The water from the outside storm entered and flooded the sewers, washing away everything in its way, and a group of mice are no match for the unstoppable force of the current.
The most they could do was to hang on whatever they could find and endure the flood, but Sarah couldn't make it. The force of the flood was too much for her, and she was hanging on with what's left of her strength to not fall into a pool of freezing water. But she couldn't hold any longer, loosing her grip.
Now, she'll debate between life and death; a glimpse of her past is beckoning her to cross the line, while Christopher does a desperate effort to hold her.
Sarah will have to take a decision...
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Christopher manages to latch onto Sarah with his footpaws wrapped around her just as her paw slips away from where she'd been holding on. The extra weight puts an extra strain on his paws, though he holds as tightly as he can... But now, who will save him? He blinks as Tod shoots by with his rope, looking relieved, though he maintains his grip for now. With everything that's going on, he doesn't notice Sarah's shock, though he's careful to keep her nose above water.
Anne groans as her paws are starting to weaken from the flow of water when she starts to feel the pressure of the water start to decrease "Oh please let the water stop soon." she groans as her grip is rapidly weakening.
Tod wrenches his way up the rope as the water starts to die off, looking up at Christopher and Sarah, hanging from the edge of the storm drain. "You look like you could use a lift," he irks, with a bit of a smirk and reaches out to grab Sarah to take some of the weight of Christopher.
Sarah falls unconscious and stopped to breath. Her pupils were dilated and she was cold as an ice cube... "C'mon Sarah! Lets go out!" the voice of a child echoes in her mind... she recognizes him, it's her little brother Tenken. "C'mon lets race to the great tree, I'll beat ya this time!" She finds herself sit on her bed... in her home of the forest. There was a warm breeze blowing through an opened window making the curtains wave softly. It feels so peaceful...
Christopher nods to Tod, grateful for the help. Once Tod has got ahold of Sarah, he lets go of the protrusion and quickly grabs ahold of the rope, hanging on to it and Sarah as if his life depended on it. Which it probably did, so it works out.
Anne was relieved as the water started to die off, any longer and she would have lost her grip as well. She slowly released her grip on the pipe she had a hold of and huddled herself tightly shivering from the cold "I-is ev-v-eryone O-k-k-okay?" she asked shivering terribly.
Tod wraps one of his hindpaws in the rope and releases his other hand, using both forepaws to hold Sarah from falling. "She's not breathing!" His words echo through the pipe, hollow and urgent. "Chris, lend me a paw, we gotta get her up fast! Anne! there's a blanket in my pack, up that side pipe! Wait, just bring the whole pack!"
"Tee hee, you're more lazy than usual this morning, sis" Tenken takes Sarah's paw and pulls her playfully "C'mon lets go, you gonna loose the sunlight if you keep sleeping the whole day!" Sarah smiles and stands up, yet she remains there without moving while Tenken pulls her gently yet consistently. She hears something else... but can't say what is it exactly...
Christopher grabs ahold of Sarah in whatever way he can, helping Tod pull her up, thankful that the water has finally abated.
Anne nods to Tod and hurries up the side pipe now that the rush of water has receded she returns shortly with the whole pack and offers it to Tod and collapses shivering uncontrollably she is VERY cold and once again huddles wrapping her arms around herself trying to get warm.
Tod sighs and takes his pack. This is just going from bad to worse. First thing's first, though. Sarah needs it more than Anne does, right now. "Chris, check her pulse," Tod dives into his pack pulling out a large wool blanket (the bulk of what was in one compartment) and spreads it out. The ground is still wet, but this will at least help warm her back up. "Sarah?" Tod says, laying the blanket over her body, "Sarah!" he listens, she's still not breathing. "Well, you're her boyfriend," He looks up at Christopher, "which means /you/ get to give her mouth to mouth."
"What's wrong sis? Don't you wanna go out to play?" asks Tenken. Sarah looks at him then to the opened door from where the sweet warm breeze blows. "I... Yes of course I want..." she does one step but then stops again, turning her glance back to the bed. "Aw c'mon sis, are you thinking on going back sleep again? That's boring..." replies her brother still holding her hand and pulling her slowly. "No, it's just... I think I heard something..." Sarah replies.
Christopher seems to snap out of a bit of his own shock, kneeling down next to Sarah, a worried expression on his face. He places a couple of fingers against her neck... "It's weak and fast, but it's there..." He nods to Tod and his basic medical training begins to kick in and he opens up her mouth, trying to open her airway, hoping that she'll start breathing on her own... when he sees that it's not, he pinches her nose and leans over her mouth, making sure to get a good seal as he breathes into her lungs...
