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The rain was drenching Kathryn to the bones; she couldn’t stop her teeth from clattering from the cold, and she felt her soaking uniform sticking uncomfortably to her body. The storm had been raging for hours, and, since all communications to Voyager seemed to have been broken, there was nothing else to do than to try and find shelter.
Which was easier said than done.
They had been wandering for what felt like an eternity and had not yet found a single cavern to get out of the rain. The trees of the planet, although leafy, didn’t provide much protection from the storm, so all they could do was keep on walking.
And then, she heard it.
It was distinctly Chakotay’s voice. Or rather, a scream.
She turned back, and for a few seconds, she didn’t see him. It was no wonder: the rain was pouring, and it was very difficult to distinguish anything. But as she shielded her eyes with her arm, and lightning struck near them, she saw a flash of red on the ground.
It was him.
Chakotay.
Panic shot through her body. She ran as quickly as her feet allowed her to, on the uneven terrain, careful not to fall down.
Soon, she had reached him. An enormous branch of one of the trees had fallen on top of Chakotay, who was fighting to stay conscious.
“Chakotay!” she shouted, kneeling next to his body. The mud on her knees was slippery, and that meant it would probably be hard to use it as leverage to try to move the branch from him. She tried pushing it with all of her strength, but it would not budge. “Chakotay, stay with me!” there was panic in her voice. She could not lose him.
“Ka-” Chakotay tried to say her name, but he found it impossible.
It was enough. For Kathryn, it was the sign that he was alive and conscious.
“Chakotay, don’t talk. Keep your strength. I’m going to see if I can find anything to use as a lever. Stay here”.
Of course, Chakotay would not be going anywhere for the time being, but it just felt like something she needed to say. She stood up and tried to find something useful. At first sight, she didn’t find anything. But then, after walking around for a few minutes, she found another branch that had fallen from another tree. That would have to do.
With the branch in her hands, she put it on the ground next to Chakotay, careful not to hurt him. As expected, the mud did not help matters much, but she managed to stick it below the bigger branch.
Another flash of lighting illuminated the place, and Kathryn saw that Chakotay was quite pale, as if he’d lost some blood. Without trying to dwell on the image for long, she pushed down with all of her strength, but the branch did not move.
She tried again and again, until it rolled slightly, eliciting a groan from Chakotay. Any sound from him was good enough for her, as it was a sign that he was still alive. She repositioned the branch so that she could use it as a lever again, and this time, it was easier to do so.
With a lot of effort, Kathryn finally managed to free Chakotay from the branch. She fell on the ground, exhausted, but satisfied that she had freed him. She took a few deep breaths, and then turned back towards Chakotay’s body. She leaned on top of him, still too tired from her efforts to be able to do more than that. The beating of his heart was uneven, but strong, and she felt his deep breaths a bit ragged after having been crushed by the branch, but it was clear he was going to be okay.
Now if only Voyager could appear…
That was the last thought she had before she passed out from the cold and exertion. That, and the notion that they should have checked the climatic conditions more thoroughly before that blasted away mission. Oh! And that Chakotay's body felt more comfortable than she would have imagined.