Horror Days- Chapter 7

Day 4 (the planet)

Tom and Philian had stopped the previous night for a rest. But it was hard for Tom to get sleep. He didn't know whether or not he was going to see his wife again. Or if he was even going to get to see his daughter at all. Once Phil said that it was time to get moving again, they started off in the same direction they had been going.

"So, Phil, what do you do here on Petrin?" Tom asked; trying to get to know the man he was probably going to be spending a lot of time with.

"I am a reporter for the Disaster News Center." Phil answered. "There are the regular news stations, but when Disaster hits, the DNC takes over."

"A reporter, huh? Looks like if we ever get out of this it'll make a great story." Tom said smiling.

"What do you do on Voyager?" Phil asked.

"I'm the Chief Pilot." Tom replied.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Phil said.

"My loss?" Tom questioned.

"Your friends, weren't they along with you when you were whisked away by the storm?" Phil asked.

"They were able to get into our shuttle, but I was kidnapped." Tom answered.

"Odd, most of our people are kind." Phil said.

"How long had we been on the roof before you woke me up?" Tom asked.

"I only found you after I awoke, which was five minutes before I woke you up." Phil answered.

"Then how do you know where we're going?" Tom questioned.

"I passed by this place right before the storm." Phil responded.

"Then you knew there was going to be a storm?" Tom asked getting suspicious.

"No!" Phil said appalled. "If I knew then I would've told everyone to leave! I was on an assignment. Many many years ago, this same place was hit by a storm of less magnitude. I was covering it for a local news station because my great grandfather had covered the storm when it hit. So they thought it would be nice to see family talk about the same thing."

"I-" Tom started, but was interrupted by a child's scream. "Did you hear that?" Tom asked.

"Yes." Phil replied and they ran towards the yelling.

The yelling of the child was coming from one of the houses. Tom kept looking on the left side of the road to see if the person was on that side. While Phil looked on the right hoping to catch the child.

"HELP!" The kid yelled again.

This time Tom was able to locate on the house and pointed towards it. The duo ran towards the house avoiding the debris. The both stopped in front of the house.

"It's coming from up there." Phil said pointing towards a window on the highest floor of the house.

"We're coming kid!" Tom yelled up. He looked around for some way to get up to the floor. "Here, Phil, you stay here so I can give you the kid without trouble. I'll see if I can get any food or water."

Tom started to climb up parts of the house. Amazingly, the parts that had been bent due to the storm helped Tom get higher and higher. Tom was able to climb into the window the kid was yelling from.

"Thank you!" The little boy said very relieved. He hugged Tom as soon as he got into the window. "Please, my grandma hurt her leg." The boy took Tom's hand and led him to his grandma.

"Oh, Riken, you found someone!" The old woman said. "Please, sir, I need help, I believe I broke my leg."

Tom got down on his knees in front of the woman. He began to inspect the broken leg.

"How did this happen?" Tom asked. He started to look around for something to make a splint with for the woman.

"I'm not sure, I woke up and it just hurt." The woman answered. Tom remembered some of the wood that had been broken off of the house.

"Wait a second; I think I might be able to make a splint for you." Tom said. He poked his head out the window and grabbed some of the stray wood from the house. "We have two in here, a woman and a little boy." Tom called to Phil.

Tom went back over to the woman and started to create the splint. And if he didn't say so himself, it was turning out pretty damn good.

"Thank you sir; please, tell me your name." The woman said.

"I'm Tom Paris, from the Starship Voyager." Tom answered, he soon finished the splint.

"Grandma, is that the ship that sis showed me?" The boy, Riken, asked. He was probably no older than 6 years old.

"Yes, Riken, it is." The woman answered smiling, Tom himself was also smiling. "Well, Mr. Paris, I am Wen Rin. But please, call me Wen."

"And please call me Tom, can you walk?" Tom asked. He helped the woman stand up.

"Not perfectly, I am afraid." The woman answered. "But I believe I can walk."

"No, it's a long journey to the relief center, I'll carry you. My friend, Philian Porate, is outside, he'll carry Riken." Tom said. "Do you have any food around?"

"Only on the first floor, but that was flooded two days ago." Wen replied.

"Okay, can you wait here while I go see if I can get anything." Tom said.

He walked down the stairs, seeing the damage the storm had done to the house. He was half way down the stairs when he saw that the first floor was still flooded, deeper than the water outside. Tom decided to go under the water to try and find some food. After several moments of looking and resurfacing, Tom was able to find some food in one of the cabinets. Along with the food, there were also some drinks, which hopefully were juice and didn't normally look a purplish color. Almost reminded him of Neelix.

Tom made it back up to the stairs with some meat, hopefully vegetables, and some drinks. He walked up the stairs back to the floor with Wen and Riken.

"Tom, I was so worried! I thought you had drowned!" Wen said. She hugged Tom, and then pulled away as soon as she realized he was wet. "You got food?"

"Yep, I have some meat, some sort of vegetables, and these drinks." Tom said holding up each item.

"It seems you were able to get Risk Drinks, some of the healthiest drinks around." Wen said.

"Great, that works out!" Tom replied. He then put down the food and looked at Wen. "Now, I think it might be time to get out of here and get moving. I'm going to take Riken out and give him to Philian. Then I'll come back and give him the food. Then you and I will leave. Are you alright using your leg for a little bit?"

"Tom, I am sure it will work for as long as it is needed to." Wen answered.

Tom did as he said. Making three trips in total up and down the house. It was touch and go at the end when Wen had to jump into Tom's arms, but, she was able to make it. The group turned around and started off in the direction of the relief center. Tom was carrying Wen in his arms, while Riken was on Phil's shoulders and Phil was also carrying the food.

This was going to be one hell of an interesting trip.