Dance Moms - Lorelei (2) Finding Clara

Chapter 10 : Ghost Town

Ground Zero is a term to describe the center of a disaster, which was exactly what the place looked like, even concrete and reinforced steel couldn't withstand the power of Mother Nature.

Like the mall, every store on the streets were hollowed out, first by destruction of the windows, then the wind swept everything away, like a massive robbery, turning a city of three thousand into an empty ghost town.

Chloe rode a bicycle she found on the way, travelling from block to block searching for the City Hall. The streets were filled with all kinds of unusual belongings of boats, a tractor, an unicorn that broke off from a merry-go-round... It was as if the city has been through a tumble drier.

Many buildings she passed carried spray markings, a big "X" with codes around it. She recognized it from the shelter, a marking given by evacuation teams, indicating that a building was cleared, with reports of status and time. All the dates were two days old.

She heard some banging, far away she saw two adults at a gas station, slamming a sludge hammer down an ATM machine. The two men spotted her and stopped, deciding what action they should take.

"You run, they'll chase you."

"I know." Chloe nodded.

Criminals are all guilty to be caught on acts, most would make a run, but some may decide to silence the witness. Chloe looked away, pretending there was nothing she could do and rode on, saving her energy for better purpose.

Summersville was much smaller than Pittsburgh, with City Hall and the police station next to each other, and the fire department just across the street. She made a brief visit at each, everything has been cleared out.

The library was a block away, she got off her bike and approached on foot. The maintain entrance was shattered, with broken glass and branches spread across the lobby. She followed a sign that said "EMERGENCY SHELTER", through a double door and found her way to the basement.

"Clara!" she called out. "CLARA!!"

The shelter was empty, scattered with food wraps and books, a few toys, things they did to kill time while waiting for the storm to pass, little did they know they had to leave their homes behind.

"All this way for nothing!" the reflection signed.

"Not for nothing. At least now I know she got picked up."

She made a search around the building, hoping to find some ways to communicate with the outside world. All the phones were dead, and there was no radio.

She left the library and returned to the police station for a thorough search. She climbed behind the counter and tried the phones again, they were all dead too.

"They must have cut the power before they left."

"Power and telephone operates on different power source. It's a power outage."

Most of the doors were locked, a standard procedure. Chloe went to the fire department across the street to borrow an axe, there she found the communication room unlocked, but all devices needed electricity.

She found the building's main power and turned it on, but there was no response, power was down throughout the region. She began searching from room to room, hoping to find a handheld radio.

Both police and fire stations were built for stronghold, the structure was still intact, except for the broken windows, which let in the wind to ransack the place.

The second floor was living quarter, with kitchen, bedroom and shower, there were still running water. Chloe took a moment to rest, using the shower to wash away the dirt from her hair and body, the water was cold, but she felt relax knowing Clara left with the evacuation team, now it's only a matter of time to locate her at the shelters.

She then broke out the first aid kit to treat her wounds. She has cuts at multiple places, bruises all over her torso, and a big bite mark on her left arm.

This is going to leave one big story to tell my friends! She chuckled.

There were personal belongings scattered around the living quarter, Chloe found some clothes, the sizes were all too big, but at least they were dry.

Dressed, Chloe found an axe from the gear storage, and brought it back to the police station. She was more familiar with police stations than fire departments, their settings were all the same, with front desk, offices, dispatch center, interview rooms and holding cells.

The Summersville Police Station has a simpler layout, but with everything on the ground floor. The floor plan folded to an "L" shape, half surrounding the police parking lot at the back.

Chloe made one tour around to study the exterior, checking into windows to find a radio. When that failed, she went inside and began breaking doors one by one.

The first three rooms she broke into were small offices, probably for the senior ranks. When hacking on the forth door she thought she heard a cry. She stopped her movement and listened.

"Is anyone there?" Chloe called out, she got no response. "I must have heard it wrong."

She began hacking again, slamming the iron blade to the door handle. This time she clearly heard it, crying like a little girl in fear, coming from far end of the corridor.

"Clara??" her heart raced. Maybe she didn't get picked up. Maybe they missed her! "Clara? Is that you?"

The place gone quiet again, her banging must have scared the girl, whoever she maybe. But if it's the only way to find her, Chloe raised the axe and stuck again, this time she heard a continuous sob.

She broke through a door and into what looked like a filing room, with cabinets at all four sides of the walls. She turned on the flashlight and found a small figure curling against a corner, like she was running out of place to hide.

"CLARA!" Chloe gasped.

It took a moment for the little girl to digest whom she was seeing, her face was blank, but tears began rolling out.

Chloe held the girl tightly in her arms, fearing it was only her hallucination, that it may vanish at any second. Clara cried hard, like there was nothing left in her world, her sorrow broke Chloe's heart, the two cried together in the empty police station.

Chloe collected herself and let go of Clara, looked down and saw the girl holding a stuff bunny.

"What do you have here?"

"This is Stark." little Clara stopped crying and answered.

"You named your bunny Stark?"

"He's not mine, He's Gabby's."

"Who's Gabby?"

"She's a girl at the shelter." little Clara explained. "She said she left it in the restroom. I went looking for it, but by time I got back everyone was gone."

"You went to rescue her bunny??" Chloe's eyes widened.

Such young age, but already a brave girl with a heart of gold! Chloe only wished she was so strong at that age.

"How did you end up here?"

"There were bad men breaking things. I thought the police station might be safer, but there was no one here."

Chloe almost burst out laughing.

"Clara! You smart girl! You're a SMART SMART GIRL!!" she hugged the little girl, so impressed she was in tears. "Your mother will be very proud!!"

She regretted right after she said it, because next Clara asked.

"Did you see my Mommy and Daddy?"

Chloe frowned, didn't know what to say. How do you tell a child her mother is dead?

"Your Dad is at the south shelter. He told me to come find you." Chloe could only tell half the truth.

"They're safe!!" Clara hopped happily into Chloe's arms, making her heart crushed even more.

"This is not the time to cry." Chloe told Clara, but more to herself. "We need to find a way to reach them, so that they can come find us!"