Disclaimer: I do not own The Day After Tomorrow or any of the characters. The 'winter wonderland' statement and the going to the other skyscraper for food were ideas given to me by Clintronic Waldrop. Thanks again!!
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:
Clintronic Waldrop: wow…thank you sooo much for those reviews…you seriously had me in tears reading them…no one has ever written something so encouraging…thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou. You are such a great inspiration for me…lol. Thanks so much for the ideas, and I am definitely going to use all of them in this story! You're the best!!
And now, on to the next chapter!
CHAPTER 5:Winter Wonderland
BRIAN
I heard the crash from the next room over, and jumped to my feet. My heart raced, and fears were running through my mind. The noise could have been a number of things. Laura and JD could have been in the room directly above and the floor had given out, which gave them little chance of not getting hurt, or the building was collapsing into itself, which could mean that we would be next.
"What was that," Judith questioned, horrified. I glanced at her, then to Sam, who still hadn't moved. If that didn't wake him, there was little that could.
"I honestly don't know, there are a number of things that could have happened, most not good for us or for Laura and JD," I explained. A muffled sound from the room in questioned caught my attention, and I raised my hand to silence everyone, slowly making my way to the wall to listen more carefully.
I heard the tail end of the talking, and cursed under my breath. I had heard Laura mutter 'We're trapped', though she didn't sound as if she were hurt.
"Laura and JD are in there, I can hear them. I'm going to go next door and try to get them out of there before they get hurt. Elsa, watch Sam closely, okay? If there is any change, come and get me right away." I turned to walk out the door, when Judith grabbed my arm.
"Be careful, Brian. We don't want to lose anyone else." Her eyes were filled with concern and worry, and sadness. I shot her a questioning look as she released me.
"We haven't lost anyone that was with us yet, Laura and JD are just stuck. I'll get them out of there," I insisted. Who was she talking about, who did we lose? I thought hard to think of anyone that had died, but couldn't remember any.
"Oh, we've lost Sam. He won't last another day here in this cold." Sudden fury filled my entire body, and I stomped away from her.
"We did NOT lose Sam! He's lying right there, alive! Breathing! If something happened in the last few second that I didn't see, please tell me! My best friend is NOT dead and he WILL make it! Can't you see how strong he is?! He pulled himself together in this chaos in order to save us! He's the only reason we are alive! He pulled himself together to save LAURA! He saved someone's life! And you can't see how much strength it took for him to take charge and help us all when we were terrified out of our wits?! I won't give up on Sam, not when he's brought us this far. Not when he still has a chance." I stared Judith down for a moment, surprised at how much anger had boiled up in me in those few seconds.
"Brian, there is no chance for him. Even if he gets to a hospital, they won't know what to do to save him. I'm sorry son, but it's just too late for him."
"No! Don't you dare say that! HE IS NOT GOING TO DIE, DAMNIT!" I yelled, stalking out of the room. I stood in front of the door that kept Laura and JD from getting back to us, and pounded my fist on it. "Laura! JD! It's Brian, can you hear me?"
"Brian! Brian, we're trapped in here! The door's blocked!" Laura responded, her voice muffled.
"Are either of you hurt? Which way does the door open?" I prayed that they were both fine, because if there was something blocking the door and I could push it out of the way, they would both be able to slide out.
"We're both fine! There's a desk blocking the door!"
An idea came to me just then, and I smiled. "Okay, Laura, you and JD pull the desk as hard as you can, and I'm going to try to push it out, okay?" If it worked and they were okay, then the three of us could look for more food together, and work faster.
"Alright! We're ready when you are!" JD called from the other side of the door.
"One, two three, NOW!" I ordered, pushing the door with all my might. It groaned in protest, and then finally started to budge. "Keep going, keep going, its moving! We've almost got you out!" My shoulder was starting to get sore, but I didn't care. I pushed the pain aside, and shoved harder. My friends' lives were at stake, and I was giving no second thoughts.
"Okay Bri, it's wide enough for us to slip through. We're coming!" I backed away, panting, and watched as a dust-covered Laura and JD came through the completely white doorway. Only after I stopped pushing and waited did I realize how cold the door had been, so I hugged the two closely, then ushered them into the room.
"C'mon, we gotta warm up, it's cold out there."
"Yeah, quite the winter wonderland, huh?" Laura scoffed, shivering. We made our way to the fire, ignoring the comments of the others in the room for a moment. I snickered at her comment.
"Some wonderland. Look at all that has happened…thousands, probably millions of people have frozen in this incredible cold, and you had almost died from blood poisoning, you two just fell through a frozen floor, and Sam is dying. Oh yeah, that's what I call a wonderland."
"It's going to be alright, you guys. We will all make it through okay. At least, mostly okay," Elsa interjected, gesturing towards Sam sadly. Laura ran to his side.
"Any change, Elsa?" I questioned, praying that there had been yet at the same time praying that there hadn't. It tore me up to watch my best friends dying, Sam literally and Laura emotionally.
LAURA
"No, sorry, no change. At all, he hasn't even moved. Well, aside from his breathing."
I stared down at Sam, sorrow taking over. He had so much yet to do in life, it wasn't his time yet! Deep down, though I hated to admit it, I knew that if he didn't get medical attention in the next few days, a week at the most, he would die. Every day he grew paler. His skin was covered in a freezing cold sweat, and his whole body shuddered terribly sometimes. He needed food and water, he was just as malnourished as the rest of us, but it hurt him more with his condition. "Brian, we have to go find more food. What…what about in another building? There has to be more food somewhere."
"I'll go with you," he insisted. JD nodded. "Elsa, could you keep an eye on him again? We should be back soon."
"Sure," the girl agreed. The three of us walked out of the room.
"The stairwell is over here," I whispered loudly, my mind wandering to Sam again, as it had been frequently for a few days. The two boys…no, young men, they were no longer boys anymore…the two young men followed me down the stairs and out the only way that was still open. As soon as I was out of the library, I gasped. Two men were in front of me wearing snow jackets and gear.
"Laura? Brian?" the man in front questioned, disbelief in his voice. I stared at him for a moment, shock and relief flooding through me. My knees started to give out on me from the utter miracle that had just taken place, so I ran up to the man and hugged him tightly.
"Mr. Hall! Oh, Mr. Hall thank God you're here! You're just in time!"
"Laura, where is Sam?" I pulled away, looking at him with wide eyes. How did I tell a man that his son was dying, and he had little time left? I glanced at Brian, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, he stepped up to Mr. Hall. His eyes were full of pain, and sympathy.
"I think you'd better come with us."
