Episode Six - Out in the Storm

[Michael Black]

Continued from here: stargatemeropis.proboards.com/thread/1426/episode-eye-storm-pt-1?page=2


1020
Exterior
Meropis

Almost an hour later the team were fully geared up for the adverse conditions and ready to go. Doctor McKay's words had unsettled Michael, talk of 'bleed through' from other realities. He wasn't stupid, Dr. Black had read the reports from the SGC's incident, as well as the various incidents Atlantis had encountered. Things might get a little... Weird. At least weirder than usual for Meropis.

He stepped out of the sleek metallic archway onto the hard ground of the Meropis planet surface. The rain was coming in already but it wasn't anything too bad currently, more like the typical British Isles weather Michael had grown up with. He pulled up his hood and shrugged his collar against the cold, the wind was a little bracing against his exposed cheeks but his hands were protected by (perhaps over the top) thick leather gloves. The soldiers, possibly Izzy and Gijs he couldn't quite remember their names, had gone on ahead first. He was silently thankful for Fiona and Finnbar agreeing to accompany him on this excursion, if it could be called that.

The trio trudged forward, behind the soldiers and out under the canopy of the trees. Michael's boots were squelching in the mud as the rain slowly began to saturate the ground.
"Thank you for coming with me. The Koan are a wonderful culture you know, I really do think what we're doing is right." He said to the other two. Michael urged them forward, recalling the area that he'd been to a couple of times since the medical team had cleared him.
"It's this way, up ahead and across the clearing into the next copse, about ten minutes walk. Their encampment should be there."
An ominous roll of thunder in the distance heralded the approaching storm,
"Come on, we'd better hurry." Michael stated with a worried glance over his shoulder at the great shadow of the city against the stormy skyline. A distant flash of lightning caught Michael's eye. As the group headed away from the city, a brief golden shimmer behind them indicated the city shields being raised.

<tag Fiona Maccafferty Finnbar Kennedy Gijs de Vos Izzy Stevens>

[Fiona Maccafferty]

1020
labs--outside
Meropis

Before Fee could sass back to Mackay, she was being escorted out by Glis and Izzy. Lucky for HIM, because she was annoyed. Of course, poor Michael would probably be at the recieveing end of it now, but it was PARTIALLY his fault; he'd not defended her, after all. What sort of man didn't defend someone he fancied?! Not that he fancied her, but she fancied HIM and it was the point that mattered.

Thank you for coming with me. The Koan are a wonderful culture you know, I really do think what we're doing is right. Fee nodded.

I still think you've lost your bloody mind, and what was that holy show in there?! You let that MacKay speak to me-and to YOU-that way?! I don't care if he's the King of bloody Sheba, there's still proper behavior in the lab, is there not?! A small part of her did this on purpose with Michael-if he could look past her natural, inherited tendency to overreact, he was a keeper. If not, well...she would move on. The other parts of her reacted this way because she felt things very viscerally.

It's this way, up ahead and across the clearing into the next copse, about ten minutes walk. Their encampment should be there...Come on, we'd better hurry. She nodded again.

They have an ENCAMPMENT?! Michael Black! Explain. Now. She stopped a mo, and crossed her arms over her chest. IT had better be good or she was going back, verbal abuse or no. She saw a LOOK from Izzy, though, and so she moved forward with a deep sigh.

Tag:@tom! as MacKay, Michael Black, Finnbar Kennedy, Gijs de Vos, @me, Plot Twist.

[Gijs de Vos]

1020
labs--outside
Meropis


"Look, McKay is an odd one. Aye, he is arrogant, condescending and more annoying than little siblings, but I would argue that he is one of the best in his field. He has saved my bacon more than once." Gijs said to the smaller ginger. Then he turned to Black.

"Dokter, what can you yell me of these 'Koan'? he asked. The only thing he knew was that not long before he got here, the Koan tried to occupy the city. And even that might not be true. He'd only heard it fifth or sixth-hand.

