Claire's pov
I woke to loud shouts and when I opened my eyes I saw Hic howling out at the moon with the leader replying somewhere in the distance. "Everything okay?" I whisper. Hic looks over sadly. "The pack, they were caught in a flash flood." I gasped. "Are they okay?" Hic looks off to where the leader was calling from.
"I can't go with you anymore... we lost Rock's pup. They need help looking for her." I nodded in understanding. The pack comes first. "I understand. Go, be with them. We will be fine." I say with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you. Be safe Claire!" Hic calls running off. I smile softly and look up at the sky. The sun was peaking softly over the horizon cloaking the harsh earth in a golden hue. Might as well get going. I turn over to dad who laid with his arm under his head like a pillow. "Hey, time to go dad." I speak softly yet firmly.
Slowly he opens his eyes to the light of the morning. "Hey sweetie. Time to go?" I nod and stand to my feet covering my mouth from releasing a cry at the pressure on my raw feet. They didn't hurt as bad as yesterday but they certainly didn't tickle... Dad didn't notice thankfully as he stood and looked around. "Where's the coyote?"
I glanced the way Hic had ran. "The group had been caught in a flash flood. One of the pups got lost in it and Hic had to go help." I explain. Dad just nods and looks around. "So where do we go?" I look at the ground to see the path and show dad.
"It won't last long, but it's a direction." I explain. Dad nods again and starts following the little path. I follow behind as to hide my limping, the last thing i needed was dad worrying about me. We walked for the day wandering the dunes without a path or knowledge of where to go, but we didn't stop. I kept getting dizzy, my vision kept going dark, but I had to push forward.
No matter what it takes... we have to make it out. My legs gave out beneath me and time slowed as I fell to the ground. i tried getting up but couldn't, my body growing numb with every second passing. The last thing I see is dad pointing up at the sky, a large smile on his face.
Tony's pov
A helicopter! Finally I can get Claire home! I smiled and raced to the top of the dune with all my strength waving around to get the pilots attention. "Come on Claire!" I cheer as the helicopter landed. Rhodes came running out with medics, but I couldn't find Claire. "Tony!" Rhodes shouted running to me. I waved him off still searching the area.
"Come on! We have to get you out of here!" I looked over to my friend with tears in my eyes. "Where's Claire?! She was just here!" I shout." Rhodes starts looking around with me when a shout comes from behind us. "We've got her!" I turned to see a medic pair carrying Claire on a stretcher. Quickly, I run over and grab her limp hand.
It was pale and dirty. "Come on! Let's go." Rhodes shouts again. He grabs my arm and we make it to the helicopter with Claire being laid in the center with the medics working on her. "What happened? Is she okay?!" the helicopter takes off and we are in the air.
"Sir, she's lost a lot of blood and looks to be very undernourished. We need to get her on an IV ASAP." The medic started to bark orders at the others as they began wiping down Claire's body with wet towels. With every wipe of the clean towels, bruises, cuts, and more was revealed under layers of dirt and ash. That's when they started on her feet.
As they cleaned the blood and sand from her feet it was revealed that not only where they raw and bleeding actively, but that there were chunks of metal and glass filling her heels. The medics worked on her the entire flight. Once they wrapped her feet they moved to other wounds, some on her arms, her neck, her legs... everywhere.
We finally arrived at the base and Claire was removed immediately and taken off without me. I shouted and kicked trying to get to her, but Rhodes held me back finally snapping me from my thoughts. "Tony! They need to do surgery on her! Let them do their work... she's safe now Tony." He whispered the last part and my eyes tearing up.
"She's safe Tony. You're safe. Now please... let the medics look you over. Please." Rhodes asked quietly. I looked over at his worried expression and took a deep sigh. I have to be strong... for Claire. "Fine." Rhodes smiles and nods to some men standing by us. They sit me down and ask where I hurt. I told them the truth. Might as well.
They put my arm in a sling and cleaned me up before walking off leaving me and Rhodes alone. Suddenly Rhodes stood and pulled me into a hug catching me off guard. After a second I returned the hug. "I thought you and Claire were dead. We all did. I'm so happy to see you alive and breathing." He said softly. So that's it... he thought I was dead.
He was worried. The thought made me smile as I tightened the hug. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you." I said with a slight chuckle. We separated and he just smiled at me before his eyes fell to the arc reactor. "I'll explain that later." I said. He nodded and started walking off.
"Well I don't know about you, but I want to see how Claire is doing. You coming?" I smiled and ran up to him as he led us though the base and to a clinic area. "Here to see Claire Stark." Rhodes spoke with one of the workers there who glanced at me then back to Rhodes and nodded.
