CHARLOTTE POV
"We need to move. Now," Dan says, taking my hand and escorting me out of the room.
"What's happening?" I ask as he leads me through winding corridors. A voice over the sirens says that we have three minutes to make it to the bunker. We get caught up in a mass of people heading down the staircase to the bunker.
When we reach the large metal doors, I can see Dan scanning the people, looking for his family.
"Danny! Danny!" a small voice screams through the mass of people. Dan and I wade through the crowd to find the voice, and we find a woman holding the screaming girl.
"I'm family, I'm family," Dan tells the woman as he takes the little girl into his arms. "Who put her with you?"
"I take care of her as part of our day school program, I haven't seen her parents yet," the woman responds. She then hurries through the doors with three other children.
Dan then turns to me. "Her name is Maisie. I need to find my family."
I look softly to the crying girl. As Dan hands her to me, I say, "Hey, I'm Charlotte. We're gonna find your momma and daddy, okay?" Maisie nods, then buries her face into my hospital shirt.
"We have a minute left, Dan, we really need to get through the doors," I plead.
He turns to me and opens his mouth to speak, but then a new wave of people start to push through, and Dan shouts, "Mom!" He gets lost in the crowd, and I'm forced through the metal doors by the panicked mob.
The doors start to close, and I set Maisie down as I start to push through the crowd. "Dan!" I scream, "Dan!"
I'm then brought to my knees by a blast, and some small bits of rubble fly through the doors just as they shut.
"No! No! Please!" I cry out, pressing my palms against the door. I then hear Maisie start to cry as another bomb rocks the shelter. I go to her and scoop her into my arms, holding her close and taking her to one of the bunk beds as the tears fall silently down my cheeks.
Hours later...
After things got quiet, it became a waiting game. Maisie fell asleep in my arms, and so I gently set her down on the bed, stroking her hair. Absentmindedly, my other hand finds it's way to my stomach. My tears are now dried up. Again, I am alone.
The bombs stopped about three hours ago. They're testing for radioactivity now, then they'll open the doors.
I hadn't even realized that I'd dozed off, my head perched on my hand. I'm awakened by the sound of hollering and what sounds like metal squeaking. I squint my eyes in the near pitch-darkness, and notice that they're bringing in gurneys. I look over to Maisie, who is still fast asleep. I carefully get up from the bed, and then I follow the gurneys.
When I reach the bunker's hospital, I look around at all of the dust-covered, rubble-riddled wounded. As my eyes dart from person to person, I suddenly see a group of nurses surround what looks to be a very bloodied, badly injured Dan. One nurse shines a light in one of his eyes and announces, "He's going into hypovolemic shock!" I race toward him, but he's ushered into an operating room, and the door is shut in my face. I watch, pained, through the small window in the door. He is shocked, has a breathing tube inserted, and then I watch as the nurses work diligently to remove a centimeter-thick piece of rebar from his side. I look away from the sight, and then notice a few gurneys pass by towards a different ward - those gurneys have zipped, black bags on them.
Body bags.
I can feel my knees get weak, so I drop to the floor and try to collect myself. This world is so chaotic.
Through tear-blurred vision, I see white nurse's shoes right in front of me, and so I look up.
"Are you alright?" he asks me.
"I need to get back to the bunks," I say, snapping back to the realization that Maisie is still alone.
The nurse helps me to my feet and asks, "Are you sure you're alright?"
I nod, but then emotions get the best of me, and the nurse hugs me as I sob. He then notices what's going on through the surgery window. "Hey," he says calmly, "It'll be alright."
I let go of the nurse and catch my breath. He hands me a gauze patch from his pocket, and so I use it to wipe the tears from my face as I go back to Maisie.
War is no place for a child.