Anne looks to Tod and Christopher as they start to treat Sarah. Even though she's extremely cold she still would like to help "I-is th-th-there anything I c-can do to h-help?" she asked still shivering but pretty much still able to move.
Tod looks up at Anne, "Probably best if you just try and keep warm for the moment, I don't want you getting hypothermia out here," as he pulls his vest off and snaps some of the water out of it. The cold doesn't seem to faze Tod one bit, but considering the wild ride he had getting back home, and the fact that he does still have a full fledged winter fur, it's not really that surprising. "Come on, Sarah. Pull out of it. We got a long way to go and a short time to get there, so don't you crap out on us now." Tod thinks, then dives back into his pack, trying to find something, anything...
"So what's wrong, Sarah, don't want to come on out?" Sarah rises the glance and sees her father, standing at the door washed by the sunlight. "I... I don't know dad... um, maybe I should go back to sleep..." "What? and miss all the fun? Why do you want to go back to that cold and boring bed if you can come out and have fun under the sun, sis?" says Tenken. Sarah hesitates... and does another step further, and another... she lets Tenken pulling her to the door but suddenly she stops again, just with half paw outside when she notices a warm feeling that fills her chest. She looks up to find her father's glance... so kind and tender as always been...
Christopher lets up, letting the air expell from her chest, then repeats the procedure. /C'mon, Sarah... wake up.../ he thinks, trying not to get panicked.
Anne nods to Tod and tries her best to keep warm but she felt helpless just sitting there shivering but what could she do. Therefore she just continued to huddle there.
Tod digs deeper, his head almost buried in the pack, and pulls out a small, sealed bag. He thinks, then proceeds to sack the bag on the ground hard, then shuffle it's contents around inside the bag. After a few moments it starts to feel warm in his paws, good this thing still works. "Here you go, Anne." he says, handing the bag over to her, "It's a heatpack. it should help keep you warm." and casts a sideways glance to Christopher and Sarah, concerned. As long as her pulse keeps going, they got time, but they're running out fast...
"Then let be it, my dear Sarah." her father says and nods to Tenken "Okay..." Tenken nods and releases Sarah's paw, stepping aside. Sarah sighs... and hugs her father. She hugs him as tight as she can, crying. "I'm so... so sorry, dad" "My dear there's nothing to be sorry of..." he bends a bit to be at her height, tenderly cleaning the tears from her muzzle. "You have no idea how proud you made me feel, my child. There's no father more proud than me in the world for having such a beautiful daughter." Sarah smiles, and gives him another squeeze. Then she gets back a bit. "I... I better go back sleep now. I love you dad, Ten..." she turns and goes back to the bed, sitting on it. Then she turns her glance at them one more time. "If only I could..."
Christopher repeats the procedure a few more times, too preoccupied to notice the tears forming around her eyelids. He breathes into her again...
Anne gladly takes the heatpack Tod offered her and placing it to her chest she huddled around it soaking in the wonderful heat. as she huddles she glances back to them as they were still working on Sarah "How are things going?" she asked fearfully at the others.
Tod erks, "I wish I could tell, but we're either going to save her or lose her in the next few minutes," Tod breaks another pack on the ground and starts shuffling it around, "Wha'do you thing, doc?" He slips the pack under the blanket onto Sarah's chest, then tucks the blanket up under her, trying to get her as far off the cold ground as he can, in present conditions anyway.
Sarah COUGHS! She coughs violently spitting all the water she swallowed out of her lungs, taking a deep breath after. She coughs, panting, starting to shiver as her body does a desperate effort to regain the heat, to recover life back once again.
Christopher quickly breaks off when Sarah coughs. "Oh, thank Gaia," he mutters, sighing a little and giving her a gentle hug once she finishes coughing. "Sarah, are you all right?"
Anne sighs with relief when Sarah coughs up the water "Oh thanks th seasons." she said with obvious relief at Sarah's recovery. She got up still clutching the heatpack Tod gave her and approached the small group. "She'll be alright now won't she?" she asked the other two mice.
"Anybody ever think of thanking God?" Tod mumbles as he sits back relieved that Sarah's still alive. After a moment, Tod stands and moves to Anne's side, "I think that's for the doc here to determine," nodding to Christopher, even though he's really a lab tech, he's still better than Tod. "But she's alive." He looks around, curious as to where that water came from. this is supposed to be only a storm drain, unless that's changed in the last few weeks. "As a matter fo fact, how long 'til we can move her. I really don't think sticking around here is a good idea," Tod observes as he starts to reel in his rope, giving it a quick, but precise snap to release the end he tied down.
--------------------------------------------
"Dream! What you dare to dream.
Go! To where you want to go.
Be! What you want to be.
Live!" R. Bach
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