{"id":447,"date":"2011-07-25T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T04:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=447"},"modified":"2011-07-25T00:00:19","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T04:00:19","slug":"day-7-chapter-8-marin-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=447","title":{"rendered":"Day 7 – Chapter 8 – Marin – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I spent the next hour with Matt, making and serving breakfast, hoping against hope that the storm didn\u2019t blow our tents right over and trying not to think about whatever Greg and Thom might have been talking about other than designing the greenhouse.\u00a0 If I was lucky, that was the only<\/em> thing they were discussing.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only warning we had was a gust of wind before we heard he loud crack<\/em> of wood snapping.\u00a0 Someone screamed, and the second of the two tents we were living in started to fold in on itself.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cShit, shit, shit.\u201d\u00a0 I grabbed the bucket of soapy water we\u2019d been using to rinse dishes and dashed into the collapsing tent to douse the fire at the far end.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMarin, what are you doing?\u201d\u00a0 Kellin shouted after me.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe fire!\u201d\u00a0 I reached it as the wall on that side was folding inward, upending the bucket onto the flickering flames just in time to look up and see one of the tent\u2019s posts coming down toward my head.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I froze.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something knocked me sideways.\u00a0 I landed near the edge of the fire pit and the heavy, wet tarp of the tent\u2019s walls buried me.\u00a0 I lay there for a moment, listening to the pounding rain, the howling wind, and the others yelling at each other, catching my breath.\u00a0 I lay still for a few long moments before I started trying to claw my way out from beneath the suffocating weight of the tarps, heart starting to beat a little faster as I realized what a small space I was trapped in and that the tarps were too heavy for me to easily force up and off of myself.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God, don\u2019t panic.\u00a0 Don\u2019t panic, don\u2019t panic.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mantra wasn\u2019t working.\u00a0 My heart hammered against my ribs and I was having a hard time breathing.\u00a0 The rain was still pounding down onto the plastic above me.\u00a0 I tried to scramble, uncertain of where the light would be, where the air<\/em> would be.\u00a0 Thunder rumbled, so loud and so close the ground quivered under me.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t breathe<\/em>.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something ripped to one side of me.\u00a0 My senses tunneled down to that sound, the sound of ripping, plastic-coated canvas splitting.\u00a0 It screamed in my ears, echoed through my skull.\u00a0 I could see light, dim though it was, to my left.\u00a0 A thick, meaty hand thrust into the gap in the tent and hauled me out and into the rain.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God<\/em>, was it cold.\u00a0 The rain was like ice, but it shocked me out of my panic and I clung to J.T. who\u2019d hauled me out.\u00a0 I was shaking, but not from the cold, heart still racing.\u00a0 Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, too close for comfort, but I couldn\u2019t move.\u00a0 I was rooted to that spot, panic still gripping me.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMarin, walk.\u00a0 Move<\/em>.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I jerked, looking up at J.T.\u00a0 He tugged on me again, toward the safety of the other tent, which was still up, still intact, though a few were scrambling to get walls up along the side that was suddenly exposed.\u00a0 Carolyn was standing in the gap that remained, eyes wide, face white.\u00a0 Was she afraid?\u00a0 Kellin stood next to her, though it wasn\u2019t me she was looking at.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.T. tugged a third time and I moved, stumbling over the slick canvas and tripping a little over some of the debris beneath the collapsed tent.\u00a0 We were both soaked to the skin and then some by the time we made it to the safety of the still-standing tent.\u00a0 J.T. didn\u2019t let go until we\u2019d made it that far.\u00a0 My heart was still hammering against my ribs as I collapsed.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI saw it coming down,\u201d Carolyn said in a broken voice.\u00a0 \u201cIt was going to hit<\/em> you, Mar.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I blinked up at her, trying to process what she was saying.\u00a0 The mark on my arm was warm, tingling, not cold like it had been for the past few days.\u00a0 \u201cHuh?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very nice Marin.\u00a0 How articulate of you.<\/em>\u00a0 I shook my head to clear it.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you talking about, Care?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cShe did it, Marin,\u201d Kellin said in a low voice, crouching next to me.\u00a0 \u201cKnocked you sideways so you wouldn\u2019t fall into the fire or get hit by that pole.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It took another minute for me to process what she was saying.\u00a0 About the same time my brain caught up, the cold caught up with me and I started to shiver violently.\u00a0 My clothes clung to me, soaking wet, and might as well have been coated in ice.\u00a0 Goosebumps raced up and down my limbs.\u00a0 I looked up at Carolyn and tried to speak through my chattering teeth.\u00a0 \u201cAre you okay?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She ulped, then nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2014I think so.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I nodded, almost convulsively.\u00a0 The only spot on me that was warm was my arm, where I\u2019d been hit by the Grays.\u00a0 \u201cGood,\u201d I managed to say.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll talk about it later, okay?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She nodded mutely, looking from me to the spot where I\u2019d been standing before, before the other tent came down.\u00a0 Then Davon appeared, hauling a wall up and clipping it into place, closing us off from the wind and rain.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.T. was already stripping out of his wet clothes, ignoring any sense of propriety.\u00a0 Drew and Matt appeared with towels.\u00a0 I just sat on the ground, shivering, mud-spattered and freezing.\u00a0 My brother wrapped one of the towels around me and started pulling me up to my feet.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou need to get out of those clothes, Mar,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 I leaned against him, all the strength gone from my legs.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t feel my fingers or my toes.\u00a0 I was just so cold<\/em>.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom and Greg appeared, Thom leaning against Greg, both looking concerned\u2014Thom more than Professor Doyle.\u00a0 I fixated on them for a moment.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Put them together and they maybe make a whole, functioning human being.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I started to laugh.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help it.\u00a0 As my laugh edged toward hysterical, Thom was suddenly just there<\/em>, taking me in his arms and away from my brother.\u00a0 I leaned against him, letting his warmth penetrate me to my half-frozen core.\u00a0 My laughter turned into sobs and I buried my face in his neck.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how long he held me, or how long we stood there.\u00a0 All I remember is that he did and the panic and fear finally went away, and I was warm again.\u00a0 Maybe not dry<\/em>, but warm, and safe.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was a feeling I never, ever wanted to go away.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I spent the next hour with Matt, making and serving breakfast, hoping against hope that the storm didn\u2019t blow our tents right over and trying not to think about whatever Greg and Thom might have been talking about other … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-8","category-day-7"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-7d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}