The Shake Up Part III
The news of the earthquake in L.A. had finally hit the news channels at 7am on the east coast. Sebastian had still been awake, unable to even contemplate the idea of sleeping as he worried about the safety of a small boy that meant so much to him and Julian. Isabelle had called a little earlier to say that she had spoken to the captain of the ship, and explained the situation to him. In the face of the news blackout, he had not believed her at first, but then he had made a few calls of his own. A taxi was soon organised that would take them from the dockside straight to the railway station in Southampton, from where they had been able to catch a fast train into London. It had then been a series of complicated connections, but in the end, they had reached Heathrow. She finished by telling him that they had secured seats on a flight that would arrive at JFK at 17.20, thanks to Isabelle using all the clout that a job at Vogue gave her. They would head straight to his place when they arrived.
As Sebastian watched the news report, the bare handful of grainy images that were available, shot by amateurs, left him feeling sick to the pit of his stomach, mainly because those images tended to cut out abruptly… How anyone could possibly have survived such destruction was beyond him, and his hopes began to fade. He didn't hear the knocking on the front door, and the first that he knew of Cooper's presence was when the older man wrapped an arm round his shoulders and pulled him close. That was also the moment that Sebastian realised that he was crying again, as he had been on and off since the news had been given to him by Thad.
"I told Dave to call in for you. There is no way whatsoever that you can do two shows today. Mason says that he will go in instead, and offer his services if it leaves them short. I know the adage is the show must go on, but there are times when that is just a load of bunkum," said Cooper. Sebastian nodded, knowing that he was right; until he knew, one way or the other, nothing else in the world mattered…
Cooper was just the first of many people that would arrive in Murray Hill that morning as the news spread of the disaster. The next to appear on the doorstep where the other two members of the four musketeers that resided in New York, Nick and Jeff; they were unshaven, half dressed and untidy, having abandoned their house as soon as they had heard the news on the television. Their own initial thoughts had not just been for Peter, but David as well, not having checked their phones before that point to see what was going on in the world. It was only in the cab over that Nick had finally switched on his phone, and had seen the message that Thad had sent out in the early hours of the morning, after he had called Sebastian; the message that said he had talked to David, and that he was okay, but they all needed to pray that he would manage to escape the ruined city unscathed.
Cooper headed back upstairs after they arrived, after a quick chat with Nick about the whole situation. As for Jeff, he had instantly made his way to the sofa to sit at Sebastian's side; he had not said a word, just taken his hand in his own. When Cooper left, Nick did not immediately join them, but headed to the kitchen where he found Dave; having called the theatre, he was now calling his own coach, to tell him that there was no way that he could come in and play that day, and the reason why. His call over, Nick asked "How are you holding up? This has got to be tough on you too…"
"Honestly, I have been better, but I don't matter in all of this. My priority has to be Sebby. If the news is bad, and you have seen the pictures I take it…well, I think his whole world will cave in. He loves that kid so much, and if he is gone, he will never forgive himself for not insisting that he stay in New York as he wanted him to; his mother would only let him if Sebastian was going to be here all the time, and he couldn't be with work, so he will think it was his fault. Then there is the fact that he will never forgive Kurt, Blaine, Finn and Wes for not warning him of the danger, however obliquely, and trust me, that will not be good at all…"
Nick nodded, but remembered now something that David had said to him which he had not taken much notice of at the time; that Mercedes had wanted them all to come to see her show not in New York, but in L.A. Kurt had vetoed that strongly; that had been this weekend, and they would all have been there if he hadn't. To Nick, that was proof that they had known it was coming, so surely they would not have let Peter go back if he was going to be harmed… He decided to say nothing, just in case he was wrong; after all, he didn't want to provide more fuel for a fire full of hate if the worst had occurred…
All of Sebastian's friends ended up abandoning their plans for the day if they possibly could; they had all met Peter, and he had captured each and every one of their hearts. They all felt the horror of the situation keenly, and it had to be so much worse for his uncle and his father. On top of that, they all had concern for the four others that were caught up in the disaster. They all knew from Thad that David and Mercedes had been okay, although there was no guarantee that was still the case; but there was no news either of Jake and Unique. To the shock of most, it was Kitty that was hit the hardest by that, losing it over the idea that they could be seriously hurt, or worse. Artie tried his best to comfort her and was soon joined in that by Marley and Ryder, her two closest contemporaries. The former seemed to have inherited Kitty's usual forthright manner, refusing to even contemplate the fact that the worst could have taken place. All that left both Artie and Ryder thinking that if the bad news did come, she would be the first one to fall completely apart…
Just before one in the afternoon in Murray Hill, with a message from Trent to say that he was on his way freshly arrived on Nick's phone, there came a knock on the front door, announcing another arrival. Dave knew by then that Eloise was on her way from Montreal, with another concerned grandmother at her side, but it was still far too early for it to be them. He opened the door anyway, and on seeing who it was, he nodded and allowed the visitor in. As they walked into the sitting room, Nick and Jeff quickly moved out of the way, thus letting Sebastian's 'Auntie' Bette to sit down by his side.
