Disclaimer: I do not own The Day After Tomorrow or any of the characters. The ideas are mostly mine, though!
Author's Note: This is my first The Day After Tomorrow story, and I hope you like it. Please review and let me know how you felt about it. I have several other stories written, and I need to know if I should post them or not! Thanks and enjoy!
Summary: Sam, Brian and JD had been running from the freezing cold of the eye of the super cell. But, instead of them all making it back just fine, Sam breathes in the incredibly cold air, and gets very sick. Laura wakes up to see him dying, but awake, and they share their feelings while the others rest. Will Jack make it to them in time to save his son? PG-13 for mild language and tense scenes
Review Responses: Thank you sooo much to those of you who reviewed…I've never had any reviews on the first week I posted a story…let alone the first day! I love you all you make me feel so special…lol. But there were a couple questions/comments that I wanted to respond to.
Sarah: It was JD who was attacked by the wolf, cause Brian and Sam were dragging him bad in the raft that JD had accidentally found and Brian went ahead to open the door or something. But thanks for the review!! Lol
Maigain: There was a story? Was it called the same thing? Lol cause some movies change the name of the book…but anyways…thanks so much for my first review for the story!!
All: I promise there will be many more chapters and drama and suspense…lol and I'll try to post every other day, or maybe every day once in a while but I need ideas cause I know what I'm going to do once they get to the helicopter but I don't know what to do before then. If you have any ideas, please e-mail me at , cause I don't always check the e-mail I have for this account. Thanks so much for your reviews again, they motivate me to write more, faster!!
CHAPTER 3: The Search and The Concern
JACK
I looked over at Jason, who was still too in shock to talk much. We both didn't believe that Frank was gone, and that there had been nothing that we could do to stop him. But we both knew that he sacrificed himself so that we could trudge on, and save my son and the others that had survived with him. Or had at least made it longer than the others, I thought, knowing the painful truth that it was highly unlikely that more than a handful of people had survived that with no damage done. I honestly didn't really care how many people survive this, so long as Sam makes it out okay.
"Jase, you can't blame yourself for it. He did what he had to in order to save as many as we could, and there was no changing his mind, you saw that in his eyes. Please, I need you with me on this, I can't do it on my own, and I sure as hell don't want to lose you too."
My friend and co-worker looked at me, and sighed. "I know…I know there was nothing we could do, but I just can't help but think that we could have avoided the whole situation, you know? If we had been paying more attention to where we were walking and read the signs, we would have never ended up on top of the galleria."
I stared at him for a moment, slightly caught off-guard. After a moment, I shook my head, never taking my eyes from his. "No, it wasn't possible to have known that we were on top of the galleria, unless we had brushed the snow away every step we took. The glass could have looked like the water if the metal bars weren't there, and it was just as slippery as ice. There was absolutely NO way to have known or avoided it. The water was just too high and froze at the top of the building," I assured. Jason looked away, but didn't stop walking. I watched him for a moment, saddened by his self-blame and pain that he felt towards Frank's death.
"Let's just get to your son and make sure that he and his friends are alright." He paused. "But what are we going to do if someone is hurt or sick?"
I hated to think that Sam or his friends could be hurt or worse, but I knew we had to have some kind of plan just in case it happened, as in a disaster so terrible as this one, it is very likely for someone to get seriously hurt. I stopped walking. "I honestly don't know. We have that damned sled that we have our supplies on, we could drag someone out that way, or we could find something in the library to use. But if anyone is dead, there isn't any way that we can take them home to have a proper burial…we have to leave them."
The two of us looked at each other for a moment, nodded, and continued to trudge through the snow. I looked up and saw the Statue of Liberty, covered in ice and snow, and a chill ran up my spine. I prayed that Sam was okay.
BRIAN
I watched Sam and Laura, Laura resting peacefully against Sam's shoulder now that her nightmare was over. Sam, on the other hand, was trembling and breathing irregularly. My best friend's bad condition terrified me. Sam Hall was and always had been a born leader, even though he didn't want to be it. He was good at keeping everyone calm and together in tense situations. Now, he was lying of the floor next to the fire with a pillow under his head and three blankets on him, with a dog and Laura snuggled next to him to keep him warm. Now Sam was the one that needed help, and the help he needed was beyond our reach.
"What are we going to do…what would we do without you? You can't leave us, Sam, we need you," I whispered as softly as I could, not wanting to wake anyone. I stood and fed the fire with a couple of books, not wanting to risk the fire going down and not keeping Sam warm.
"He'll make it, Brian, he's strong. You and Laura know that even more than he does, I think," JD assured from behind me. I turned, and saw him standing behind the couch that I had been sitting on. "He doesn't have enough faith in himself, he couldn't even bring himself to tell Laura how he felt. But now look at where he is. He risked his life for the one girl that he loves more than anything, and now he's slowly dying. But he will make it. He's done too much for all of us in this room. If it weren't for him, every last one of us would be dead right now. He deserves more than anyone to live."
I smiled at JD, knowing deep down that everything he said was true, and praying that he was right and Sam would make it. "Yeah…I guess you're right. It's just…I've known Sam for a few years, since Freshman year, and I have never seen him sick, he just didn't miss school. And after three years, seeing him so close to death…so pale and weak…it just really scares me."
JD came over and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I know, Bri. I understand how you feel. How about, when the sun comes up and Laura wakes up, why don't we just talk, let out our worry and concern for a little while?"
His desire to help us was slightly surprising. I had thought from the beginning that JD was nothing but a rich snob. Apparently, I was wrong. "Sure…that sounds great to me…just so long as Laura is okay with it," I replied happily.
The two of us waited until morning came, talking a little bit but not much, until Laura woke up form her rest.
"Good morning, Laura," JD greeted warmly. She glanced at Sam for a moment as if to make sure he was still breathing, and stood.
"Good morning." Her hair was messy and she looked like she hadn't slept in days despite her nightlong nap, but I knew that she didn't care at all. Things like that just didn't matter when someone you care about is sick.
"Hey, do you want to come over and talk, just the three of us?" I questioned softly, touching her arm. She met my eyes, and after a moment, nodded. She cast a final glance at Sam, who had broken out in a cold sweat, and the dog still lying against him to keep him warm, and followed JD and I to the corner.
"How are you doing?" JD asked her softly, looking her over a couple of times and seeing the same exhausted pain that I saw. She avoided our eyes, and avoided looking at Sam also.
"I talked to him last night…I told him that I love him," she murmured, almost too softly for me to hear.
"He feels the same way about you, but you could probably tell…" I replied, almost afraid to say anything that might upset her. She shook her head.
"I know he loves me…he told me…I had talked to him last night. He had woken up and I told him how I felt and he did the same for me. But it took a lot out of him so I told him to get some more rest. I told him that I wouldn't leave his side until he was safe with his father."
Laura's eyes were wide as she spoke, almost without any pause. She was rambling, shocked and confused. She didn't know how to handle what was happening to Sam, and I could see that she was close to breaking down completely. I moved closer to her and hugged her tightly, not letting her go for a few minutes. I felt something cold and wet hit my shoulder, and I knew that she was crying. Her arms tightened around me as she cried. I simply stroked her hair to try to comfort her. I knew half of what she felt. The other half, I knew I couldn't even come close to understanding. Half of her pain was for her friend, but the other half of her pain was for the man she loved.
