying.
Closing his eyes, he reached out onto the street with his mind, looking desperately for someone…anyone who would help them.