[Finnbar Kennedy]

1020

Exterior

Meropis

Eyeing the woman's P90 Finn couldn't help but shake a small feeling of discomfort at seeing a weapon such as that on a mission that had the goal of peaceful negotiations.... If one could call this a mission. He adjusted the hood over his head so that his glasses wouldn't get water all over them... And by that of course it would only get on the inside of his glasses... Why was it always the inside? Silently humming an old tune to himself he walked with the group as they ventured out onto the planet's surface. He may have been alittle unsettled by the presence of the P90, but it was overwhelmed by his excitement at seeing a new sentient race. After all not only was this fascinating for him as a historian/archeologist, but it was way more exciting for him as a nerd! The only thing that could have made this better was if there was no rain... If there wasn't any rain then imagine how much more he could see of these new people!... Were they 'people'? They were living being but.... How should he address them? "Huh? Oh right.... You're welcome." Finn hoped he didn't sound insincere with that response, he wasn't fully there mentally. Not only were his thoughts on these new people, but they were also thinking of home, more specifically that one New Year's Day a few years ago.

The Dutchman's question snapped him out of his thoughts. "He's right, It might be worth knowing some bits of information about these people before meeting them." He commented softly, his tone one of genuine curiosity. He looked over at Black any complaints about the weather now gone from his mind.

[Izzy Stevens]

1020
Exterior
Meropis

Did it ever do anything but RAIN on this godforsaken planet?! She'd been on patrols, and it rained here. A LOT. Like, she felt like she lived in fraking Oregon or someplace. In her head, the Southern woman's accent pronounced it as "Or-e-gone", and immeditately, the voice of LaBelle, her roomie at Boot Camp, corrected her-"Or-again". Fine. She followed along at the the left side plank, not really concerned about the Koan. After all, they'd put them down once, what was one more time?!

Then the small, Irish redhead stopped. Le sigh. This was clearly a THING with this woman-Iz wasn't sure if it was the Irish part, or the small part, but the scientist was a little bit off her rocker. Sure, she herself was a redhead, but she wasn't prone to outbursts like this.

I still think you've lost your bloody mind, and what was that holy show in there?! You let that MacKay speak to me-and to YOU-that way?! I don't care if he's the King of bloody Sheba, there's still proper behavior in the lab, is there not?!...They have an ENCAMPMENT?! Michael Black! Explain. Now Actually, NOW she had a point...if there was a group of those THINGS out there, they might need more than two brains and a coupla Kalishnikovs.

She looked at Kennedy, who was eyeballing her oddly. He seemed to be annoyed by her gun, so she smiled and patted it. He would be grateful she had it when the doo-doo hit the proverbial fan, for shizz.

Irish is a little...tempestuous, no? She whispered to him, conspiratorally, and jerking her chin towards Fiona.

The Dutchman spoke, and she snapped to a little.

Look, McKay is an odd one. Aye, he is arrogant, condescending and more annoying than little siblings, but I would argue that he is one of the best in his field. He has saved my bacon more than once. She shrugged again. She hadn't met this McKay man, but if the scientists disliked him, that meant he was probably a jerk in the infirmary. Oh, well, she had a "cure" for that-shots in the rear end usually shut most people up damn fast.

Tag:Finnbar Kennedy, Gijs de Vos, Michael Black, @me.

[Michael Black]

1023-1035
Exterior
Meropis

"They have an ENCAMPMENT?! Michael Black! Explain. Now." Fiona stopped dead in her tracks, and just like that, the freight train's brakes had been applied and the party had come to a screeching halt. He wasn't going to be able to brush this one aside.
"Dokter, what can you yell me of these 'Koan'?" The foreign soldier asked as Michael racked his brain with a few 'umms' and 'errs' trying to find the right words for this particular situation.
"He's right, It might be worth knowing some bits of information about these people before meeting them."
Finnbar chimed in, slightly to Michael's annoyance. Yes! I am trying to think of the right way to say this so I actually get to walk out of here alive, he thought to himself with a glance at Fiona.

Finally, the words formed into a sentence and it all clicked into place, Michael perked up,
"Well now, the Koan we've all come to know from running around Meropis were a tortured race and a lost cause. Dorane had done unspeakable things to their minds, including locking them up in stasis chambers for thousands of years until we arrived. It just didn't work out too well for them..." Michael actually looked a little sad about that last part, "However, there is a community of Koan out here in the forest that have been thriving and surviving for all of that time. They might not be quite as clever as the ancients, or even us, but they are sentient and really quite gentle and kind if you know how to approach them." He smiled, thinking fondly of his new found forest friends as the rain battered the group.

