Mrmustachious asked: Day 7 Radio Silence | "Can you hear me?" with Gordon
Also for Flash Fiction Friday prompt 221: Spine in a Twist. 664 words.
Characters: Gordon, Scott, Virgil
Warnings: Buried, Earthquake
'Hello?'
…
'Hello? Guys?'
…
''Very funny, guys.'
…
'Guys? Can you hear me?'
…
'Where are you? What's with the radio silence?'
…
'Guys, it's not funny anymore.'
…
'I'm serious! Quit it, please.'
…
'Please?'
…
'Screw you, then!'
…
Gordon's fingers slide away from his comm as he fights back the tears. What has happened? Why aren't his brothers answering him? It's not the comms, his baldric lights up as usual.
So where is everyone?
He shifts in place and gasps in pain as his spine twists when he turns.
And just like that he remembers.
Building.
Earthquake.
EOS' screams.
'AFTERSHOCK! AFTERSHOCK!'
Gordon groans and looks around. Amazingly the lights in his helmet are still working and they illuminate the small area he is trapped in. It looks like a black hole but as he stares he can make out the detail of the rubble around him.
Basement. He had been in the basement. Was there a life sign? Gordon shakes his head, trying to remember. But he can't.
Can't move either.
He's not pinned down but his back has gone and spasmed and he might as well be covered in rubble for all that he can move.
He tries the comm again. It clicks as if it's working but there is no sound. No static of a jamming device. No other sign of it working but for the light click of activation.
'Guys? Where are you?'
Because now he knows what's happened Gordon remembers that he is – was – not alone. Virgil was here in the same building, different floor. Scott and Alan are here too, different building. Kayo and John in another.
It had been all hands-on deck.
Where were those hands now?
Gordon shifts and once more his back complains. For now he cannot ignore it, but if he keeps still it might relax in a bit, at least long enough to get himself out and find his brothers.
Waiting is not as much of a problem for Gordon compared to his other brothers *(Scott)*. He learnt that patience many years ago, the value of giving his battered body the time it needs so he can move was learnt the hard way.
So he settles to wait.
Not for too long, it is an active earthquake zone after all, and he has missing family to find, but long enough for his back to loosen sufficiently.
He finds himself humming.
'Donkey riding, donkey riding…'
Ha, he hasn't thought of that particular shanty in a while. Gordon closes his eyes and hums some more, singing the chorus in a very soft voice.
'Hey-yay and away we go, Donkey riding, donkey riding…
Hey-yay and away we go, riding on a donkey.'
A tear dripping off his nose brings him back to reality and before he can think he is on all fours, scooping debris away either side of him. He ignores the pinging of the Cahelium in his spine as he twists to scoop the soil away from him.
He needs to get out and find his brothers!
The ground rumbles and he freezes. Backs away from the hole as fast as his protesting back will let him. Crouches down and makes himself small, protecting himself as much as he can.
But it isn't the earth quaking again.
The debris gives way where he was digging, chewed up by metal teeth.
And Gordon is crying again as Scott rushes from the mole and lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, Virgil emerging behind him with a MedScanner.
'I – I thought I was alone.'
'We heard, you, Gords. Your receiver is broken.'
'You heard me.'
'We heard you. You're not alone, Gordon. We're here. We're here.'
And both brothers fold him gently into a hug before helping him into the mole. Scott lays him down and stays beside him, holding his hand as the pain relief Virgil has given him kicks in.
'You're here.'
And with that whisper Gordon's eyes close in sleep.
