Seattle Quake 9.2 (11 page)

Jenna rolled her eyes and reluctantly sat down. "Safe?"

"Think Jenna. Directly below the bathrooms are elevator shafts ... the ones that only go two-thirds of the way up. With all those walls so close together, it's the strongest part of the building. And even if we fall, people on the top floors survive more often than those on the bottom."

"That makes sense," Tim said. He watched Seely bring the tweezers up, closed his good eye and gritted his teeth. "Just yank. I can take it."

Seely took a deep breath, steadied her hand and grabbed hold. With a jerk, the jagged, blue tinted glass pulled free. She quickly covered the wound with gauze and applied pressure.

Jenna watched, and then folded her arms and studied the floor. "Well, if it's safer on the top floors, we should go up."

"We probably can't go up either," Tim said. "Fire locks, remember? All the doors are steel and lock automatically from the inside. On the other hand, maybe they fell off or one of you has a key."

Disgusted, Seely clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, "Don't look at me. If they had keys to the bathrooms they wouldn't give me one. I'm just a lowly supervisor, a religious freak, a nut, and an earthquake alarmist. And now that we've had one, I'm furious. How dare they build buildings we can't get out of? They knew the chances of an earthquake were high. We should have keys to the stairway doors, we should have two way radios and we should have a big enough earthquake kit for the four thousand people who work in this building every day!"

This time it was Jenna who tried to comfort Seely, "Hey, calm down.  It's okay. It's Saturday, remember, and there are only three of us that we know of." She suddenly frowned, and then cautiously went on, "Seely, do you think Pat made it down?"

"I don't know. I've been worried sick about her. I think she might have been in the elevator when it hit."

High above Seattle, in the body of the chopper, Jackie eased her feet out of her high heels and leaned her head back against the headrest. Moments before, the mock woman moved thirty seven feet west, stayed still for six minutes, and then moved back. Hopeful, Jackie placed a call to her employer, "Sir, I think she's going to make it, if we can get her out of the building."

Evan Cole's weary eyes drooped and circles were beginning to darken under them. His aborted Seattle landing took him to Spokane International Airport where the decor and hard seats were just like any other airport, only on a smaller scale, "Can you see her?"

"Well no, not exactly. We tapped into the building's security cameras but nothing down there works anymore."

"Then how do you know she's alive?"

"Well, you may not like this, but we put a computer chip in her necklace. It's a tiny sensor that allows us to know where she is and monitor her heart beat."

He was quiet for a time, rubbing his chin and thinking, "Are you telling me there's more to worry about than injuries from the earthquake?"

"Christina had a heart attack a couple of months ago and the truth is, she's had another one today. But she's alive. We think she has medication with her. When does your next flight leave?"

"Twenty minutes. I'm flying to Vancouver, British Columbia, which is about 140 miles from Seattle. I'll take a car from there, or walk if I have to."

Jackie considered not asking, and then went ahead anyway, "Mister Cole, why did Christina go into hiding?"

"I don't know, not yet anyway. I think my sister-in-law has something to do with it, but I can't find her. Jackie, I hope you know money is no object. Please do whatever you can to get my wife to safety."

"We'll do our best."

The voice over an Amateur Radio on Mercer Island was clear enough, yet the words were slow and labored, "WA7Y emergency."

"WA, this is Net control, go ahead."

"WA7Y. The Mercer Island floating bridge over Lake Washington is out.  Looks like it fell. A witness saw cars go in the water. I can see two, maybe three survivors and a speedboat headed that way. Miles Landing is under water and firehouse sixteen reports heavy damage. We've got no power, no phones and thank God, no fires…yet. Crestwood Retirement home collapsed. We have seven elderly dead and I don't know how many injured – a lot. Over."

"WA, copy. See if you can locate Doc. Parker. He lives on Greenwood Avenue, in the three hundred block, I think. He's got an office over there with supplies and some equipment. Then let me know where they're setting up emergency services. Over."

"Will do. WA7Y, out."

*

Old, tired and constantly muttering to God, Sam steadily drew closer to the clubhouse. Keeping the oddly slanted forest within reach, he strained to climb up ruptured chunks of green, and then cautiously slipped down into cracked and unstable valleys. Just as he was about to climb another, a shock wave zipped beneath his feet. Wide eyed, he took a clumsy step toward the trees and nearly fell. But the waves did not continue. "Oh good, a little one…maybe it was just my imagination." He righted himself, tucked his shirt in his pants, adjusted his cap, and started off again.

