International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: Gear Up and Buckle Down [message #1790 is a reply to message #1789] Sat, 28 July 2012 12:22 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Tikatu is currently offline  Tikatu
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Registered: April 2012
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Field Commander
Ubiquitous one
Saturday 24 March. 4pm. Mendoza, Argentina.

Elí Arroyo Ruiz watched with wide eyes and a hopeful heart as the skaters glided gracefully across the smooth ice. Through his television set, he could almost feel like he was right there, under the dimmed lights, sitting amongst the enraptured spectators in Sarajevo, present at the Argentina-USA ice dancing final at the world championships. The young skaters performed their routine with a perfection that deserved to win, and Elí had been cheering the Argentinians on from the start. Nothing would stop him from seeing their inevitable victory.

Watching the skating drew him away from his own boring existence to a far more exciting world. He lived on his own in a shoddy, run-down apartment block in one of the oldest suburbs of the rapidly growing city of Mendoza, in western Argentina. Watching the skating was a magical experience. Elí had marvelled at the professionalism of the skaters as they glided across the ice all his life, and he had never missed the world championships for as long as he could remember. He had even taken the precaution of watching it on a portable televiewer set, rather than a mains-powered one, so not even a power cut -- something that happened all-too-often in his substandard apartment building -- would prevent him from watching his beloved finals. Sometimes he wondered why he continued to live in such a dump, but he knew it would be tough to get somewhere better for the little amount he could afford to pay in rent.

The lights flickered a little, and Eli glanced up, smirking in a petty kind of victory. Nothing was going to stop him. These finals were the highlight of his year; no matter what, he would see them. Juan, his neighbour from across the hall, an excitable sort of young man, but still a good friend, had jested at his love of the sport. But it made no difference to his enthusiasm and pride. He loved ice-skating, and he would see the finals. He would gladly proclaim his love for it no matter what anyone said.
The lights flickered a few more times, but Elí steadfastly ignored the annoyance, and continued to watch his set, taking no notice. He looked away in momentary confusion as a rumbling noise, like a speeding freight train, filled the air and did not abate. But there were no train lines near his apartment...

Realization hit as suddenly he was pitched from his seat as an intense shaking rocked the apartment building. He hit the floor, and the televiewer set fell sideways onto the ground. All around him, things were being shaken off the walls. The lights flickered rapidly, before they burst into a blinding shower of sparks, and then died. Ornaments crashed as they hit the floor; the pots and pans in his kitchen cupboards clanked and banged against the doors as the whole building shook. It was happening again, when the government said it wouldn't. Elí cursed; it was an earthquake!

There was a violent shudder, and the floor fell away from beneath him. He screamed and tried to grab onto something as the contents of his apartment slid and collided into each other beneath his feet, and he slammed sideways into the floor when the building stopped shaking.

There was silence.

He sat totally still for what seemed like an age, waiting for the furor to begin again. But nothing happened. Timidly, Elí sat up, gazing at the absolute destruction all around him.

"Not again," he said quietly. "No way, man, not again."

There had been a terrible earthquake a handful of years before, but the government, as they waded through the devastation left behind in the disaster's wake, had said that they would know before it happened again, and that everyone would be told in time so they could get to safety. Elí cursed again. So much for that!

Anger and frustration boiled up inside him. He wasn't afraid. Not really, anyway. It had happened before, and they would deal with it. Although last time, he had been working in a newly built office block, and little damage had been done. There certainly hadn't been all the commotion that had just occurred mere moments before. But, what happened had happened, and eventually, people would come, and it would all be cool. How bad could it have been, really? Surely the building hadn't been that unsafe.

With a shrug, Elí stood up -- noting that the floor was somewhat more angled than it had been before -- and righted his televiewer set. He banged it a few times before the picture returned. Thank God! The finals weren't over! At least now, he would have something to entertain him before the rescuers arrived.

There was a banging at the apartment's front door -- 'Are they here already? Talk about fast action!' -- and it was unceremoniously flung open. The harried form of his young friend, Juan, rushed in, and the worry turned to an expression incredulous anger as he saw Elí.

"Why aren't you out here?" He asked heatedly. "Don't you even know what's happened?"

Elí rolled his eyes and went back to watching the set. "Of course I do, Juan. There was an earthquake. Big deal. It's happened before. I'll leave after the finals. There's no rush."

Juan's young face scrunched into disbelief, and he flung his arms up in frustration.

"There's been an earthquake. An earthquake, Elí."

Elí merely shrugged again. "So? Cool your jets, man. It's really not that big of a deal."

Juan shook his head and stormed out of the apartment; Elí shook his head. Honestly, 'overreaction' was Juan's middle name, as far as he was concerned. He turned back to the televiewer screen, and settled down to watch once more.

More rumbling and shaking occurred on occasion, but being an earthquake veteran, he knew it was merely the expected aftershocks. He idly wondered where the epicentre had been; obviously it was nowhere near, or their suburb would have been utterly decimated. One aftershock was particularly intense; although it didn't really faze him, what happened afterwards did.

The apartment building lurched sideways as if it had been shoved, and Elí gripped the seat his was sitting on tightly. The televiewer set slid a little, but didn't fall. The movement stopped, and he shrugged. It must have just been an intense one: nothing really to worry about. With a sigh mixed of frustration and annoyance -- why today, of all days? -- Elí went back to watching the finals, knowing that rescue would, eventually, arrive.

Post by ArtisticRainey on 09/12/2004

Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!

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