Seattle Quake 9.2 (19 page)

As soon as the chopper disappeared, he went back to finding the easiest way to the vault. It stood with its door closed against the far wall and to his relief, not that much debris blocked the path. He stepped out of the kitchenette and started toward it.

Behind him, Jenna stood with her hands on her hips, "I'm not going to rescue you again, Timmy."

"Not even for half? That's fifteen thousand. Think about it Jenna, you and Kevin could have a great honey moon with fifteen thousand."

*

NE7G was a tall, thin man with dark hair, and the only Ham reporting in from downtown Seattle. Injuries received when his car plunged off the I-5 freeway included a broken rib, multiple contusions, abrasions and a long, superficial cut on the front of his upper right leg. Cautiously, he leaned down, moved his torn pant leg and checked the butterfly bandages. They were still in place.

Well away from shopping districts and buildings higher than one floor, South Royal Street was deserted. Huge chunks of pavement and sidewalk jutted in odd directions, yet little debris lay on top. Across the street, one end of Safeco Field's black, iron and steel retractable roof lay buried in the roof of a warehouse. The other end lay flat on the ground, crushing two adjoining warehouses beneath it. Cautiously, NE7G made his way another two blocks down the street, toward the thick outside walls of the black baseball stadium. Then he paused to listen. He heard no screams, no yells for help and no moans coming from inside.

Relieved, he walked another torturous block to the Kingdome's massive parking lot. It was empty. Again he heaved a sigh of relief. The Kingdome's white circular dome sat only one forth as high as it had before the quake, its ribbed roof was cracked in odd directions with some sections missing and some higher than others. NE7G turned and headed down the street, toward both the old and new railroad stations.

*

"A7FL."

"FL, go ahead." Max was completely engrossed in the Ham Radio, forgetting about the control room and enjoying himself immensely.

On the floor beside him, Sarah sat with her arms folded watching. Her disheveled dark hair hung in her face, her crystal green eyes flashed with mischief and deep dimples appeared in her cheeks. Too soft for the public to hear, she whispered, "Hey Handsome, who's going to take me to the bathroom?"

Max winced and rolled his eyes, "A7FL, could you repeat that?"

"We got a visit from that blue Angel. They dropped a harness and some ropes. At least now we can get the injured kids to a hospital. Does anybody know who those guys are? A7FL. Over."

"We don't have a clue, over."

"Well, whoever they are, they deserve a medal. A7FL, out."

"AE7VW."

"AE, go ahead."

"AE7VW relaying a message from Spokane. Seven fully loaded trucks in a convoy are headed your way. They're bringing blankets, food, diapers and medical supplies. Estimated time of arrival, midnight, over."

"Copy AE. Tell them not to take Interstate 90, its out."

"Roger Net Control. They'll take it to Preston, and then swing south on Highway 18 and try to come in through Renton. Meanwhile, we've got Army transports with supplies due to land at Paine Field in Everett. The runway has damage and they're assessing it now. If we can't land, we'll try for one of the military bases, AE7VW, over."

"Copy AE. We can use all the good news we can get." Max rested both arms on Collin's console, smiled and turned to Sarah, "I've forgotten how much I enjoyed the net. I should do this more often."

Sarah brushed her hair aside and smiled, "Yes you should. We've missed you." She turned to watch as Collin carried an armchair through the door, "Oh there you are handsome. Put that chair right in Max's way, will you? I'm anxious to get back to work. They can't live without me, you know."

"I know." Collin waited for Max to get up, moved his stool, and then set the sturdy wooden armchair in front of the radio.

When he bent down, Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck, "Careful handsome, don't drop me."

"Why is everyone always saying that?" He lifted her up, set her down in the chair and scooted it forward, "I've never dropped a woman in my life."

Sarah giggled and grabbed the pencil, "Okay, this is Sarah. I'm back, and if you think you've got it bad, you should be up in this attic with these two guys. Who's next? Over."

Collin heard pounding footsteps on the stairs below, and turned just in time to watch a man rush up the last flight.

Drawing in huge gulps of air, the horrified man grabbed hold of Collin's shirt, "You gotta help. We…lifted a slab of concrete off a woman's arm…and it's nearly tore off. Now we can't stop the bleeding. And, she's got blood coming out her ears. She's gonna…bleed to death."