They set off at a walk through the woods once more, as they moved Michael sensed that his explanation wasn't quite enough. This became apparent due to the distance Fiona was now keeping from him, he could feel her eyes burning through the back of his skull. He'd better elaborate,
"Look really they are quite okay, trust me. For the most part they are scared. Dorane and the Ancients were both very unkind to their race, almost driving them to extinction. They don't really like our city, it fell from the heavens and took away some of their home, but they do trust me. I think it's something to do with the pain Dorane put me through, the way he forced a Koan to torture me, I think they understand that." He was just pleading now with the others, trying to get them to see that these aliens weren't the enemy, they were just misunderstood and quite a sad lost cause in some respects.

After a few minutes trudging through the rain, the group approached the edge of the thick woodlands where it began to open out into a clearing. They could see rough canvas tents held up with branches. There was a campfire steaming away in the rain but fast going out, and a few dark shapes hurried back and forth carrying cloths, fruits and smaller dark shapes. Another enormous roll of thunder came from behind the group, louder this time, and a flash of lightning briefly illuminated everything. The Koan looked panicked. Michael had never seen them like this.

Taking one quick glance at Fiona, he stepped forward out of the shadows. Immediately the few Koan nearest to him stopped and adopted a defensive stance, dropping whatever they were carrying and preparing their clawed hands. Michael calmly held out the palm of his hand and bowed his head. He waited. There was a tense stand off and Michael prayed that none of the soldiers behind him were stupid enough to go shooting things. Slowly, one of the elder looking Koan with longer, preying spines along it's head approached Dr. Black. To the shock of the others, it delicately placed a claw tip on Michael's palm and made a soft, gentle growling noise. Michael slowly produced a power bar from his jacket and held it out. To his delight, a very small Koan youngling ran up and snatched the power bar with glee, tearing into it in front of Fiona. Michael smiled. His eyes scanned the encampment and the smile soon faded. It was a large camp, with maybe a hundred or so Koan, but the howling wind and the constant rain was beginning to collapse some tents and extinguish some fires. The elder Koan looked at his flock and let out a small distressed cry, he looked back at Michael who in turn looked at the others.
"Please. We have to get them out of here before these trees start coming down." He pleaded with the group, Michael wanted to save these creatures and by God he hoped he was doing what was right.

<tag Fiona Maccafferty Finnbar Kennedy Gijs de Vos Izzy Stevens>

[Fiona Maccafferty]

1023-1040
Meropian Forest

Fee wasn't moved by Michael's inital pleas.

Well now, the Koan we've all come to know from running around Meropis were a tortured race and a lost cause. Dorane had done unspeakable things to their minds, including locking them up in stasis chambers for thousands of years until we arrived. It just didn't work out too well for them...However, there is a community of Koan out here in the forest that have been thriving and surviving for all of that time. They might not be quite as clever as the ancients, or even us, but they are sentient and really quite gentle and kind if you know how to approach them. It wasn't, to Fiona, about how sentient they were or weren't. It was about safety, the paramount thing in Fiona's mind. She disliked the feeling of being unsafe, and she felt that now. Didn't he understand that? They had talked about things from their past, but Fee hadn't told him all just yet. Still, it should be no surprise to anyone that she felt that way. She DID hide a lot, after all. She simply raised an eyebrow. Fine.

She glanced back at deVos, who seemed a little annoyed, and the two younger ones were talking. About HER, for sure, but most people did.

She didn't say anything as Michael started forward again. She was still mad, so she crossed her arms over her chest and stared. Her gaze could bore holes in his neck if it were real. Why couldn't men ever understand, fuzzy creatures, or the woman they liked?! 

He stopped again, and looked at her.

Look really they are quite okay, trust me. For the most part they are scared. Dorane and the Ancients were both very unkind to their race, almost driving them to extinction. They don't really like our city, it fell from the heavens and took away some of their home, but they do trust me. I think it's something to do with the pain Dorane put me through, the way he forced a Koan to torture me, I think they understand that... They came upon a gathering of the creatures, and Fee, instinctively, ducked behind de Vos. She remained for a moment until Mike extracted a power bar. She moved out from behind Glijs, and approached Michael, quietly. She watched as he interacted with a baby Koan; the animal tearing up the power bar! He ate humanoid food. She looked back at Michael, and they had a quick, silent conversation with their eyes. She understood, finally. She just nodded.

Please. We have to get them out of here before these trees start coming down. Fee sighed.

Ok, but how? This isn't Aear; I can't put him in me pack. And the four of us can't carry them all... Particularly herself. She might be able to manage one of the chislers, but the others were heavy, and she was so small. He'd better have a PLAN or he was going to get it again.

Tag:Michael Black, Gijs de Vos, Finnbar Kennedy, @me.

