Fault Line (20 page)

Authors: Chris Ryan

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #General, #Juvenile Nonfiction, #Science & Nature, #Environmental Conservation & Protection

BOOK: Fault Line

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Miguel stepped through with the three members of Alpha Force. A small, neat woman was guiding the children towards a white van parked next to a fallen tree.

‘Come and meet my wife, Thalia,’ said Miguel.

The road was deserted, eerily empty, but there was a wail of emergency sirens. The sky was dark except for occasional flashes of blue in the distance as ambulances and fire trucks fought through the streets.

‘Listen to those sirens,’ said Paulo. ‘The city must be in chaos.’ He flicked his torch back at the museum building; it caught the ragged hole they had climbed through, the render flaking off the walls like crumbling icing.

Alex was nodding. ‘But we’ve got these kids out.’

‘Four more to go – and Señora Zapata,’ said Li. ‘And Hex.’

Amber stuck her head into the little hole. ‘How are you doing?’

‘Fine,’ said Señora Zapata. But she didn’t sound fine, she sounded worried.

‘Are you in any pain?’ said Amber.

The teacher shook her head. ‘No, I’m all right.’ She smiled at Amber weakly. ‘Isn’t it quiet, now the children have gone? I thought you were all leaving me.’

‘We wouldn’t do that.’ Amber crawled into the small space and made herself comfortable. The area under the concrete slab was different now; frightening and bleak without the sound of the children’s steady chatter and the glow from their light sticks. How horrible to be trapped in here, unable to move.

‘Have you found everyone?’ asked the teacher.

‘Most of them,’ said Amber. ‘Four of the children still haven’t been seen.’

‘I know there’s someone dead under that rock over there.’

Amber was stunned. They’d tried to keep that from everyone. ‘How did you know?’

‘When you’ve got nothing to do you notice a lot of things. Jose and Imelda – and you and that big good-looking friend of yours kept the kids away. It’s my colleague Señor Mermoz, isn’t it?’

Amber nodded.

‘I knew something must have happened to him. Normally he’d have been out here organizing everyone. He’s a big personality. You notice when he’s in the room and you also notice when he’s not.’ Her hands were clasped together, the fingers fidgeting. The pads of her fingers were free of dust, unlike the rest of her hands. She looked like she’d been doing a lot of worrying.

The teacher sighed. ‘My husband wanted to come on this trip, but he had to visit his mother. She’s not well. I’m glad he didn’t come; to get trapped in this. But I’m also worried I’ll never see him again.’

‘He might have got out,’ said Amber. ‘Don’t lose hope.’

‘I don’t mean him,’ said Señora Zapata. ‘He phoned me just after the quake hit. He was all right – he’s on his way.’ She drew her hands apart. In the glow from the light stick Amber saw something glint. ‘When he comes, will you give this to him?’

It was a small circle of gold. A wedding ring. Amber was shocked. ‘Oh no, that’s not necessary. Listen, let me get you some water—’

Señora Zapata cut her off. ‘Amber, I know why they haven’t freed me. They can’t. They daren’t. They said they need to wait for the ambulance. But when is an ambulance going to get through? Jose said the roads are blocked. No one’s going anywhere. How long can I stay like this? I can’t feel my legs.’

Amber took a deep breath. She also took the ring and slid it gently back onto the woman’s finger. ‘Señora Zapata, you’re right that we can’t move you. But you’re still alive and we’re still fighting for you.’

Señora Zapata closed her eyes and folded her hands one on top of the other. She looked serene, like an effigy on top of a tomb. ‘You’re right. I shouldn’t give up hope. You’re not giving up hope.’

Amber caught the tone in her voice. ‘No,’ she agreed quietly. ‘We’re not giving up hope.’

Li, Paulo, Alex, Jose and Miguel returned to the ruined museum and made their way back in along the ledge. Jose had the sledgehammer; Miguel had a crowbar. Li and Paulo had light sticks and torches. They had left Thalia, Imelda and Señora Marquez with the children, giving out blankets and hot drinks from water boiled on a camping stove.

