Yello!
Update!
It's short...
Sorry.
Disclaimer - these book series have been disclaimed. By me.
So right after I finished writing this I "fangirled" and kind of made a weird noise and clapped my hands... Startled my sleeping kitty to high heaven. I spent the next few minutes petting her and apologizing... (sheepish grin)
On to the story!
"Joe!" Nancy watched as Frank ran towards where the rocks were settling. "JOE! Can you hear me?!"
"Frank, if he's trapped, he probably can't yell through the rocks. And we have to be careful not to remove the wrong rock and cause another rockslide!" Nancy laid her hand on his shoulder. Frank was shaking. His almost glassy eyes scared her.
"He'll be okay, Frank. Frank? Listen to me!" She was in tears now. "You have to stay calm. I can't do this… by myself…"
His eyes widened. She'd never said that before.
Nancy grimaced inwardly. She hated asking for help, but it was the truth. She couldn't be self-sufficient all the time.
"Okay," Frank whispered. Nancy's heart broke. Worry for both the brothers threatened to overwhelm her.
"Come on," she took a deep breath.
"Seems like a waste of work," a peppy, cheerful, all-too-familiar voice came from behind them.
"Joe!" Frank yelled, whirling. He went from relieved to angry in… 0.02 seconds, by Nancy's calculations.
"Hey guys," Joe grinned. "You're both really blind. I was here the whole time. And it was quite amusing to see how much you actually care. Touching!"
Nancy face-palmed. "Really, Joe? Really?
"Sorry!" he held up his hands defensively.
Frank sighed and shook his head. "I'm not even going to bother trying to scold you. It's useless."
Joe nodded. "Yeah, it kind of is."
The trio turned and walked along near the side of the canyon.
They'd barely gone five steps when a second explosion rocked the ground from the cave. Rumbling filled the air again, and Nancy screamed.
Frank looked around wildly. Falling rocks, large stones rolling and falling all around them… Dust…
He heard Joe cry out sharply, and faintly heard Nancy scream again at the same time. "Nancy? Joe?" he yelled, his voice raw. How many times could this happen in ten minutes?!
Finally everything settled.
Frank looked around at the debris around him.
"Frank!" he heard a muffled cry.
"Nancy!" Frank's heart beat wildly as he ran over to a large uneven boulder.
"Under here!"
"Joe?!"
They were both trapped underneath the same boulder.
"Okay guys, stay calm. I'm going to try to shift this rock," Frank shouted. He braced his shoulder up against the rough stone and pushed steadily. The boulder was uneven, and tilted slowly away from him.
"Aaah!"
Frank stopped immediately at Joe's voice. "What is it?"
"It's pinning down my leg! Any farther and it'll break!"
"Alright," Frank panted, "I'll try the other way." He didn't get very far before he heard Nancy scream.
"Nancy, what's wrong?" he called.
"It's pressing down – on my chest – I can't breathe!" her voice sounded breathy and panicked.
His thoughts spinning wildly, Frank eased the weight back to the middle. He couldn't free either one of them. And the boulder wouldn't tip sideways, and he couldn't lift it… What could he do?
"Frank, just do it," Joe said urgently.
"What?!"
"Push the boulder onto my leg. It's the only way."
"I can't do that to you!"
"You can let both of us die, you can kill Nancy, or you can let my leg break. Your choice." Joe said flatly.
Reluctantly, Frank acknowledged his little brother's point. "How come you have to make sense every once in a while?"
"It's my job. Now hurry!" Joe pleaded.
"Isn't there anything else we can do?" Nancy's voice came.
"No, Nancy. It'll be okay," Joe called back.
"Ready?" Frank's hands shook a little bit as he touched the boulder. He could hardly bear to even think of hurting Joe.
"Ready."
"I'm sorry," Frank whispered as he braced his body against the rock. Taking a deep breath, he shut his eyes, clenched his teeth, and shoved.
The boulder rocked away from him, and Joe's agonized scream burst from beneath.
*diabolical laugh*
Reviews make me happy! Suggestions always taken into account! :)
Dang...
Poor Joe...
*diabolical laugh again*