[Finnbar Kennedy]

1020-1040

Exterior

Meropis

Finn had been trying to keep quiet the whole way out. Only speaking up when he felt that he had something to offer. He also didn't want to get in between Fiona and Michael, it seemed lie there was something between them. When P90 Girl.... What ever her name was spoke up about his fellow Irelander he couldn't help but reply. "You do realize I'm Irish, right?" He said with no ill intent in his words, just asking a question. "But I see what you mean, I think there's more than meets the eye with them." He felt that, while yes, she did seem to be rather..... tense. There was probably a valid reason for it.

Once they made it to the camp Finn could tell there was something up. He wasn't sure what it was but he would get this feeling when he was with a Bedouin tribe once.(one of the only truly nomadic ones left) when a bad storm was on the way. Then the possibly trigger happy P90 lady popped into his head, it was entirely possibly in his mind that she might do something rash. To prevent this he stepped in front of her making sure she wouldn't be able to pull off a random shot that quickly... And then instantly regretted his decision. Now he was standing in FRONT of her... AND her gun! When Michael spoke up Finn didn't respond. He was still fascinated by the spectacle he witnessed before him. He had read something about primates doing a similar set of gestures when asking permission for something.... Wow.... He was really looking at a tribe of alien beings.... It was a dream come true! Well.... Mostly.

[Michael Black]

1041
Koan Encampment
Forest, Meropis

Fiona was the first to reply to Michael's pleas to help these creatures.
"Ok," and that was all he needed to hear. She had backed him up, supported him. He felt a rush of some strange feeling go up and down his spine and his stomach turned a little as he looked at her. What on Earth was this madness? Michael had never experienced that before. Her soft Irish tone floated to him through the rain and snapped him out of it, "but how? This isn't Aear; I can't put him in me pack. And the four of us can't carry them all..."
She was right, the Koan would need to follow them back to the base of their own accord, but how?
"I think there's more than meets the eye with them."
Dr. Black caught the end of Finnbar's sentence as the other Irish individual stood admiring the Koan. He couldn't help but smile at the man's enthusiasm and chalked Finnbar over into his good books.

Michael turned to the leader of the group as the Koan youngling finished off the power bar and eagerly looked at Fiona for me with it's big beady eyes. Dr. Black made a few hand gestures as he spoke slowly, hoping the eldar could understand him.
"You. All of your people. Follow me. Safety. Dry. No danger." A moments pause and you could cut the tension with a knife before the eldar Koan broke Michael's gaze and stalked off back toward the rest of the encampment. He began to bark and holler in that frightening way the Koan had done when they were trapped in the city. Other creatures had been scattering back and forth carrying logs and supplies, all of them stopped in their tracks. When he was done, some of them began to gather up things they liked and grouped near the Eldar. Michael suppressed and excited 'yes' as it seemed to be going according to plan.

That was of course, until the wind and the rain picked up, and the tree came down. With an almighty crash a great tree fell onto the center of the encampment, dragging other nearby trees half down with it. The Koan panicked. The pack began to disperse and the noise rose above the wind and rain as fear spread among them. A few of the tents had been crushed and Michael could see one of the creatures caught under the top end of the tree, howling in pain.
"No!" He yelled, "Quickly!" and he ran over to try and shift the branches, aware that he was putting himself in a very dangerous position by being among a pack of frenzied Koan. God knows the base had already had their fair share of experience with that. Regardless, Michael bent his knees and tried desperately to budge the branch, but it wasn't moving. He looked back at the two soldiers who'd escorted the group.
"Well don't just stand there come on!" He shouted across the clearing. Meanwhile another crack of lightning and a roll of thunder signaled that the storm was getting closer still, and the team were right out in the open prime for being plucked off the ground by a scouting tornado.

<tag Fiona Maccafferty Finnbar Kennedy Izzy Stevens Gijs de Vos>

[Gijs de Vos]

1041
Koan Encampment
Forest, Meropis

Gijs didn't really follow the whole argument. He was more interested in the explanation of these Koans. It was rather interesting, actually. Then they came upon a group of the creatures. The little one was a bit of a cutie, the Lieutenant had to admit. Again, he didn't quite listen to everyone else, instead focusing on the sounds of the oncoming storm. It was coming. Fast. The winds had picked up since last he was outside, earlier this morning, and the temperature had dropped a bit. Besides that, there were some rather dark clouds above them.

