(Untitled)

[strandedseaman]

One wouldn't think so to catch a glimpse of Horatio's grim expression as he led his team out the doors of the Compound, but he was pleased to have been able to assemble such an able-bodied group at a moment's notice

Comments

[silver_crucifix]

Stacy couldn't remember much of what happened. It was chaos and a lot of it, the roaring pulse of - animals? - something from childhood nightmares that should have stayed there. She didn't like it, didn't want to listen to it anymore

[sidlong_glance]

Sara pulled the ropes and canvas from her bag. "Quatre, could you get two sturdy branches, maybe six feet long each?"

[heir_of_l4]

"Of course." One more look around, and he holstered the pistol. There were branches, albeit still attached to trees, and it took pushing his foot against the joint and leaning hard over it with most of his body weight to break it off from the trunk. He slid down the trunk a little, shouldered the branches, and brought them back. "Try these."

[silver_crucifix]

Stacy stayed quiet and still while they worked. Around them the air felt suffocating, but she knew it was just the fear. Mentally, she knew that. Her fingers worried at her throat, and then she touched the skin beneath the blouse, looking as they came away crimson. The cuts were small, but not as bad.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, looking to Sara and Quatre while knowing it was unlikely.

[sidlong_glance]

Sara glanced over at her and noticed her bloody fingertips. "Stacy...are you hurt elsewhere?" she asked gently, hands still working to tie the makeshift stretcher together with Quatre.

[heir_of_l4]

"It'll be all right," Quatre promised, with a smile more like a child on a playground than a rescuer as he worked deftly at lashing the stretcher. "We'll get you back to the compound in hardly any time at all."

[silver_crucifix]

"Just little scratches, I think." Stacy looked at her fingertips again, then back up at Quatre's infectuous smile. She couldn't help the light in her eyes. "Thank you. Both of you, I..really. Thank you."

[sidlong_glance]

"Just doing what we can," Sara said quietly. She nodded to Quatre and said, "Could you help me lift her?" She stretched a little first before analyzing how best to do it all.

[heir_of_l4]

Quatre nodded, sliding an arm beneath Stacy's shoulders. "Steady now, we'll have you up in no time...."

[silver_crucifix]

Stacy nodded obligingly, then eased herself up carefully. It wasn't hard to move, especially with their support.

[sidlong_glance]

Carefully, Sara and Quatre lifted her onto the makeshift stretcher, then settled her in. "Okay, this will hold you, but it'll be easier on the two of us if you lie still and flat," she said, then bent at her knees to hold the end. "Quatre, with me on three?"

[heir_of_l4]

Quatre nodded, joining her on the ground. "As soon as you're ready!"

[silver_crucifix]

Stacy kept herself still, laying against the stretcher obligingly. The injured leg throbbed once in sympathy but she silenced the urge to whimper with a mental banishment of the thought. It was going to be all right. They'd get her back, and it'd be all right.

[sidlong_glance]

"One, two, three," Sara said, and heaved upwards, watching Quatre to even out their movements and keep this as smooth as possible.

[heir_of_l4]

They got Stacy onto the stretcher with a minimum of difficulty, but Quatre still winced; it still had to hurt Stacy to be lifted. He shifted the stretcher so he could still reach the pistol. "Careful now...are you still all right?"

[silver_crucifix]

"I'm fine," Stacy said, and she thought she meant it. For the most part, at least. She could endure it, could make it through.