Red X: Fred & Cammie

[x-scorpion.livejournal.com]

At the wreck sight, Cammie's Morbid sense of humor doesn't really sit that well with Fred, but the two manage to get something of a job done anyway.

Cammie looked over the wreckage and whistled. "Well," she said, stretching her arms over her head, "I suppose Lil didn't drag me out of my room for nothing. Always loved a good train wreck."

For his part, Fred said nothing. Though, if a telepath were nearby, they would probably be deafened by a combination of his apprehension and desire for nicotine. Before he'd left the Mansion, Fred had taken a moment to slap a large 'X' on the front of his sweater and the back of his long brown coat, thinking it would help someone notice him in this fracas.

Now, looking over it, he wondered if anyone could really process anything out here.

Fred shook his head, and looked to Cammie, his voice soft, "I get it, Cammie. You're tough. Leave the dark funnies outside though, a'ight? Lord knows what's going on in there..."

Cammie didn't have anything marking her as anyone there to help, though she tossed her jean jacket aside, not caring if it got dirty. It would wash out or she'd eat it.

"Well I could tell you but you suddenly went all touchy on me," Cammie said a bit dryly. "I really haven't had the best couple of days and I couldn't give a rats ass what's going on. Lil drug me out. Might as well do something now that I'm here though."

Fred nodded to Cammie and moved closer to the felled train, looking it over. The passenger train was being looked over, and he and Cammie had been told to check the propane train to see if anyone had gotten trapped. It made sense that the two of them would be assigned to it: Fred could hold his breath for nearly an hour and, as far as he knew, Cammie could freebase propane and still be alright. Still, this was Fred's first time doing search and rescue work, and the idea was still causing him apprehension.

He approached of the the train cars, now laying on its side, and tapped lightly at of the the emergency hatches that had been warped and crunched in the crash, "I, uh...I could get us in through this. But, uh, I'd have to do it slowly...don't wanna spark anything up..."

"Then do it," Cammie said, "I'm not the muscle here. I'm the girl who thinks this smells like a candy shop."

Fred cracked his knuckles a little, and put his hands on the emergency hatch, his fingers rested on the metal. Then, his fingers began to push into the metal, slowly but steadily, and Fred grit his teeth as he worked. This wouldn't have been so difficult if he hadn't had to be so careful. As it was, he could only go a bit at a time. He probably would've been in agony from his power, had he not swallowed an entire handful of his pain killers before leaving the Mansion.

Finally, he liberated the small hatch from the ceiling of the train, and turned. He looked for a suitable spot, and threw the now useless metal a good two hundred yard away.

"Good arm," Cammie said, stepping forward, "Ladies first, right?"

Fred nodded and, pressing his hands into the hole he made, slowly began to push the metal down, the whining maw slowly warping to accommodate Cammie without her having to crouch or crawl.

"Thanks," Cammie said, walking in. The fumes didn't even make her eyes tear, "Gee, I totally should've brought something to fry on the grill - wait, you didn't want the bad jokes."

"Well, that one was bad enough I'll actually let it slide," said Fred, smiling nervously at his friend as he peered into the train from behind Cammie.

"See? I'm not totally evil," Cammie said. Though it wasn't for lack of trying on her birth mother's fault, that was for damn sure, "What 'cha waiting for? It's not like it's going to explode. And if it is, could it even hurt you?"

Fred pushed more metal delicately out of the way so that he could fit through the hole as well. He looked at Cammie as she spoke, "You know...I don't know...but I don't aim to find out..."

"Then stay right here," Cammie said. "I'll go in farther. I really don't care if I get blown off the face of the earth, so it doesn't matter," she said flippantly. But right now, she meant that. She was back to stage one, thinking that the world would be a better place without her. "I'll bring out anyone I find and we can go from there."

"It does matter, Cammie," Fred said simply as he sighed, and followed Cammie a short ways in.