Then he saw Black rushing towards one of the creatures, and several of the creatures turn towards the Doc. de Vos took the Glock-17 out of his holster, and turned the safety off. He didn't raise it yet, but he was prepared to do so at a moment's notice.

[Izzy Stevens]

1045
Koan Encampment
Forest, Meropis

Izzy just shook her head. Apparently the Brains were serious about this. The logical side of her thought them crazy, but the nurse in her wanted to save lives. Even...animal ones. They WERE animals, right?!

Tell me what to do, and I can help... She'd not finished her sentence when Dr. Black rushed forward to start to save them, Maccafferty behind him. Then a loud CRASH! rang out, and the Koan encampment was crumpled below a branch. She watched as the two tiny scientists tried to move the branch, and then she turned to Finn.

Let's go. She scurried up a tree, thankful she'd been raised by a man who expected her to be tough, and two brothers who treated her like one of the guys. She was able to scale the branches quickly, and used some medical tape to help her get a grip on the branch. The misty rain didn't help her grip, but at least it was better. She pulled as much as she could, with Finn's help below, and the struggling nerds. They were able to get a bit of space, and she yelled down.

Get what you can; I can hold it for a minute. But HURRY. Hopefully, De Vos would come along to assist, and then they could make more of a difference.

Tag:Gijs de Vos, Michael Black, Finnbar Kennedy, @me.

[Finnbar Kennedy]

1041-1045

Exterior

Meropis

Still marveling over the ape like behavior these 'Koan' creatures were displaying... And also still trying to figure out why the hell he was standing in front of a loaded gun. This thought was mostly lost to him as he began to wipe his glasses, more water had gotten on the inside of them... Again... Why was it always the inside of the glasses that got stuff on them. When the Dutchman raised his gun Finn winced, no, no shooting, no killing, that wasn't what was needed here. He turned to speak to the man and voice his concerns when there was a loud crack. He flinched away from the sound hunching over and pulling his arms away. "What the hell?!?" Who fired the gun? Then he realized that a tree had fallen crushing a few tents and pinning a few of the alien beings.

Before he could really form any thoughts or react P90 sprang into action. Without much of a second thought he followed after her, knowing that he wasn't the best climber in the world he decided that he'd stick to the ground and pull the Koan out from under the tree. Running as fast as he could manage in the wet muddy ground he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over thinking that maybe it was one of the creatures thinking that he was trying to cause harm he stopped dead in his tracks. Standing about ten feet away was a beautiful woman, dark hair flowed down her shoulders, and a warm smile on her face.... At that moment P90's voice broke through his confusion pulling his gaze off the figure. By the time he looked back the figure was gone..... Okaaaay? Starting to move he took one look back before finally committing to rescuing the Koan.

In what was not one of his best ideas ever he crawled underneath the tree and began pulling the Koan out, just far enough for them to be able to get out on their own. "Go on, I'm with Michael." He spoke to them kindly yet with urgency. He had no idea if they knew what he was saying and didn't care if they did at the moment. Once the last of them was free he quickly pulled himself out from under the tree and crawled a safe distance away now covered with mud.

[Gijs de Vos]

1041-1045
Exterior
Meropis

Gijs was still holding his sidearm raised. HE wasn't aiming at anyone, but he'd be able to do so if the circumstances needed it. Then a rogue wind knocked a few trees down. Gijs didn't see it, and before he could react, a tree fell down and hit him. Gijs' muscles tensed up, and his firearm discharged. A moment later he heard someone cry out in pain. Obviously someone was hit. Gijs was hurt as well. He was pinned under a tree. He was bleeding, but he couldn't feel it. There was too much adrenaline surging through his body. Soon that would end, though, and the Lieutenant would most likely start losing consciousness when that happened.

[Ethan Collins]

Continued from

1047
Exterior, En-route to outside team
Meropis

Ethan flew the Jumper in as straight a line as the outside forces acting on the jumper, however it seemed they'd lost communication with the base as they left the confines of the shield, they were on there own nothing he wasn't used to, mind bending situations not the newest of the new when i came to the Captain's career since first going through the Stargate, however it was his first rescue mission when he felt he was seeing two different realities or time, he wasn't sure but it was worrying.

Flying towards the team he first flew over them, there wasn't anywhere to land right next to them but there was another clearing nearby, "Sir, there's a clearing around 270 yards from the camp where the team is but..." He didn't finish the sentence, something had happened, at least it appeared that way to him. 