Collin spun around and stared at Sarah, but Sarah was already on it.

"This is net control emergency. We've got a woman with a severed arm, and possible head injuries at the collapsed building across the street from KMPR, over."

"KG7SD."

"SD, go ahead."

"KG7SD, University Hospital. Sarah, have they got a tourniquet on the arm? Over."

Sarah glanced at the man just as he began to nod, "Roger SD."

"Tell him to keep it tight. We'll send the next available chopper. KG7SD, out."

"Copy SD, thanks. Okay, who's next?” When Sarah turned, the man was gone.

*

From his cliff, A7BB watched a man and woman in white jackets on the Aircraft Carrier quickly climb into a chopper, but just as the deck crew started to close the sliding side door, a man in dress whites rushed forward. He handed a box to the woman, and then stood back. Almost immediately, the chopper lifted off. With its door still open, the chopper glided across the Bay, climbing as it went up the southern slope of Queen Anne Hill.

"A7BB."

Sarah grinned, "BB, go ahead."

"I think you're about to get your medics. Don't be surprised if it gets a little noisy, over."

"Thanks, BB. We can hear it now."

Standing in the middle of McGill Accounting's main room, Tim judged the distance to the safe -- a good thirty feet. Most of the room's belongings were piled on the east side where the last sway left them, but the built-in vault remained along the outside southern wall. Only two medium-sized heaps of rubble blocked a direct path. He estimated the best way around, considered the sturdiness of the floor and quickly glanced back at Jenna. Then he shrugged, "I'm probably going to die anyway."

With thin red lines marking the multitude of glass cuts on his face and the wind ruffling his short, red hair, he quickly dashed across the room, side-stepped the first, and then the second heap. He reached the vault, pounded in the five-digit zip code and pulled on the handle. But his hand met cold, hard resistance. "Crap, no electricity."

Tim turned around, marched back to the kitchenette and started down the hall, "Come on Jenna, this is definitely not my lucky day."

*

Jackie was exhausted. The window washer, securely strapped into the first passenger seat, still hadn't said a word. Seely's heart rate held steady on the monitor, but the images of her bruised and swollen face were hard to look at. And just now, camera three was trained on a news chopper giving chase.

In the aft bubble, Michael released his seat belt and climbed into the copilot's seat to hide his face behind tinted windows, "Looks like we've been discovered, Jackie. You got our ID up?"

"Yes, in Russian. Slow down and let them have a peek, Carl."

Carl grinned, "Give 'em my ex-wife's phone number too. She can tell them all about the drug company."

Jackie laughed. She watched the news chopper make one complete circle around them, and then held on while Carl sharply banked and darted northeast. She glanced back at her passenger, noticed the red light flashing on the corner of the lower right hand screen and quickly answered, "Mister Cole, I nearly forgot about you."

"How is she? I'm out of my mind with worry."

"She's doing pretty well, all things considered. She walked around a little more and her heart rate is steady. She's with two other people and they've got water. Did you make the arrangements?"

Evan Cole stood in front of sliding glass windows in the top floor honeymoon suite of a Vancouver, British Columbia hotel, "Everything is all set. I've reserved several rooms, the hotel has a landing pad on the roof and the Canadians are more than willing to help with all the equipment and fuel you need."

"Good. We've got a passenger to drop..."

"I know. I've been watching pictures of the rescue on TV. They're calling you the Blue Angel."

Jackie puffed her cheeks and let out a slow breath, "Oh great. Evan, can you make sure the press doesn't get in the hotel? What we need most is rest."

"Consider it done," he replied.

"Have you found Loraine?"

"No. No one seems to know where she is. However, my bank called. They said she claimed the foundation's checkbook had been lost and asked to have all twenty-two million transferred to a new account."

"Do you think she's taken off with the money?"

"That was my first thought. She could easily have done that, but she didn't touch a dime. Instead, she put the new account in my name only."

*

As soon as the noise of the Navy chopper increased, Max turned the station's broadcast volume way down. Sarah covered her ears while Max and Collin went to the window to watch. The cluttered street offered no place to land, so the chopper hovered and lowered a stretcher.

