© rainthereader 2012 All Rights Reserved
Chapter 12
Lucas
It had been two weeks.
Everything was still in chaos. The impact of the earthquake had greatly affected the citizens of San Francisco and the rest of Northern California. A number of buildings collapsed, huge cracks could be seen along the streets, and houses that once looked stylish and immaculate were damaged. Parts of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate were destroyed and electricity was still down in a lot of places.
I had been sleepless for fourteen days. Going every single day as a volunteer to the remains of what was once a beautiful and classy hotel in search for Chloe's body had been heart-wrecking and depressing. Pictures of missing people were posted on the brick fence—the only remaining section of the hotel that was standing.
I could see how desolate the families and loved ones of the missing people were. Many of those worked at the hotel, but it was shadowed by the number of guests who didn't make it out in time.
Three hundred sixty-seven people still buried. Waiting to be recovered.
Including Chloe.
Thinking that they were still alive had long escaped our thoughts. It had been too long. And the last survivor rescued was three days ago. He was one hell of a lucky man. One just couldn't survive entombed that deep without food and water.
We just wanted to find them. All of them. It was the least we could do considering all they had to suffer underneath that horrible quantity of concrete pinning them. Just thinking about how they hurt made me want to scream.
Chloe was still in there. Still suffering. God, please help her.
I just wanted her back, alive or not—I just wanted her back.
It was four-fifteen in the afternoon and the clouds were looming, signalling the rescuers, police, firemen and other volunteers of the impending rain. Not too long and everybody felt the heavy drops, making everything muddy and more hopeless.
By five pm they wanted to discontinue the retrieval operation and wait until the storm stopped. The dry rubble had turned into murk and the rescuers were having a very difficult time digging and searching for more bodies. We only found four today. All of them lifeless. Barely recognizable.
And just as everyone was leaving the site, one of the rescuers assigned on the eastern side of the building's remains went on shouting something incoherent. The downpour was too loud for us to hear what was being said so two men went to him, and within moments they were waving and gesturing for us to go to them quickly. They must've had found another one.
I pushed myself to walk amidst the angry rainstorm.
The working lights were focused on the rubble and the two men including the one who was shouting earlier were carefully pulling a person's shoulders. I could tell from the way it was being taken out that the body was already stiff. He or she didn't survive as well. The neck was broken and the face was seriously damaged. The men shouted and continued to pull and my chest hammered when the rest of us saw a woman's appallingly broken body in black, tattered clothing.
I would never want my Chloe to end like that.
I saw another person in an orange suit and helmet headed towards the woman's left arm and grabbed something from her hand. A black purse.
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Romance"Cay, will you look at me?" I turned around and lifted my eyes to look into his. His arms were braced on the counter and he was looking at me sideways. The glow of the light coming from the living room and into the kitchen gave his face an otherwo...