On seeing her, Sebastian looked surprised; she just said "Where else would I be when you need me, my darling boy?" Then she pulled him into a hug, and he found that his tears were falling once more.
She was the one that finally persuaded him that he needed to eat, as no-one else had been able to do. As she put it, he would be no use to anyone when the time came if he was starved. He reluctantly agreed that she had a point, and Nick had headed into the unfamiliar kitchen to grill some bacon and scramble eggs, Jeff dashing out to buy some bagels that they could put it on. Nick prepared enough for everyone, and they were all pleased to see Sebastian devour his once the first mouthful had been taken.
If they were all honest, it was the waiting that was killing them all; the not knowing. Nick hoped that David would call Thad back at the first possible opportunity; after all, by now it was 11.30 on the west coast, and he would certainly have made the trip to Peter's home as soon as daylight had come…
No sooner had that thought entered his head than all hell broke loose. A breaking news banner suddenly appeared on the silenced television. The very sight of the word aftershock made Nick's blood freeze in his veins, as he pictured his friends having to cope with yet another earthquake in such a short length of time. The footage on the screen was being live streamed from a news helicopter that had flown down from San Francisco, and it made his eyes widen in horror. The picture on screen showed the remains of an entire neighbourhood slide down into the ocean as the whole hillside collapsed in a wave of earth and rock…
He heard Bette gasp in horror as the young man sitting beside her fainted clean away, landing in her lap. It was Dave that informed them all that the area that had just been named on screen was the area that Peter lived in.
Suddenly the full enormity of what they had just witnessed hit home. Potentially David, Mercedes and the others had been there with Peter at that moment. They had all just possibly witnessed the moment that five people that they knew had died…
It was that realisation that set Jeff crying and had him immediately throwing himself into Nick's arms, as he too felt his eyes grow moist. His heart broke as he like all of them imagined the worst; instinctively he suddenly thought of Thad, and what he had to be going through at that moment. After all, he had been the one that had reminded David that he should go and check on Peter; if his best friend was now dead as a consequence of that trip…
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden outburst of screaming as Sebastian came round, and the first thing that he saw was a repeat of the moment the earth gave way on the television screen. Then he was on his feet, looking to all intents and purposes as if he was about to fly across the room and smash the television screen. Dave leapt to his feet to grab him and try to restrain him, but found himself struggling to control his more or less hysterical husband….
Then there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh; and suddenly there was a silent, stunned Sebastian, a startled Dave, and a certain leading lady nursing her hand. Sebastian allowed himself to be guided back to his seat, and she took her own next to him once again. As Dave moved over to switch off the television, she took both his hands in hers, and spoke. "I make no apologies whatsoever for slapping you, my boy. You were hysterical, and that kind of behaviour does not fix or help anything. It does nothing to alter the circumstances in which we find ourselves. But I need you to listen, and I need you to then think. Your friend David, or the General as I still find myself thinking of him as, was going to search for your nephew. How far is it from his home to young Peter's?"
"About ten minutes," came a whispered reply.