*

At KMPR, the cracked and slanted studio console was still without electricity.  Collin cleared off the rubbish and used a paper towel to remove plaster dust.  Once more he tried both the phone and the cell phone. Neither worked. When the earth rolled again, he waited to see if it would worsen. When it didn't, he went back to cleaning up. The mike looked unharmed and the cord was uncut.  Nevertheless, he checked it all the way to the control booth. It looked okay.  He dusted off his stool, set it next to the console and reached for a cigarette.  Suddenly, he stopped and stared into the control room, "Hey Max, you turn off the gas?"

"Didn't need to. Everything's electric."

Collin lit his cigarette, deeply inhaled and blew out the smoke. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, thought for a moment, and then grabbed his cigarette pack. It was half empty. "Uh oh."

"Collin, go down in the basement and turn on the generators. Let's give it a shot."

Quickly, Collin obeyed. He passed Max and Candy's apartment twice, once going down to the basement and once coming back up stairs. Neither time did he hear the voice of young James McClurg trying to raise Max on the Ham radio.

*

"I give up," James sighed. He moved the dial and listened, but the chatter was not about the earthquake. He moved the dial again. This time he located a frequency occupied by Hams in the south end of Seattle.

A man's voice came in loud and clear, "Any Hams in the Fife area? I repeat, do we have any Hams in the Fife Area?"

Heather sprang off the bed and started scanning the map. Fife...Fife...there? It's down by Tacoma."

"KP7J."

"KP, go ahead."

"KP7J, we have heavy damage in Fife. There is a strong smell of gas in the area of 21st street and 356th. We have fire in the shopping center on Military Road and a report of a multiple injury accident on Highway 99. Fire station..."

Once more the mechanical voice came on the air. "Time out. Wait." And again, there was a silent void. At last the mechanical voice came back on, "Repeater time out."

"N7XRG, can you turn the timer off?  Over."

"N7XRG, will do."

Heather cocked her head to one side and studied her brother's face.  "You said the repeaters were on mountains or tall buildings. How can they turn it off?"

"Easy, they punch buttons on their hand-held and send a message to the repeater."

"Oh."

"KP, what about fire station six? Over."

"KP7J, fire station six suffered moderate damage, but part of the roof caved in on engine number one.  Engine two is headed for the fire."

"B7XRG, timer's off."

"Thanks XRG.  KP, have you been to city hall? Over."

"Negative. My assigned duty is to check the schools. But I can head to city hall if you want. KP7J. Over."

"Net control to all operators. There shouldn't be anyone at the schools. Let's delay the schools. KP7J, it'll be a while before the command center is staffed at City Hall. You're the only one checking in from Fife. Head for the fire, over."

"AZ7BLB emergency."

"BLB, go ahead."

"AZ7BLB we've got an orange cloud forming just east of I-5 and 277th in Auburn. Looks like it's coming from the industrial park. Might be Nitric Acid.  Advise evacuation of the area immediately. The cloud is low to the ground and moving northeast. It's headed for the freeway, over."

"Okay, BLB. All stations, anyone got phone service? Can anyone call Auburn fire or police? Over." The lady net controller waited for an answer. None came. "Looks like all phones are out. BLB, can you get to the fire station? Over."

"KR7V."

"KR, go ahead."

"I'm about half a mile from fire station 12 in Edgewood. If I can get to them, maybe they can reach Auburn Fire and Rescue, KR7V, over."

"Copy that KR, go.  BLB, what's traffic like on I-5? Over."

"NZ7BLB, bumper to bumper and stopped. Must be a buckle somewhere."

James hadn't noticed the sadness in his sister's eyes until she stood up, walked to him and tapped his shoulder. "What Heather?"

"Is Tacoma close to Portland?"

"No, Portland's a long way south of there." He used his pencil and pointed to the bottom of the map. "Portland's way down here, see? Mom and Dad probably didn't even feel the earthquake." With that, he turned his attention back to the radio.

"...anybody got a CB? Over."

"WD7PRM."

"PRM, go ahead."

"WD7PRM, I've got a CB, over."

"WD7PRM this is AZ7BLB. I can see three tanker trucks in the danger zone.  Tell them to blast their horns, over."

"Copy that AZ7BLB."

"This is Net Control, all operators stand by."

In the small rural community of Auburn, Washington, the frightening silence left by the quake was interrupted by one short and two long blasts from an eighteen-wheeler. Another added his horn, and another until the people, involuntarily parked on the I-5 freeway, turned to look. Standing on the hood of a tanker truck, a man held both his arms out, pointing toward the orange cloud.

"WD7PRM. It worked! The people are evacuating, over."

"Glad to hear it. AZ7BLB, out."

"W7GF."

