Solitude || Evan Buckley [1]

chapter twenty two

waves

Chorus of phone lines rang nonstop throughout the mall floor at the dispatch call center. Every dispatch caller scrambled around either to help their colleagues or attempting to resolve an occurring tragic accident that will be out of their control. It was an unexpected tsunami that had wiped out the Pier and other areas. Emotions were to begin to run high. This would be the beginning of a very long day in the city.

"Jonas, how we doing?"

Sasha was on the line with a young man. Like many civilians living near the ocean, his house had been hit with flooding from the tsunami. The man was currently trapped in his house as the water rapidly rises. She instructed him to find the nearest exit that'll get him out quickly.

"Ah, I think I may have gotten myself into a situation here."

"No luck with the window?" She inquired.

Jonas stammered out, "Uh, went to a different direction. Up."

"You're in the attic."

"Yeah. Wow, there's a lot of crap up here." He acknowledged the amount of items floating in the room where he stood. "I though maybe I could best open a skylight, but it turns out, from he inside the attic, it's just a wall." He banged his hand against the hard wall."

Sasha nodded shortly, "Okay, well, let's work with what we've got. Do you see anything you can use to break through the roof?"

"Uh—" He searched around to only find holiday decorations. "Not so much."

Then it hit him, "Wait a minute! I forgot I had a pack up here."

"I suppose you mean climbing gear?" She assumed.

"Yeah, have you gone climbing?" He asked out of curiosity, digging through one of the containers.

"An ex of mine was quite adventurous."

He snorted, "My ex always said I was a gear-hoarder. She was right."

A ripple of chuckles left his mouth after finding a useful tool from the pack. "Thank God she was. Found an axe." He announced.

The dispatch caller sighed in relief a little bit.

"Guess, I'm hopping through a roof. I kind of wish I had a bigger axe."

"Or better idea: look for a roof vent. Attics need ventilation and the structure will be weaker there." She suggested strongly, typing along her keyboard.

"How'd you know that?" He pondered.

Sasha scoffed lightly, "Ironically, we have protocols for this. Talking someone through how to break through the roof." She pulled up the guide to display on her screen. "Didn't know I'd be needing it today, but glad I have it."