Two short minutes later, the injured woman was put in a boat shaped stretcher and hoisted into the chopper. However, just before it flew away, the woman medic tossed a box out the open door. On the ground, the same man who'd come to tell KMPR about the injury picked it up and turned it over. He looked toward Max and Collin, and then waved.

"I'll go," Collin said, heading for the door. "Hey Max, from here on out you're paying me double time, right?"

Max winked at Sarah and hobbled back to the control room. He turned the appropriate dials, renewed the station to its normal broadcasting volume and eased his broken foot back up on the stacked books under his console.

Sarah went right to work. She took two more calls, wrote down the pertinent information, and then asked for the next. When she glanced up, Collin was back on his stool, preparing to take the mike for his next station break. Just before he did, he handed her the white cardboard box tied with a pink ribbon.

First she stared at her name written across the top, and then she went back to her caller, "OT, copy. Minor injuries at west Emerson and 15th avenue. W7KS, you're up next, over." Sarah slipped the ribbon off the end of the box and opened the lid. Inside were three sandwiches, three bottles of water and one long stemmed, red rose. Sarah curled her lips into a wide grin; her eyes twinkled like diamonds and the dimples in her cheeks had never been deeper. "Roger, KS. Keep me advised. And by the way, thanks Navy, over."

Collin grinned, took the station microphone and began his station break. "This is KMPR, 760 AM in Seattle. The noise you just heard was a Navy chopper air lifting our seriously injured woman from the collapsed buildings across the street. Hundreds, maybe thousands are still buried alive. Some help has arrived, but we're way short of equipment and manpower. Night is closing in and frankly, I've never felt so useless. I'd rather be out there digging, but Max says our job is to stay on the air and help the living by directing them to food and water. So the following is a list of places the Salvation Army and The Red Cross are setting up. "Abraham Cook High School, Broadmoor Gulf Course, City Hall in Everett..."

He ran down the short list, renewed his survival instructions for the night, and then paused to glance at Sarah's rose. "There is one bright spot in all this gloom. Our friends aboard the USS Carl Vincent sent us something to eat and Sarah got a rose. We're glad she made it out alive too. Only next time guys, could you send a pizza and a pack of cigarettes?" Collin quickly glanced at Max's disapproving glower, smiled and laid the mike next to the Ham Radio.

*

Tim chuckled at Collin's remarks, and then turned the transistor radio down, "I used to smoke, I know just what he's going through."

"Well I for one am glad you don't smoke now," Seely said.

"I'm not. I could use something right about now to steady my nerves and I know a lot of cranky people who ought to take it up."

Seely smiled, but Jenna looked disturbed, "What if they don't come back for us?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Tim asked.

"What if they crash, everything else has."

"You worry too much, Jenna.  If it doesn't come back, we'll just climb down the side of the Mainland Tower."

Seely frowned, "The one that fell into us? Climb down it how?"

"Well, last time I looked it was at an angle, you know like this." Tim held a flattened hand straight up, and then tipped it a little.

Jenna's jaw dropped, "But that's almost straight up and down. Climb it with what? We don't have any ropes."

"See, that's why it's important to watch movies. We've got fire hoses, Jenna."

"Long enough to climb down a whole building?"

"Well, movies don't tell you everything." Tim scratched his head and glanced at Seely. "You got a better idea?"

Seely softly shook her head.

"Okay, that settles it. Let’s eat, then I'll go take another look outside."

But Jenna quickly grabbed hold of Tim's arm. "Oh no, I'm not climbing down the side of a building in the dark. And we sure can't do it before night."

Tim thought for a minute, and then shrugged. "In that case, we can eat slower."

*

"BB, you find that cat? Over."

"Not exactly, the cat found me. Can you believe it? It climbed the cliff and is sitting on my shoulder. Guess it didn't have much choice since there's no place else to go from the water. I thought you might like a little update on the fire downtown. The wind is starting to shift, so don't be surprised if you get a little smoke your way. Wait, I got another chopper headed straight for me." With that, A7BB released his speak button. Overhead, a red and white news chopper slowed. Its nose was pointed directly at him and a passenger was half hanging out the side door with a large camera on his shoulder.

