Fighting the Pain

[Kairi 0]

Owen had just crawled out from under a large pile of debris where he suspected someone might still be stuck. Now he was reaching back inside to pull out the body he had found. The space had been to cramped to carry the man. Right now all Owen wanted to do is get back on the ship, take a long, hot shower and try to forget what he'd seen. Such hopeless search and rescue missions were one thing on alien planets but this was Earth...home. No training in the universe could prepare you for something like this. He quickly looked around for Kairi who was standing just a few feet away.

 

A slight moan came from the engineer as she turned away from Owen and the body. The smells would haunt any humanoid, but for Kairi's physiology, it was unbearable. A tear slid down her cheek as she took a deep breath through her mouth. Despite what was happening, Kairi couldn't stop. She could be the difference between someone living, or turning out like the body Matthews recovered.

 

Owen had noticed Kairi's distress. He wasn't empathic like her but it was apparent how she felt about this mission. Quite honestly, he wasn't feeling very differently. However, his training helped him get the job done and not be bothered with the emotional consequences until it was over. He wiped his hands on his filthy pants and joined the engineer. Putting a hand on her shoulder he softly said: "Do you need to take a break? I can work alone for a while."

 

Her shoulders sank at his touch, but she simply shook her head. "No. I need to do this..." She closed her eyes as she tried to focus. The crackling of fire, structural failure of buildings, and wind blowing dust and debris along the ground were among the things she heard. But there were no signs of life, save for the beating heart of Owen. Kairi sighed, as her own heart sank. "I...I can't hear anyone..."

 

Owen nodded. "That's ok, we'll find them anyway." He knew how Kairi felt. The smell of burning flesh lay heavy in the air. Piles of debris, once neat buildings, were towering everywhere. It would have been impossible to make out where streets had once been since they were covered with even more debris. It was a miracle how anyone could have survived here. And yet they had already found a couple dozen survivors. "Just think of those we're pulling out of there alive. It's worth it, trust me."

 

Kairi slowly moved forward, cringing as she stepped with her bad leg. Concentrating once more, she listened. "Wait..." She closed her eyes once more as she focused on one area. It was faint, but she thought she heard a scream among the sounds of a creaking building. "There! Someone is over there!" Kairi quickly pointed.

 

He looked in the direction Kairi had indicated. All he could see was another pile of rubble with a small part of a wall still standing upright. The rest of the building had been completely destroyed. As he moved closer he noticed the distinct smell of blood and the telltale sweetish smell of decay which had become more and more distinct over the last few hours. It was not surprising. This was Sydney, it was summer. The sun was shining hot and mercilessly. It was only a matter of time until scavengers would poke around, attracted by the smell of death, trying to get a piece of this feast. The thought was almost unbearable even for Owen. They needed to hurry! "Can you give me a bit of a more exact location?"

 

"I think they are underneath." She was hesitant to move much, due to her leg.

 

Sighing Owen climbed the pile and looked for a way to get underneath without being buried himself. For what seemed the 100th time he started to move large pieces of debris to get to whoever might be underneath. His uniform was already soaked in sweat and filthy with dust. His hands were covered in bruises and when he put down the piece of wall he had been lifting he could see blood where his hands had been. He couldn't remember being so sore since marine basic. Trying to ignore all this he kept working his way through the rubble. Suddenly an arm appeared underneath a piece of steel he had just managed to move. "I found someone," he called out before crouching down and reaching into the hole to touch the hand and feel for a pulse. "He's alive! He's alive! Sir, can you hear me?" he called out in excitement. "C'mon Kairi, give me a hand."

 

Kairi hurried towards Owen, trying her best to ignore her own pain. "Ahhh!" she screamed as she fell at Owen's feet. Her knee had just about enough. She rolled over, grabbing at it. But the engineer bit her bottom lip, fighting the pain as she scooted the rest of the way up to Owen. Tears streaming her face, she reached down to help the man.

 

Owen acted immediately as Kairi fell. He reached out his hand and helped her get to him. Only now did he notice the tears. He decided not to comment on it for now. Their priority was to help the man. He crawled into the small space he had made earlier and moved some more bricks and a few larger pieces of debris. A few minutes later Kairi and Owen had managed to extract the man's head and shoulders. Owen attached a tag to the man's shirt and commed the ship so they'd beam him up. When he had climbed back out of the hole he turned to Kairi. "Sit down,” he said curtly, making clear that this wasn't just a polite request.

 

Not having the energy to argue, Kairi sat back, but she looked away from Owen.

 

He didn't have a medical tricorder but Owen didn't need one right now to know that Kairi was probably not in a condition to be out here. He whipped out a knife and cut open the pant leg up to Kairi's knee and examined it. The bruises were hard to miss and the joint was swollen. Owen was kneeling in front of her and looked up, trying to catch her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured?"

 

"Because..." She still tried to avoid eye contact. "They need me..."

 

Owens shook his head. "Maybe, but you need to take care of yourself first. You can't help anyone out here when you're hurt like this. I'll take you back to the ship. One of the doctors needs to take a look at this. There's nothing I can do to help, really." With that he got up and held out a hand. "Come on, I'll help you up."

 

The stubbornness started to come out in Kairi, as she refused to take his hand. She folded her arms, this time looking right at him. "No. I'm not leaving."

 

"Listen, now is not the time to argue. You're right, these people need us and that's why we have to make sure we can help them. How long do you want to wait before you get treated? Until I have to carry you to sickbay because you can't walk anymore? In case you haven't noticed, this isn't a stroll in the park." Owen knew it wasn't fair to take his frustrations out on Kairi but even under normal circumstances he already wasn't a very patient person. Now the strain began to show and Kairi's attitude didn't improve his mood one bit.

 

"I can't...I won't leave them!" She gave a cold glare right at Owen. She would fight him if she had to, bad knee or not.

 

Running a hand over his face Owen sighed. "Let's try to be reasonable, ok? We'll both beam up to the ship, go to sickbay. You get your knee checked out and I'll get something for my hands." He showed her his bloody palms. "And then we'll get back down here.”

 

Kairi looked at Owen's bloody hands and her defenses dropped. "But..." she frowned as she looked out at the remains of the city. "I don't want to leave them..."

 

"It's only for a while...an hour maybe two...until you get treated." He got down onto his knees and looked at her. "We've been at this for how long...5 hours 6? We can't keep going until we collapse cause then we'll be no use for them. C'mon."

 

Finally giving in, Kairi took Owens hand. She was still reluctant to leave, but knew it was for the best. "Alright..."

 

Owen tapped his commbadge. "Matthews to Agincourt. Two to beam up." He took one last glance over the destroyed city before he dematerialized.

[Kansas_Jones 0]

[PM' post=81496]

The rest of the building had been completely destroyed. As he moved closer he noticed the distinct smell of blood and the telltale sweetish smell of decay which had become more and more distinct over the last few hours. It was not surprising. This was Sydney, it was summer. The sun was shining hot and mercilessly. It was only a matter of time until scavengers would poke around, attracted by the smell of death

 

.... y'all are really running with this Sydney Australia Kitteh Boom-age thing. Nice Log guys!

[Owen Matthews 0]

.... y'all are really running with this Sydney Australia Kitteh Boom-age thing. Nice Log guys!

 

Hey! You blew it up now you have to deal with the consequences. :P

[Chubbs 0]

Hey! You blew it up now you have to deal with the consequences. :P

 

So much wasted food....

[LoAmi 0]

I think you mean "pre-cooked food."

[Kansas_Jones 0]

I haz ACTION powerz and iz authorized to uze 'em. ::eyes the Pandas::