Tornado Warning ("Disaster Strikes" Series)

Chapter 7: The Aftermath

At this point, Sarah could faintly hear sirens approaching the school. Yes, help has arrived!

Rushing the kids forward as quickly as possible, she suddenly spotted Mrs. De La Cruz, who gasped and ran right up to them.

"Oh, Sarah, are you all right? Are any of the kids hurt?" She asked, crouching down to eye level with the students.

"A couple of them have minor injuries, but nothing too severe. Caleb's back is pretty bad though."

Looking each of them over, she sent some to the teachers with first-aid training, who had set up a little station in a corner of the bus ramp, with the school nurse, to care for the kids that had minor injuries. Meanwhile, the paramedics were busy with people who were severely hurt. Just in case, Mrs. De La Cruz walked over to the ambulances with Caleb, thanking Sarah for keeping him safe.

The rest of the kids, those who weren't hurt, were told to sit in the grassy area in the middle of the bus ramp. And so, now that Sarah no longer had any responsibilities, she rushed back to the third grade area as fast as she could. She knew that she needed medical help, but she also knew that there were still kids in the conference room. She's been so busy worrying about her students that she ignored the others. The emergency crews who had set up the aid station were assuming that people who needed help would go to them, or send someone from their group to bring back help. They didn't count on the fact that some people were trapped.

Making it back, Sarah climbed over and around rubble, until she reached the wall separating her from the others.

"Hello!" She shouted. "Is there anyone in there?!"

She heard faint shouts coming through the wall, and knew that they were still trapped. Not wanting to run and get help (after all, she didn't know how injured they were and didn't want to waste time), Sarah started to plan a rescue attempt.

"Listen! I need some of you who are not hurt to make your way to the door. Follow my voice!" She could hear movement on the opposite side, and knew that they were following her instructions. Now, Sarah reached the door too, and began to try to clear away the rubble blocking it.

Once she had managed to push away a decent amount, gritting her teeth to ignore the pain she felt throughout her body, Sarah shouted back to the kids: "Okay, I've cleared away as much stuff as possible. Now, on 3, turn the door knob and push on the door as hard as you can. Ready? One, two, three!"

With the kids pushing and Sarah pulling (using only her left arm, obviously), they struggled and fought to move the door. Finally, it opened enough for a small child to squeeze through and join Sarah. With two extra hands on her side, Sarah and the kids who couldn't fit through continued to use all the force they had, managing to open the door about half a foot more.

Deciding that that was the best they could do, Sarah laid a piece of wood, the size of the opening, on the floor. Aligning it between the door and the frame, she fit it in place and let go of te door, letting the wood hold it open.

"Perfect! All right, now, I need all y'all to squeeze through the door, okay? Careful with the wood on the ground."

One by one, the uninjured students filed out, and Sarah immediately sent them to the bus ramp. Once they were gone, she carefully inched into the room herself, ready to help.

The conference room was pitch black, except for the stripe of light that came from the open door. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to see or do anything in this darkness, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys, which thankfully were still where she left them. Sarah fumbled with the keys for a moment until she found what she was looking for: her flashlight key chain. Clicking the little button, a tiny stream of white light now illuminated a bit of the room. I guess I'd better take what I can get!