At first A7BB considered his potential fame and the possibility of being rescued. A lot of people were listening to Magnolia's Network of Hams, via KMPR. But as the chopper moved closer with no hint of rescue equipment, he reconsidered.  He reached up, pulled a branch closer and hid his dark eyes behind the leaves. The news chopper hovered for a time more, turned its attention toward the body bags carefully laid out on the barge next to the Aircraft Carrier, and then flew back toward downtown.

"A7BB, you still there?"

"Yep, Sarah. As I was saying the fire looks nearly under control. I've been watching those huge fire helicopters drink water out of the Bay, and then dump it on the fire. I read once where they can draw up a full load of water in forty-five seconds. They mix it with foam, you know while they're in flight to the fire. It's truly a sight to behold. I gotta tell you Sarah, I'm thinking about changing careers. A7BB, over."

"NJ7F."

"NJ, go ahead."

NJ7F's transmission was weak and filled with static, "We ... use a couple of those fire…in south...Over."

"NJ, having trouble hearing you. Did you say South Center? Over."

"Roger. Fire...of control...brigade useless...help. Over."

Max rushed out of the control room and leaned into the mike, "NJ7E, can you look for a green van, license plate Walker, Charley, Charley 573? Over."

"...wife?"

Sarah glared at Max until he reluctantly gave the mike back, "Roger NJ7E. A green van, Washington license plate WCC573, over."

"...J7F.  ...cars burned. Will..."

"NJ, you're breaking up, over." Sarah waited, but the transmission from South Center was just too weak.

Collin slumped on his stool, put his elbows on his console and buried his face in his hands. Max stared at the radio for a moment more, and then went back to the control room. He sat down, peeled off his shoe and began pulling the ace bandage off his hurting foot. "Too tight!" By the time he got it re-wrapped, some good news came over the Ham Radio.

"NP7WS."

"WS, go ahead."

"NP7WS. I have a message from Navy. Fire Units out of Idaho and Northern California enroute to fires at South Center and Bremerton, over."

Sarah smiled, "Thanks, Navy. When this is over, I plan to buy you guys a drink, over."

"This is NP7WS, on behalf of the United States Navy, I accept. Out."

Sarah's eyes widened and she turned to stare at Max, "Did he say the whole Navy?"

Max chuckled and enthusiastically nodded.

But Collin was at the window again, staring more into space than at the grizzly ruins across the street. He didn't notice when Max walked up beside him, nor was he aware of Sarah's calls. Finally, Max's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"How long?"

Collin quickly turned his head, "What?"

"How long do you think we have, until we have to worry about disease?" When Collin still didn't understand, Max leaned closer. "The dead bodies.  How long..."

"Oh. I have no idea."

"Neither do I. They keep telling us help is on the way, but it could take days before they get around to burying bodies. It's hot and we've got kids to think about."

"Yes, but Max, we don't have the man power to dig out the living. Who's going to bury the dead?"

"I don't know. That's why we need to find out how long before it becomes critical." Max turned to glance at Sarah, and then leaned still closer to Collin's ear. "The next time you do a spot, talk loud enough to cover her voice. I'll have Sarah find out."

"Okay."

*

Inbound Seattle traffic crept at a snail’s pace, inching forward, and then stopping again. Finally James reached the Preston off ramp and drove down the curved grade to the bottom. At the stop sign, he turned left toward the heart of town. A short twenty-five miles from the epicenter, the earthquake had wreaked havoc on Preston's citizens. Chimneys were broken, houses had slipped off foundations and an apartment building was still burning. Power and water had not been restored and people were jammed into parking lots and parks to spend the night.

Heather stared at the destruction, while James slowed before driving over a wide crack in the road, "What'll we do now?"

He turned down a side street and found a place to park, "I say we eat. I'm starved."

Heather climbed out of the passenger side, went around back and pulled the pickup gate down. She hopped on, spun on her bottom and got to her feet. Next, she pulled the cooler and the bag of groceries toward the tailgate and sat back down.

"At least now we know what kind of van to look for."

"Yes, and I've been thinking about that convoy from Spokane. It's supposed to come through here in an hour or two. We've got Mom's Red Cross arm band in the glove box, and if we could get a few donations to put here in the back, we could maybe follow them through the barricade."