"Aww, that's sweet. I suppose we can't go making a mess though, huh?" Cammie said. And that's all her getting blown up would be, a big mess.

Fred reaches into his coat and pulls out a large, powerful flashlight he'd grabbed from the pile of supplies the EMTs had brought. He moved the light around the train car as he spoke, "Hello? Anyone, uh....can anyone hear me?"

There was a weak groan and some coughing. "Over here," came a muffed voice from the bottom of the cabin. The light revealed a man in his thirties wearing khakis and a matching shirt, some kind of uniform. He had a balled-up jacket over his nose and mouth in an effort to avoid breathing in the fumes, which were strong in the enclosed space. Another man, this one older, lay on the floor next to him, obviously unconscious.

"And we have some winners," Cammie said. The only thing she found uncomfortable about the whole setting was that it was warmer inside than outside. The fumes left a pleasant taste in her mouth, making her hungry. "You okay?" Cammie asked the man, waving Fred to come back farther if he could. If not, she could get him to Fred. "I mean, not hurt or anything, are you?"

Fred moved closer, looking over the two men in question. He leaned down near the unconscious man, and looked around. The man might have unknown injuries, but he looked more or less in one piece, and with the way the fumes were in here, he didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Fred scooped the older man up delicately, sure to support the injured man on his much larger frame. He looked to Cammie, "I'm going to get this guy out first, he looks pretty bad." He looked to the other man next, visibly concerned, "Sir, can you walk?"

The man nodded, eyes wide at the sight of the two young mutants without any kind of protective gear and the way Fred was carrying a grown man like he was a baby. "Dizzy from the gas," he managed. "And I'm bruised and shook up some, but I can walk." He coughed into the jacket again. "Get Tony out quick. He's been out for a while."

"Don't worry," Cammie said, "Fred can get him out easily. I can help you up if you need it," she said with a shrug. It was what Lil had corralled her to do, after all. She might as well put some effort into it. It was something to think about that wasn't the last couple of days, after all. "Anyone else around that needs out? I mean, I could stand in here all day, but I don't think you guys could."

The driver shook his head. "Just us," he managed, before starting to cough again.

Fred didn't wait around to hear the rest of the conversation. He'd come back after he got this guy out. At a brisk walk, he carried the man out of the ruined portion of the train and into the fresh air, where he finally stopped holding his breath. He took a few breaths and bellowed, "MEDIC! GUYS OUT COLD!" and continued moving toward the largest concentration of EMTs and injured.

At the shout, several EMTs came running with a stretcher and oxygen. Fred was instructed to lie the guy down - in the open air and daylight, his skin had taken on a greyish tinge and an oxygen mask was placed almost immediately over his nose and mouth.

Fred set the man down and watched the EMTs do there thing. It was morbidly fascinating, watching the men desperately save a man's life. Fred finally remembered Cammie and the other man were still in there, "Get ready for another. My friend bringing him out..." and he looked around for Cammie and her charge.

Cammie was slower with her guy, if only because carrying someone, or at least supporting their weight, on your shoulders was never as easy as it looked. She wasn't super strong, but that wasn't the point, "'Right here," she managed, "Little help, Fred? Seriously I'm not made for this."

Fred hopped to when called, and trotted quickly over to Cammie. He hefted the other man with almost no effort, and brought him over the to EMT's already working on the first man.

Over his coughing the man struggled to say something, but the exertion of moving through the gas had been more than his makeshift gas mask had been able to deal with. Instead, he managed to weakly pat Fred's arm as he was lowered down, giving him a brief thumbs up.

"Well, should we go back in?" Cammie said to Fred, stretching. "I'm sure we'll find more in different cars and all that junk."

Fred looked at the two men just freed from the wreckage by himself and Cammie, his face an unreadable mixture of emotions. Finally he exhaled, like he'd been holding his breath, and turned back to Cammie, "Yea. Follow me," he said, and made his way back to one of the unexplored wrecked cars.