"Okay, so sunrise in L.A. is around about 6am at this time of year; they will have been sleeping outside, so it would have woken them up. They would have started out straight away, knowing the importance of their mission. Even with the amount of destruction that we have been told of, I would doubt it would have been much later than 7am by the time he reached there by my reckoning. One way or another, I doubt it would have taken much more than 3 hours to assess and deal with the situation; to perform a rescue and get clear away. By my rough calculations, they would have been clear of the area by the time that aftershock came…"
Around the room there was silence as they all did the math in their heads. It did seem right, and it gave them a glimmer of hope; until it was confirmed one way or another though, they would worry. What they needed more than anything now was a sign…
The moment that the world was shown that the disaster had taken a new and horrifying turn was witnessed by everyone close to those concerned. In the West Village, Beats, Ethan and Flint had made their way to the house occupied by the younger former Warblers, and they had all seen the moment live on television as the others had. There were tears all round as they all instantly feared the worst. David had been safe, but now that there had been such a big aftershock, and the fact that he was supposed to be near the area that had collapsed meant that the chances he was no longer safe had just multiplied. Nearby, Kitty had lapsed into silence after seeing the footage, and that made Artie all the more concerned; he almost wanted her to be standing there, screaming irrationally at the television. Catatonia did not suit his fiancée at all.
Across town, Michelle had watched as the mood amongst her staff darkened with the news coming from the west coast. Her own eyes were continually drawn to the drawing of Mercedes that Jeff had done on their first night as owners, and she was seriously concerned about how all of them would cope if such a great talent had been lost at such a young age. On the Great White Way, the news came out as the interval came in the matinee shows, and if the break that day was just a little longer than normal, then nobody minded that much. After all, there were friends of so many of the cast and crew of those performances that worked in L.A. As for the cast of Book of Mormon, all they could think about was Sebastian and the little boy they had all been introduced to a week ago. It all just seemed too cruel if his short existence had just been snuffed out…
In Ohio, Thad was glad that as he had been about to leave to go and visit Mrs Thompson, he had been stopped by Edith Carmichael; she had insisted that he go and pick her up, and bring her back to Dalton, where she would have extra support. When he got to her home, he found that she had been desperately calling her son's cellphone since she had heard the news, and each and every time that the recording told her that her call could not be connected, she had grown a little more fearful. Reluctantly she had agreed to head back to Dalton with Thad, calmed only a little by the fact that he had actually spoken to her boy since the quake; Thad knew that she, like him, would not rest easy until he was actually back with them.
When the footage of the aftershock was shown on TV, they had both watched in grief and horror. Then, whilst Mrs Thompson had been comforted by Edith, he had run from the house; his initial plan to run all the way to Wes' memorial had been thwarted by the fact that his legs had given way, and he had had to settle for a bench in a quiet spot in the grounds; to sit there and sob his heart out. In his mind he had known that Aaron Carmichael would follow him, and sit by his side; would pull him close to him and let him weep, telling him that none of it was his fault. Thad knew that it was though, at least in part. David had only potentially been in that part of the city because of something he had said. He longed for an angel to appear, to tell him that it was all okay, but he knew that they wouldn't appear, as they would be so, so busy… His only hope was that David would manage to call again, but given that there had been such a lack of signal before the second quake, the chances were that now there would be none at all; in that case, the call he longed for would be a long time coming…
By the time that four o'clock came round, Sebastian was tired out; he had not slept, and his head was in chaos as his mind pictured all of the horrific scenarios that could have claimed the lives of his nephew and his family, not to mention his friends. All that he had to cling to for hope was that one spot of light in the darkness that had been provided for them by Bette; her simple arithmetic that suggested that they would have left the area and been clear when the aftershock caused it all to slip into the ocean. At his side, Nick and Jeff were trying to be as upbeat as possible, whilst avoiding the biggest cliché in the book - no news is good news. Dave had left just a short while before to head to JFK to meet the flight from London, as things would be bad enough for Julian and Isabelle as it was, without being confronted by the news of the aftershock on arrival. All of those gathered in Murray Hill hoped that before he arrived back, there would be a call, or even just a text message from L.A.; just something to confirm that they were all still breathing.
Bette had left at the same time as Dave, as she had things to do, but she had given Nick her number, and told him to call her the minute they knew anything - and promised she would come back in any case. He had agreed to do just that, and then after hugging Sebastian, she had left. So when the knock came on the door just after four, they all wondered who it was; Jeff went to answer it, and found Trent and Rory on the threshold. The former rushed straight into the sitting room, and pulled Sebastian into a hug without saying a single word; it was returned gratefully by a young man that was now cried out, with not a single tear left to shed.
