"Damn it!" Adrian hauled himself up by sheer will, struggled to stay there. Hearing real calm now in their reactions, he gave up the fight, wobbling.
"He's gonna fall!"
"Grab him!"
"Down, guys!" Adrian rolled forward with the fall as Neil and Kenn bent down, and ended up on his feet in front of the crowd that let out a cheer, clapping.
Adrian waded into the thick of them, and they quieted, most of them realizing they had overreacted, and were due a scolding.
His men watched silently, thinking they were beyond lucky that once again Adrian had known how to handle the crisis - nothing broke the spell of panic and fear like laughter.
Nose full of sulfur and smoke, Adrian felt the air shift, knew by their downcast eyes and silence that they understood, and said nothing, only looked back with hard, blue eyes. The silence stretched out.
When many of them were about to start offering apologies, Adrian stopped them with a shake of his head. "During a quake, you get away from anything that can fall on you and then stop. Wait and look for cracks that often open up."
He pointed to the jagged, gaping hole in front of Doug that a lot of them would have fallen into if he hadn't stopped them. "Like that one. Panic makes people do stupid things, and sometimes, it costs your life, something I can't give back."
Neil watched with the other Eagles, hands on his narrow hips, thinking Adrian was giving them what Kyle like to call the "lay", or how things stood.
"All of you have broken Quarantine and will have extra time in it, along with all the camp members I'm looking at." Adrian paused to spot them out with his sharp gaze, and the crowd was silent, ashamed. "This is nothing we can't handle, if we use our heads. It's over now and I want this camp back the way it was and everyone accounted for."
There was only silence and Adrian scowled, letting them see how displeased he actually was with an impatient jerk of his hand. "Move."
The commanding tone had them all rushing off and he turned to Kenn and Neil as people went by, torn between talking of the tremor and his juggling act. "Sitrep in five. Check-in of the guards is first. Gather your team, Neil, and round up the strays. Kenn, get Mitch on the radio. Have Zack and his guys oversee the cleanup. I heard engines. Try to call 'em back. Have Doug handle the count and tell the cook to start chow. Almost dawn anyway. Kyle keeps point. I'll be around."