‘We’ll look at the fire plans,’ said Miguel. ‘In such a big building there should be another way into that basement, perhaps from outside.’

Li stopped. ‘Don’t move,’ she said.

Unquestioningly, Paulo and Alex obeyed her. Miguel did too. These kids really worked together as a team, he thought. They were like a tight-knit military unit.

‘What’s up?’ said Paulo.

‘I felt something,’ said Li. ‘Something moved.’

They all felt the sweat freeze on their backs. Was it another tremor? An aftershock?

Very, very tentatively, Alex put his hand on the wall.

It was vibrating.

He yelled, ‘Outside!’

They turned like lightning and ran for the hole in the wall. They dived out, rolled on the ground and in moments were on their feet and running away across the cracked paving stones.

Paulo called out. ‘Stop, guys. It’s not a quake.’ He stood and bent over, getting his breath. The others looked at him as though he was mad. ‘The ground’s not shaking,’ he gasped.

Li and Alex looked at each other. ‘I definitely felt something move,’ said Li.

‘So did I,’ said Miguel.

From inside the building there was a crash. The four observers threw themselves to the ground. The shocks reverberated through their bones. Screams came from Miguel’s white van.

Slowly, Alex looked up. Then Paulo. Then Li and Miguel.

Alex flashed the torch over the building. It looked the same but there had been so much damage already that spotting anything new was difficult.

It was Li who noticed. ‘It’s the roof. Another section’s fallen in.’

Miguel sighed. ‘Must have been weakened.’

‘And Amber’s still in there,’ said Alex.

21 D
YING
W
ISH

Hex heard a crash. He tried to sit up but the thump of solid masonry against his elbows, spine and knees reminded him that he couldn’t move. But what was that sound?

He realized he hadn’t heard any sounds from outside in ages.

‘Did you hear that?’

‘What?’ snapped Susana.

‘I heard something. Ssh.’

It didn’t come again. The only sound he could hear was Susana’s breathing.

She slumped back against the uncomfortable surface. ‘I didn’t hear anything.’ She tried to shift position but froze as if she’d been jabbed painfully. For a moment she lay like that and panted. Her breath was like steam in the tiny space. Hex could feel it on his face, his hands. ‘I need to get out of here. Can’t you do something?’

No, he couldn’t. That was the really difficult part. All the time he’d been in Alpha Force he’d been able to do things. Now he just had to sit here and wait for help. ‘They’ll get to us soon,’ he said.

Susana fidgeted again, trying to find a new position, but she always came back to the same one. ‘Did you hear something or not? It’s a simple question.’

Hex tried to remember. He thought he’d heard something fall. But now it was the same as before – the never-changing trickle of small pieces of rubble cascading down through the cracks between the bones. The sudden noise seemed like a figment of his imagination.

‘What was it? People?’

‘Yes, I think so.’ It was better to believe that than not to believe it. A story he’d once heard popped into his head. Imagine a tree in a big, big wood. If it fell and no one was there to hear it, did it make a noise?

He looked down at his hand. Ants were running over it. The rubble was teeming with them. Some of them were carrying things – small pieces of debris, wood, each piece almost the size of the ant’s body. If I was as strong as an ant, thought Hex, I could lift these bones and get out. But human beings were so fragile.

Susana kept fidgeting. She struck her hand against one of the bones as though she could bat it out of the way. ‘God, I’m thirsty. Have you got any water?’

That question again. Her brain was going round and round in big, ratty circles. What was it that was wrong with her? Was she about to have some kind of epileptic fit? What would he do if she did?

‘Look,’ he said. ‘Do you have any medical problems I should know about?’ She glared at him and he added, ‘If you’re asleep when they come to get us out I may have to tell them.’

‘No,’ she retorted. ‘I’m just cold and thirsty and I’ve got the worst indigestion ever.’ She coughed. Wet breath hit his face again.