Rory meanwhile put his head round the door and beckoned to Nick, who got up and followed the young Irishman into the kitchen, where Jeff had headed to make coffee for the new arrivals. Rory pulled out his laptop, and after fiddling with a few buttons, pulled up a video and pressed play. "We've seen this," sighed Nick, as the video from the news programme came up on screen. "We ended up putting the television off to save Sebastian any more heartache."
"I know, but it was Trent that noticed something. In the film of the aftermath, when the drone camera they were using swoops over the area to show the extent of the destruction…" Rory paused, then did the same with the video as the damaged area was on the far left hand side of the screen. "Look carefully at the top right hand corner of the screen. Based on what he has been told, Trent has the street you can just see there down as the road outside David's place. Tell me what you see when I zoom in and press play again." Nick and Jeff both stared at the spot as Rory zoomed in and pressed play once more. The picture was very fuzzy, and not at all clear, but they both suddenly saw five blobs; five blobs of different sizes that were moving out of shot. "It might not be them, but it is certainly a sign of human life, of that Trent is certain. All we can do is hope that it is who we desperately want it to be…"
"The big question is - do we show this to Sebastian, or not?" whispered Jeff, earning him a look from the other two. "I mean, five blobs means five people, but what five? David and Mercedes, and who? What if one of them isn't Peter, or what if it isn't them at all? Do we give him false hope, just to have him shattered later? Isn't that crueller than not knowing at all?"
"I see your point," admitted Rory, "but if we say nothing and he finds out later…"
Nick was about to speak when they all realised that the choice had been taken from them; Sebastian came barrelling into the room and grabbed the laptop, and stared at the screen, looking at the blobs. "It's them! I know it is! And that one is much smaller than the others, so that has to be Peter! It is them…but there should be more than five…what about his family, or did Jake and Unique… But no, that is Peter. I know it in my heart!"
Nick glanced over to the doorway then and his eyes met those of Trent, who was now standing in the doorway; eyes which wondered if he had done the right thing in speaking to Sebastian, now that he had seen the way his friend had reacted…
By that time over in L.A., the five survivors had covered a reasonable distance from the area in which they had all lived, and which now seemed so vulnerable to the whims of the earth beneath it. As they walked, climbed and scrambled along, they saw no other visible signs of life. The few streets that had managed to survive relatively unscathed themselves were littered with the vehicles that people had abandoned in their panic as the world began to collapse around them. They had enjoyed lunch sitting on the seats of an empty city bus, in which some bags of shopping had been left the night before. Those bags yielded them bread, salami and fruit, all of which made a very pleasant change from the protein bars and chips that they had consumed since the world had gone to hell. There were juice boxes too, and it was just nice to be out of the glare of the midday sun just for a while.
The ignition key was still in place in the bus, and a part of them all longed just to be able to turn it, start the motor, and drive off, but that was impractical in the extreme. The road was cracked and damaged, and the abandoned cars would mean they would be lucky to get a few feet without crashing. After a rest, they walked on, knowing that they would have to skirt round the very heart of the city. The tall buildings that had once marked that point were no longer standing on the skyline, suggesting an impressive pile of debris to climb over; an impossible sea of mangled ruins blocking every turn. That, and the fact there was still smoke rising from there in a huge plume. That decision did however afford them their first strokes of luck; they turned the corner to find an almost undamaged grocery store, which contained more food than they could possibly salvage, and then, right beside it, two rickshaws, which had been overturned, but were undamaged and usable. Those cycle rickshaws were a viable option, as they could weave their way through the damage. It looked as if they would be able to save their feet for a little while in any case…
The rickshaws turned out to be the best discovery that they could have made. Their pace had been relatively slow up until that point; the legs of a small boy were short, and got tired quickly after all. Now he was settled in one of the rickshaw's seats, fast asleep with Mercedes keeping a close watch on him as David pedalled them along, steering his way through streets that would once have been congested with traffic, but were now devoid of any movement other than their own. The quake had obviously made driving any vehicle an impossible task, and the people that had been in the now abandoned vehicles had fled on foot; to safety, they hoped. In his heart David knew that the chances were that many of them would have sought refuge in the surrounding buildings, feeling that they would be safer there than out on the streets, were falling debris would be a constant threat to life and limb. Tragically, that would not have been a wise decision in the circumstances…