"GF, go ahead."

"W7GF, Portland radio station reports two quakes centered under downtown Seattle. The first was a 9.1 and the other an 8.6. I repeat two quakes, over."

Net Control was silent for a long moment. "We could have told 'em that."

In Yakima, James abruptly turned the volume down and listened. Outside, the air was filling with sound. Quickly, he went to the open window and leaned out. He searched the sky with his eyes, and then watched as seven emergency rescue choppers lifted off from Yakima's Military Training Center. "There they go. I'm gonna do that someday."

"Yes, if you can pass the eleventh grade."

He glared at his sister and went back to his desk. "I'll get there, you just watch." He turned the volume back up and defiantly straightened his shoulders.

"NJ7E, emergency."

"NJ, go ahead."

"NJ7E, the earthquake set off an explosion and we've got black smoke rising fast. The fire is spreading south…we've just had another explosion…there goes another one straight down Parkland Avenue. Must be a gas line. Dear God in Heaven, it's headed for South Center..."

James lowered his eyes and bowed his head. "Mom's favorite shopping center. I bet there's ten thousand people there on Saturdays, maybe twenty."  For a long moment, he remained shrouded in gloom. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "The radio station. Maybe Max is on the air. Maybe that's why I can't reach him. Heather, go get the radio out of Mom's room."

*

At the same time Heather brought her mother's radio to James and Max got power back on to both his and Collin's consoles, Tim found the transistor Radio in Seely's earthquake kit on the forty-third floor of the Winningham Blue. "Oh cool. I get the radio."

Seely narrowed her eyes, tightened her lips and took it out of his hand. "Let me tell you something, young man. The radio is mine. I bought it, I made sure it had batteries and it stays with me."

"Okay. But can I hold it a little while? Where are the batteries? I wonder if the stations are back up?  Does the whole world know what's happened here yet? Where…"

Seely rolled her eyes, handed him the radio and fished out the first package of 9-volt batteries. She watched him quickly load one, close the plastic cover and begin turning the dial.

*

At KMPR, Collin cleared his throat and leaned closer to his mike. "This is KMPR, 760 AM, located on top of Queen Anne Hill. Seattle has suffered a catastrophic earthquake. We can see a huge fire downtown and several smaller ones in the suburbs. We also have fires in West Seattle and on the Peninsula across Elliott Bay. On the south side of Queen Ann Hill, buildings are in ruins. Others are leaning and with the aftershocks coming so often, who knows how long they'll hold up. People are stunned. They try to help dig for survivors, but most of us don't even own shovels. North of the station, it looks like the hill just slid away. Across the street, a six-story apartment building collapsed. The last time I looked, there were three bodies."

Collin stopped. He took a long breath, slowly let it out and closed his eyes.  "Beth, if you can hear me, Max and I are alright. Stay where you are, Babe. Don't try to come through downtown."

Busy making corrections in what was left of the control room, Max only took a mental note when Collin stopped talking. He glanced into the studio, adjusted another dial, and then turned to stare. Collin was biting his lower lip hard. Max grabbed for his hanging mike, but along with the rest of the ceiling it was gone and he found himself waving his hand in thin air. Chagrined, he rubbed his forehead a moment, and then leaned through the broken window, "Tell them to honk."

"What?"

"We don't know if we're on the air, man. Say…if you're on Queen Anne Hill and you can hear us, honk your car horn."

"Oh, okay folks. If you are on Queen Ann Hill and you can hear us, honk your car horn." Collin waited. Outside, men were yelling, women cried and dogs barked, but no horns sounded. It was faint, but at last he heard someone honk. "This is KMPR, 760 AM. Do it again. If you're on Queen Anne and you can hear the sound of my voice, honk your horn three times." Again he waited. This time the faint horn sounded immediately. Honk…honk…honk. "Right on!" Collin shouted.

Downstairs, the Ham Radio once more came to life. "W7LGF this is KB7HDX. Max, you're up, you're on the air. Can you hear me Max?" James narrowed his eyes and glared at the radio. "Heather, go pack some food."

"Why?"

"Because we're going to Seattle."

*

Sam's Club House was completely unrecognizable. Built in 1932 of brick and mortar, it easily succumbed to the earthquake and following aftershocks, progressively crumbling where it stood. He climbed the last green knoll on the edge of the golf course, crossed the broken sidewalk and started into the deserted parking lot. Just then, he saw a man raise the butt of a twenty-two rifle and break the window out of a Mercedes Benz. Yanking the door open, the man leaned in and bent down.  A second later, the blasting car alarm stopped. The intruder helped himself to a CD player and fled into the forest.