Her lips looked black in the fluorescent green light; her skin white and clammy. She looked like a vampire. He wiped her breath off his cheek. When he took his hand away there was blood on it.

Amber’s instincts took over. She heard the bang and suddenly she was like a gecko, running along the ground as fast as possible, keeping low, protecting herself. The light stick was in her fist but she didn’t know where she was going.

Behind her there was a crash that she felt through her bones. She hit the deck and rolled into a ball, her hands clasped tightly over her head. Masonry fell. Oh God, it was happening again.

When it stopped, Amber was ready for the rumbling, but this time the ground beneath her knees and elbows was still. Solid.

A shaft of light pierced through the gloom. White light. From a torch. She raised her head.

‘Amb-er!’ It was Alex’s voice.

She got to her feet as the others piled in. They checked her carefully as she brushed herself down. ‘Ow!’ She bent double and clutched her leg in pain.

‘What’s wrong?’ said Li, and knelt down to look.

‘It’s all right, it’s just my bite,’ said Amber. ‘It’s been hurting all night.’

They flashed the torches around the room, looking at the wreckage. A concrete beam had come down, right where Amber had been lying with Señora Zapata. The great table of concrete had smashed to smithereens. Amber had managed to crawl about thirty metres in less than a few seconds.

Amber turned to look at Paulo. ‘I left Señora Zapata there.’

‘Señora Zapata?’ called Paulo.

There was no answer.

Li turned to the ex fireman. ‘Miguel, do you think it’s safe to go and investigate?’

Miguel looked up at the roof. A big section was missing. They could see the flashes of blue in the sky from far-off emergency vehicles. ‘Hard to tell.’

Li gave him the night vision goggles. ‘Try these.’

Miguel lifted them to his eyes. He inspected the wrecked joists, the ragged end of the concrete beam. ‘Yes, it looks stable. But there’s a body over there.’

Li took the goggles from him. The debris covering Señor Mermoz had slipped away. His spectacles were smashed, the empty frames filled like egg-cups with dust and glass.

Li looked at him for longer than she’d intended to. She saw the glowing forms of Paulo and Amber as they passed in front of the goggles to look for Señora Zapata. By comparison, Señor Mermoz looked faded, not vibrant white. This was what a body looked like when it was cold.

She looked at Amber and Paulo. They were on their hands and knees, gently pulling away debris. Beyond, she could see Señora Zapata’s bright chest. A pool of brilliant white was seeping out from the pile of concrete. She realized what it was. Blood. Fresh, warm blood.

Paulo and Amber had stopped. Li took the goggles off and walked quietly up to them. ‘Do you need these?’

Paulo shook his head. He was shining his torch at Señora Zapata. Straight in her eyes. They were open and she wasn’t flinching.

Señora Zapata looked peaceful, but that was only from one side. A piece of concrete had hit her head and made her skull a shape it shouldn’t be. It was smashed in along one side. Blood framed her head like a dark halo. A clear liquid was running out of her nose and left ear. Cerebrospinal fluid; the fluid that circulates through the brain and spinal cord. She must have died instantly.

Amber looked at Paulo, tears in her eyes. They had tried to keep her alive, but now the roof had collapsed and killed her anyway. Paulo reached forward and gently ran his hand down the woman’s face. Her eyes closed.

Amber took her hand. The ring was still there, where she’d put it back less than half an hour ago. She could feel the bones inside the flesh. ‘She said her husband was on his way. She asked me to give him her ring.’

Slowly, she slid the circle of metal off the woman’s finger.

Paulo spoke in Li’s ear. ‘Is there anyone else in here? You can see with those goggles.’

Li stood up and scanned the room. ‘No. It’s clear.’

Alex spotted a familiar shape leaning up next to a tall vase. His bergen. He went up to it, brushed the dust off and opened the top.

Paulo looked at Li in disbelief. The bergen had survived yet again.

Alex began stuffing items into his belt kit. ‘Thanks for looking after it.’