In The Archipelago's Secret Service

8: Survivors

Chapter Eight: Survivors.

When Hiccup regained consciousness, it was dark, dusty and very musty. He had a real sense of being closed in and most of him was hurting. He lifted his head and coughed, hearing the creak of strained girders and the trickle of dust, falling from shattered floors. Emerald eyes focussed on the gloom and he realised: AI6 had collapsed.

He tried to move and found that apart from being incredibly cramped, he was alive and relatively uninjured but it was pitch black, without even the basic emergency lighting that he would have expected. And the hum of the air conditioning had died as well: it was eerily quiet. As he concentrated on his surroundings, he felt a familiar pressure against his hip: his bag was at his side so he automatically pulled out a small LED flashlight and looked around. They were in a pocket of safety, girders and collapsed concrete hemming them in on two sides but the isolated little corner booth-reinforced because it was the corner of the building and by the air duct-had weathered the explosion better than expected and the ceiling was still up...otherwise....they would be dead.

Something moved against his arm and he realised Astrid was lying across him, limp. Grasping the flashlight in his teeth, he gently moved her to check for injuries and saw a small bruise across her forehead. She was already moaning and beginning to stir so he cradled her head until the bleary azure eyes cracked open and she stared up in disorientation.

"What happened?" she mumbled.

"Explosion, I think. Building's come down. We're in a pocket..."

"Whoo us," Astrid grumbled, pressing a hand against her aching head. Graciously, Hiccup gave her his last two aspirin and she swallowed without hesitation, then glanced around. Opposite them, the twins were slumped over the table, faces firmly planted in their burgers. Astrid stared. "Should we move them? They may asphyxiate."

"I have no idea how long I was out so I suspect they would have died by now if they couldn't breathe," Hiccup said logically. He could see them breathing anyway so he wasn't too concerned-because in the grand scheme of things, the creaking noises from overhead were worrying him far more. "I'm not sure how long this little pocket will hold up," he said thoughtfully. "The entire weight of the building is pressing down on this little point and when the girders fail, we'll be crushed." Astrid squinted at him in the torchlight.

"Not exactly reassuring!" she snapped. He sighed.

"Look, the way my day's been going, I shocked I'm not already a quarter of an inch thick," he replied sarcastically. "And I really don't wanna die so..." He grabbed the torchlight and squirmed round to peer up at the air conditioning grille, his keen emerald gaze exploring the frame. "Can you check on the twins?" he asked as his hand searched his bag and found his multitool. Ducking under the table, Astrid managed to bob up between the twins and check their pulses: both batted at her, mumbling they wanted ten more minutes. She growled and poured their cans of soda over them, causing both to yell and sit up abruptly.

The ceiling creaked alarmingly.

"I didn't say wake them up," Hiccup grumbled. "This place is really unstable and those two mutton-heads just don't do quiet or still...which is what we need right now..."

"SORRY!" they both said loudly.

The creak was longer and dust fell from above them. Hiccup winced as he stood on the seat and began to unscrew the grille, eyes focussed on the screws and LED torch gripped in his teeth. The tiny rays of reflected light illuminated the others as Astrid felt her way under the table back to settle by Hiccup.

"What did you two idiots do anyway?" Astrid hissed. There was a pause and even in the gloom, Astrid could see hurt expressions.

"Hey-wasn't us!" Ruff protested.