Suddenly Ethan found himself on the bridge of what appeared to be an Aurora class ship, namely that he'd just landed the Jumper inside it. While this was happening He'd actually landed the Jumper in the clearing.

Running through the halls of the ship he reached the Bridge, it seemed the he'd just escaped a few Wraith cruisers which were now attacking the vessel he was on. An middle aged looking woman said something to him, he didn't understand the words it seemed but what was supposed to do. he blinked and he was sitting in the pilots seat of the jumper everything normal, only a few moments had passed. "Sorry sir, the radiation Doctor Mckay warned us about... I'm not sure what just happened." He turned as he stood up everyone seemed fine he thought quickly about a pair of control fobs for the jumper and one appeared one after the other, he handed the first one to Hawkins and took the other for himself.

"Commander, in case I go out of my mind and can't fly us back..." he said just loud enough for Hawkins to hear as he also pointed to a control knob in the middle of the cockpit above the jumper's DHD. "Turn it clockwise to turn up the inertial dampeners that way we shouldn't get airborne from the winds of the storm." stepping out into the rear of the jumper he opened the rear hatch and they all began to move out the back producing a Life Signs Detector from his vest he scanned the area, it wasn't giving clear readings but there was a big group of life signs to their North West. directing his look and holding his P90 one handed he gestured with it in the correct direction. "they must be that way, the only life signs for a long while. though some of them seem to be moving away, they also seem to have some friends." As they moved out he fell into position.

<TAG:' Rescuers'Jaya Bakshi, Dylan Hawkins, William Treaty, Chaplain Osvaldo Zambrano, the 'Rescuees' Finnbar Kennedy, Michael Black, Izzy Stevens, Gijs de Vos, Fiona Maccafferty and the hopefully friendly koan along with radiation induced terrors>

[Michael Black]

1047
Exterior
Meropis

The team set about lifting the branches to free the Koan. The skyline had grown very dark very quickly, and now approaching lightning was beginning to punctuate the scene. The wind howled and the rain had decreased visibility no end.
"Get what you can; I can hold it for a minute. But HURRY." Izzy shouted as she helped heave things out of the way. Michael was grateful for the others coming to his aid as the creatures struggled out from underneath the fallen vegetation.
"Go on, I'm with Michael." Finnbar spoke to the Koan, much to Michael's astonishment. As they were helping the group scrabble free from their tents Michael jumped at a great booming howl from the Koan Elder. His spines were raised and he stood like a beacon in the rain. The other Koan had already began to converge on him, Michael noted that it seemed to be some sort of call to arms in the crisis - an evacuation point if you will.

Just as they thought the coast was clear, Michael heard a cry of pain and looked over to see De Vos struck down by another falling tree. It was getting far too dangerous out there now. The others immediately began to disentangle themselves from their current locations and move toward him. Michael turned to try and find Fee, he couldn't see her straight away through the wind and the rain and panicked, where WAS she!? It was then that he was knocked to the ground. A large branch had been swept up in a gale of wind and came howling across the clearing at Michael, unknown to him. It knocked him down from behind before bouncing off his back to tangle itself up in the branches of the larger fallen tree that had previously crushed the Koan's tents.

The alien archaeologist found himself face down in the mud and completely winded, wheezing for air. He raised himself up to his hands and knees and, whilst spitting the mud from his mouth, trying desperately to regain his breath and wait until the dizziness and pain subsided before he moved again.
"What're you doing Michael?" A delicate Irish accent rang out. Michael blinked. He was in the kitchen, was it his kitchen? He was on his hands and knees rifling through the cupboard under the sink, although he couldn't quite remember why but it all somehow seemed familiar.
"I'm just looking for that thing you asked for" he automatically replied, again without knowing why. It was like a dream, or a memory that hadn't happened yet. And the voice, was it Fee? Or was it somebody else? He heard a baby cry and struggle. Michael shut the cupboards and began to turn his head toward the source of the noise only to suddenly see the howling wind and rain in the forest again. He took a moment to regain himself, shaking off the cobwebs. That was unexpected.
"Must be the bloody radiation coming in," he said to nobody in particular. Michael looked up as a hand was offered to him, "Oh, hello there. Yes, I suppose I should get up now." He said with a smile as he took the offer and struggle to his feet.

<tag Fiona Maccafferty Ethan Collins Finnbar Kennedy Gijs de Vos Izzy Stevens and any of the rescue party who have made it there yet>