11
It was just an ordinary afternoon. One of the men had spent the last two hours being coached for his upcoming court case by Ianto, the fact they had a fully fledged defence lawyer in their midst ws really working for them.
The Old Man was out of town at some 'table' meeting Yvonne had gone to as well so everyone had left early, so Ianto went home to settle at the table with one of the restaurant's fine meals in a takeaway container. He had the table set, the food sitting there and about to sit down after getting a can of Brains from the fridge when it hit.
It started as a distant rumble and Ianto looked towards the window. Thunder? The sun was shining, it seemed like a… FUCK! The room seemed to lift up into the air, then slam down making Ianto yelp as he slid off the chair and instinctively under the table. Again the floor rose, bucking and rumbling like a dragon was under the house trying to break in. Ianto covered his head with his arms as cupboards opened and stiff spewed out smashing and crashing.
The earthquake seemed to go forever as Ianto clung to the table leg, his eyes closed telling himself to breathe. Breathe. Glass breaking, something falling then a loud crack… Ianto cried out with fear as darkness fell.
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.
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Jack was driving. Another day of work and he had left the office to head to the court house to file some last minute motions that really were not THAT last minute. He really just wanted to get out of the office. The worst part of working in a Legal Firm was the glass and chrome façade.
He was watching the lights and drumming his fingers on the wheel of his new car. Yeah the other one had been trashed a few months ago in a weird…er… accident at the gates to his family property. If ya know what I mean.
The lights started to sway and Jack had a weird moment of panic as he wondered if he was having a stroke of something, then he felt the vehicle move. Shit. He looked around and saw other people freaking out, those on the sidewalk actually falling over or grabbing for something. Someone slammed into his car and he pushed the door open, grabbing for them to help them and then the real fun stated.
Up.
Down. Wriggle, wriggle, slam slam.
Jack pulled the person into the car with him out of fear of the door closing on them or another car wiping them out as some panicked by hitting the gas. The youth in his lap got to see cars slamming into one another in the intersection as the road moved and writhed, then … fell away.
The earthquake had created a sinkhole.
Jack cursed and shoved the kid out, then struggled with his seatbelt as he knew damned well this was not gonna end well. Jack managed to pull the kid along with him to the next car behind him, yanking at the door as the woman sat behind the wheel with wide eyes.
"SINKHOLE!" Jack yelled "THE ROAD IS COLLAPSING, MOVE!"
Finally she unlocked the door and Jack moved on, he couldn't wait for her, the car next door had kids. They all met that the top of the rise and watched their cars get eaten, falling in as the world rumbled around them, an after shake just as strong. Jack sat on the ground as it seemed safest, looking at the family cuddling one another, their children crying between them and he got to his hands and knees. He didn't' know how he was going to do it, but he had to get to Ianto.
Ianto would be so afraid, he hated these things and this had been the biggest they had ever had.
All Jack could think about was the man he loved.
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.
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Into could hear car alarms. He could hear noise and a weird thrumming in his ears. He opened his eyes an found himself in a very bad spot. Three legs of the table had collapsed as the roof had come down, only the one he had cling to had somehow held together and he ws grateful he had chosen that one nearest the main beam for the entrance hallway.
His leg was pinned and he cursed softly as he looked around. In the half light he could see that most of the house was down around him, the bright sunny day feeding through the cracks in the debris to let him calm enough to see that he was relatively safe.
Just trapped.
Hopefully.
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.
.
Jack was crossing a median strip, more people scattered about crying and asking for help. No cell phones were working and he couldn't be bothered to stop and explain to them that the towers were likely down. He knew there was nothing he could do to help, they were walking and talking. Better off than some he knew must be trapped in the damage in the distance. Jack pressed on, running across the road and stopping when emergency vehicles raced past. Then he powered on glad the days at the gym were finally paying off.
He passed under the Lights and felt his heart fall into his gut as he saw the buildings in the distance, more destroyed and crumbled as those in the more expensive part of town. Unlike there though… some of these were on fire.
Jack knew Ianto had a house over on the east side near the docks.
He started to run for real as he saw the smoke clawing towards the heavens and knew that Ianto was there.