Behind him, Jake followed on with great care, watching every turn that David made as he wove through the remains of what had once been a vibrant neighbourhood. He could not believe that they were the only survivors from a city of this size, but it was possible that they were the last to be heading out in search of rescue and assistance. He guessed that they were also the only people that were not heading in the direction of Andrews Air Force base, across the hills in the valley to the north of the city. He had been curious as to why Puck had not suggested that they go there, and his brother had pointed out to him all of the issues with it. It was itself in an earthquake prone area; it was accessible by a pass through the hills, a pass which was likely to be blocked or damaged by the earth's movement; and finally there was the question of the sheer numbers of people that would converge there, stretching the authorities ability to respond to the very limits. No, Puck had decided it would be far safer for them to head instead to a smaller base on the south side of the city; the base at March. He would then ensure that when he was sent on a rescue mission, he would make it his first and only port of call…
Thad had been right when the news first broke to him in David's call; Puck was already aware of the situation, and had been long before permission was finally granted to any of the news media to break the story to the rest of the world. The red alert siren had roused them all from their beds, and after a few moments of confusion as to what was going on - everyone was so nervous about North Korea after all, and there had been that incident in Hawaii… Thankfully, neither of the madmen had pressed that red button of indeterminate size; they all knew that whether it was Kim or Donald that did it first, the results would be the same. It was a relief to most when they were told it was an earthquake, but when they were told where, Puck felt his blood run cold. This was his worst nightmare, but now he had to play it cool and keep a poker face. The rules were simple after all; if anyone had family or close friends in L.A., then they would be relegated to just sitting at the base, covering the day to day normal duties, to ensure that their emotions would not overwhelm good judgement on the rescue mission.
To that end, Puck had mentioned to no-one that his brother was in the city; it was a white lie as far as he was concerned, not one that could lead him into disciplinary trouble with his bosses in the future. Ignoring his own feelings of anxiety, he threw himself into the preparation work that was needed to commence the rescue mission. It was even less easy to stay detached as the full scale of the disaster became clear to them. It was much worse than anyone had ever modelled for, with the result that there was no control on the ground at all at the moment. All the local authorities and services were out of action; there was no contact with the city, as all communication networks were out. As a result, all of the co-ordination had to be done remotely, and that was inevitably giving rise to delay.
Puck had given Jake advice based on the plans that they had been shown in one of the training sessions they undertook. However, when the time came for Puck's squadron to be given details of their deployment, he found to his horror that those plans had been thrown out, and a new set put in in their place. The decision had been made that in the circumstances, all of the rescue effort would be concentrated on Edwards. It now looked as if his advice had sent his brother and his friends on a wild goose chase, and it took all of his willpower not to say anything. If he did speak out, then he would be condemned to sit on the sidelines, and would probably be disciplined after it was all over for lying. If he didn't, he was putting their lives in peril. All he could do was remain silent and hope that once he was on the ground, or as near as he could be, he would be able to change things and take a trip to March on his own initiative, thus ensuring that rescue would come to them all.
In New York by then, Sebastian found himself dealing with another terrible moment in the worst 24 hours of his life so far. He had been secretly dreading the return of his brother, as it meant that he would have to deal with his grief as well as his own. His pain would be all the stronger too; a father worrying for his only child, caught up in a disaster that had been entirely wrought by mother nature. If Sebastian felt guilt, then he knew that Julian would feel it twenty fold, cursing himself for not taking his son with him to Europe, as he had been considering at one point; after all, he and Isabelle had had their honeymoon. His wife had had no issue with it either, but in the end…
When the cab bringing him back pulled up in Murray Hill, Sebastian was waiting on the sidewalk, having been sent a text by Dave that they were turning into the street. He stood not knowing what to expect; he feared recrimination, that his brother would somehow blame it all on him, despite the fact that he had been just as powerless to prevent it all. As he stepped out of the cab, Sebastian thought that his brother seemed to have aged twenty years overnight, so haggard did he look. Even Isabelle seemed nowhere near as put together as usual. All Sebastian could do was step forward and enfold his big brother in his arms, and hold him close as he broke down, sobbing for the little boy that he could so easily have lost…
