Shigure and I lay in each other's arms, partially buried by the rubble of the broken earth and sand all around us. We were not conscious enough to think or move much. We only felt relief that we were together. We slipped in and out of consciousness, knowing that we were both seriously injured, but neither of us could move.
We were in that perilous state of being where anything could tip us over the edge into death. Although knowing we were badly injured and on the verge of death, we could only exist in the moment. We couldn't do anything to save ourselves. Could barely think. Not to mention try to move. We were barely able to use our link to communicate or check on each other. The best we could do was send reassurance to each other and make sure the other person was still alive.
Sometimes we'd wake up to blink at each other, other times we just fed each other our love and care through our link. Exchanging love and being glad that we had not been left alone. At night, dew and condensation would soak into our bodies, making us shiver. Sometimes the dew would drip down our faces into our lips. A small relief after the hot and dry, sandy winds of the desert.
We were partially shaded by the dirt and sand that buried us during the day. When the wind blew, more sand piled up on us. Over time, we might become buried and suffocate, but there was nothing we could do about that and we might be dead before that happened. We didn't have the time or strength to care.
We drifted in a strange state of being. Slightly numb. Not really hungry. Vaguely thirsty. Barely thinking. Barely breathing. It was as if being able to touch and see one another was enough. We lived in our own quiet, silent world, cut off from the rest of the world, knowing we were dying and not really caring. At least we were together.
The times where we could open our eyes grew less and less frequent. Occasionally, I felt the patter and flutter of birds land on us to carefully drip water into our mouths or to feed us melon mush. We just swallowed automatically.
Sleep brought us deeper and deeper until we could barely wake up anymore. Time was a blur of day and night. Light and dark. Hot and cold. Dry and wet.
*****
"The international search party is packing up. They've retrieved all the bodies they could find. There are no survivors. How many times have we told you, Otōsan?" said a voice in Nihongo.
"If he's not with his friends in the next city, he must still be here. Did you see how worried his friends are for him? We have to find him. They said it'd be easy to recognise him. He and his wife both have silver hair," croaked an old man's voice.
"Silver hair? Our family doesn't have silver hair, Otōsan," a female voice said.
"Watch your step and be careful. The ground can still give way. The whole land here isn't stable."
"They're expecting another series of earthquakes again soon, I heard. They say this area is unlikely to be stable again in the near future."
"Did you hear, that trench that opened up went all the way across the sea? Those volcanoes exploding on the other side of the sea have made that entire country go up in flames."
"Junichi's friend said it was retribution. Judgement on both countries. The supreme god of the lands was angry."
"I'm not surprised, after the international community found out what was going on. Some of the stuff they found out and evidence they collected was completely perverted."
"It's a pity their friends couldn't come and look for him themselves. They were all so badly injured. Their enemies were really ruthless when they were chasing them."
"Otōsan, are you sure that he'll be around here?"
"I'm his father. Although I chased him out, he is still my son. We are still connected. I can feel him here. He's somewhere here."
"But Otōsan, do you know how long it's been? Even if we find him, he'll be dead by now. It's impossible for anyone to have survived almost a month out here if they've been injured. He might have been swallowed by the earthquake."
"Hey! There's a group of birds over there. What are they doing? There's something there."
The trickle of water ceased pouring into my mouth. The bird over Shigure's mouth looked up. Sand and rubble shifted. The ground groaned. The bird shadows flew away.
Hands swept aside the sand.
Glaring sunlight struck my eyelids painfully. The hot sun burned.
"There's a person here. No. There's another one. Oh my… Otōsan, Otōsan, we've found him! Silver hair! It's elder brother and his wife! Otōsan, where's the phone? Quick, call the rest of the team still over at the city before they finish packing up and leaving."
A trembling hand was held under my nose.
"Alive. Alive. They're both alive!"
"Junichi! My son! Quick! Start digging! My son! Otōsan has found you. Hold on. We'll get you out of there!"
The ground beneath us groaned again, shifting and making our rescuers all throw themselves to the ground with a shout.
Someone chattered on the phone, shouting for a helicopter rescue for everyone present.
Moments later, wind whipped the sand up to cut into my skin. The rescuers were all hoisted to safety first, the old man still crying for his son while his other children forcefully strapped him into a harness.
"The ground is unstable, Otōsan! We'll all die before we rescue him if you don't go first!"
The ground groaned, shifted and then fell away. Shigure and I fell a bit at a time, the sand that had been piled up on us drained away. The rubble and rocks fell away from us, exposing us to the sun. I could hear screaming.
Our bodies tilted. Shigure and I were only able to grip each other a little harder as we dropped even deeper into the ground while it shuddered and shook beneath us.
The helicopter left.
Wind and hot sun whipped and baked us.
A thrumming and the helicopter returned to hover over us, casting a shadow. It was a nice relief from the burning sun.
Suddenly, there were two men hovering over us. Shigure and I clung to each other, each refusing to let go.
"Let go," the men shouted at us. "You're safe now. We'll pull you both up into the helicopter together. You won't be separated. We've got you. Let us take you to the hospital."
Our hands and arms were pried from each other. I tried but failed to open my eyes, feeling Shigure doing the same through our link. The loss of the warmth of his body made me panic, but I couldn't move. I felt the same from him. We clung to each other through the link instead.
The world spun around us. Or perhaps we were the ones spinning.
This movement. The harness. All of it made my and Shigure's bodies shriek with pain. We shared the pain to try and help one another before we fell into a deep darkness.