The Earthquake

Chapter 2

-Alicia-

I dream that I'm in Hawaii with my parents. We're talking about the weather. It's warm here, and the water is the perfect temperature for swimming. We sit by the edge of the water for a while, having some snacks, and then I decide that I need to go into the water - it's too inviting not to. I walk out to the cool splashing waves and wade in. It's perfectly warm without even the slightest chill that ocean water usually has. I feel relaxed and I begin to float on my back, looking up at the sky. I feel like I could drift off right there, resting on the water. I close my eyes. 

Then, suddenly, a shark knocks into me. I scream, my relaxation gone in a second. I'm thrashing around in the water, trying to get away from it. I'm too slow. Teeth grab my ankle and pull me under. I thrash around more, but there's nothing I can do. I'm dragged deeper and deeper and I breathe in water and choke as I try to escape. I struggle and kick, but the shark is too strong. I'm exhausted and gradually I feel myself sinking into the deep....

I wake up confused. There are broken objects completely covering me, two chairs and a desk and parts of the roof. My head throbs so badly I have to close my eyes for the moment to block out the pain. My whole body aches badly, and one of my ribs feels like it's broken. For a moment I completely forget where I am and what I'm doing here. And then, like a bolt of savage lightning, it all hits me. There was an earthquake. 

I try to push some of the stuff off of me, but I'm weak. I can see a little into the room - it's light so I must have been out for a while, considering the electricity went out. It must be morning. Everything is in ruins. The desks have collapsed and the windows smashed, leaving glass and broken wood everywhere. The ceiling is cracked in some places, and plaster has crumbled down to land like sprinkles over the debris. Wedged under the desk, I can just make out some people lying on the floor beside me. They are completely still and silent. I look away. I can't see much else from my current position, and I don't want to, either. The shock, terror, pain and disbelief all combine into something that forces me to curl into a ball under the wreckage, closing my eyes and pretending this is not real. The ambulances must not be able to get to us, I decide. Maybe there was some road blockage. I assured myself that they must be working on it, doing everything in their power to rescue us. I'm sure Ms. Williams has a plan - she always does. She has emergency supplies, too. There's no reason to worry. I force myself to believe this before I sit back up. 

My head reels, but I steady myself. I have to get this desk off of me. With all my strength, I push it up, trying to pry it from me. This does no good; I'm exhausted and I collapse again on my side. My rib protests with a sharp jab of pain. I lay on the floor and cough and gasp for a while. Everything is spinning in my head so fast I think that if it doesn't stop now my head will explode.  My eyes stare ahead, focusing on anything nearby. What catches my eye is a twisted piece of metal lying a couple of feet from me. It was once a chair leg, but it must have snapped. I suddenly have an idea. Reaching out from under the desk, I strain to grasp it. The edge of my fingers graze it, and that's just enough. I pull it in close to my side. I rest for a moment, tired from even this. Then I wedge the chair leg between me and the desk. Then I shove it upwards with all my might. 

The desk moves just enough for me to squeeze out. I stand up too quickly, only to come falling back down again. I lie there for a few minutes, or maybe hours. Then I get onto my knees and look around.

I was right about the whole room being destroyed -- it is. Everything is broken or has been flung across the room. The ceiling is caving in. All the desks are heaped about on the floor. I'm prepared for that.

What I'm not prepared for are the people. 

I'm a very squeamish person. I never watch horror movies, as if I did, I would be paralyzed in fear for weeks every time it got dark. I'm terrified of spiders and anything like that, and the sight of blood is enough to make me throw up. I've been teased for it in the past, and wish it wasn't so, but that's just the way I am.

That's why I almost pass out when I see all the people lying around motionless. They are all over the floor. Some show obvious signs of injury and pools of blood cover the ground beside them. Others may be simply unconscious, for all I know. But what's the worst is seeing, in the front of the room, Ms. Williams. She is one of the people who is obviously dead. A shard of glass is in her head, and the pool of blood around her is huge. She's completely pale and her eyes are glazed over.

I turn away from her and swallow the vomit rising in my throat. I see the bodies everywhere, but I can't look anymore. I had no real friends in Math class, but even so, seeing so many people dead who you've known for years by name is not something easy to take. I can't look at them. But at the same time, I can't not look at them. There's nowhere to turn now.

I know what I have to do. I walk to the door, which has hangs crookedly, push past it, and make my way into the unknown.