These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

LXVI. The Day the World Went Away Part II

-------------------------------------------------------------

Catherine coughed and dirt came out of her mouth in a dry puff. She had to blink rapidly to keep even more dust and soil from falling into her eyes as she shifted, forcing the debris on her body to fall off. She attempted to support herself on her elbow, but fell back with a sharp hiss. Pain shot from her shoulder down her whole arm and she grimaced as she eased herself up with the other. She touched her right shoulder gently and hissed again. It wasn’t broken, but it was definitely hurt. She couldn’t even lift it all the way up without feeling some pain. She silently cursed as she got to her feet.

She staggered, nearly falling over as her legs suddenly felt like jelly. She managed to keep her balance, though, and attempted to look around. That was fruitless, however; her helmet’s night vision had been damaged. There was only a pitch, impenetrable blackness all around her and the scent of dirt and copper. Memories came next and she cursed louder before reaching out her good arm to search for something—anything. She found nothing for a while, but then she felt something dirtied, but solid and rough. It wasn’t rock-like roughness, though; rather, it felt like clothing.

A groan rang out in the dark, and she grasped onto the piece of clothing tighter. It was an arm, and, with a bit more groping she found the shoulder and many rocks covering it. She pushed them away quickly—the groans were getting stronger—and, once she felt enough was gone she pulled the soldier out. She was forced to stop, though, when he let out a pained cry.

“What’s wrong?” she spoke quickly, trying to look despite her inability to see.

“My leg—big… rock,” the soldier—a male, she realized—wheezed as he arched back into her.

“Okay. Hang on. I have to lay you down,” she replied, setting him down gently. She felt her way down to his legs, and there she found a rock. It was massive and too big for her to move no matter how much she pushed or pulled. She couldn’t do much without hurting him, either. With a curse she settled back onto her knees. She tossed of her helmet and ran a hand through her hair, not caring it was muddied and stained. She looked around, only to remember she couldn’t see. She could still hear, though, and the soldier’s groans had settled into pained breathing. She crawled her way back to him, helping him up and letting him lean on her lap.

“How are you holding up, soldier? Besides the leg, I mean,” she asked softly, and the man made a good effort in his weak chuckle.

“Feel like hell. What hit us, ma’am?”

She looked in what she figured was the rubble blocking their path, “A lot of shit luck.”

“Anyone else in here?” he inquired, his body shifting to look on either side despite not being able to actually see.

“I… I don’t think so. Just u—.”

A metallic groan and the sound of moving dirt and rocks made Catherine turn her head to the right, but it turned left as soon as a dim glow of blue appeared in the midst of the darkness. She held her breathe as more lights—car headlights—flickered on and was almost blinding through the falling debris. The form was metallic, and the frame shivered as it pulled out and more lights revealed themselves. As the last bits of debris began to drop away and the mech stood more upright she realized it was Sunstreaker. While she was relieved there was an Autobot with them, she sighed more in disappointment. Still, she and the soldier were going to need any help they could get.

“Who is that?” the soldier asked, and she squeezed his shoulder with comfort.

“It’s Sunstreaker,” she breathed as the golden-armor mech scowled, his optics narrowing unhappily. He turned to face the rubble and pried at it. It didn’t take long for Cybertronian to pour from his mouth, and Catherine doubted it was anything nice.