The Tsunami Countdown (21 page)

She wanted to, but she could see that Jake was too far gone. She put her ear quickly to each side of his chest and heard shallow
gasps on only one side. The metal shard had collapsed his lung and nicked a major artery. Resuscitation wouldn’t work. If
she had the proper instruments and a hospital staff, they might be able to remove the metal, control the bleeding, and re-expand
the lung so that he could be revived. Without them, any attempt at saving him was futile.

Jake let out a gurgling wheeze, and a trickle of blood
ran from the corner of his mouth. His body shuddered for a moment and then was still. Teresa checked for a pulse, but found
none.

“There’s nothing I can do, Tom. He’s gone.”

“No! You can do CPR or something.”

“Tom, I’m a doctor—”

“Then help him!”

“I can’t. The injury was too severe. I’m sorry.”

As a teenage boy, Tom was probably unaccustomed to crying, but he sobbed uncontrollably at the sight of his dead friend. All
Teresa could do was comfort him.

“I know, honey,” she said, hugging Tom, who buried his head in her shoulder.

“It’s my fault,” Tom said between sobs. “I convinced my mom and dad to let Jake visit us. He moved away two years ago …” He
broke down again.

“It’s not your fault. And I’m sure your mom and dad will be proud of what you did today. You saved the lives of my daughter
and Lani. And so did Jake. You’re heroes. I owe you everything for that.”

“Do you think my mom and dad are okay?”

Teresa didn’t want to make any promises she couldn’t keep, but he needed some reassurance. Besides, his parents would have
evacuated at the first sirens. She thought back to her own search for Mia and hoped they hadn’t tried to get to Waikiki to
find him.

“I’m sure they’re all right and worrying about you,” she said. “Now I need you to focus on seeing your parents again. Can
you do that?”

“I’ll try. What about Jake? Are we just going to leave him there?”

“We have to,” Teresa said. There was no way that they could carry Jake’s body with them. She thought about covering him, but
even that minor attempt at decency would be rendered moot when the next tsunami came through, washing him to a watery grave.

Kai was in the hallway looking for something, anything, to help him pry Brad and Mia loose when Teresa and Tom emerged from
the stairwell.

Tom’s face was flushed and tear-stained. He winced as he leaned against her, but his arm no longer dangled awkwardly.

Kai saw the bleak look on Teresa’s face.

“Jake?” he said, knowing the awful answer.

She simply shook her head.

With that small movement, the reality of the situation solidified. Somebody Kai knew had died. A kid no more than fifteen
years old. It hadn’t been Jake’s fault.

In fact, if he hadn’t done so much to help them, Jake could have gotten to high ground and saved himself. Kai felt the blood
drain from his face as guilt for his role in the
boy’s death overtook him, but he fought to stifle the feeling. If he didn’t send it to the back of his mind, he wouldn’t be
able to think of anything else. He needed to concentrate on the next task, which was saving his brother and Mia.

“How is she?” Teresa asked.

“She’s holding up like a trouper, but she’s in pain. I managed to clear off the lighter pieces of rubble, but I couldn’t budge
the girder. The ax didn’t serve as much of a lever.”

“Maybe the four of us can lift it.”

Kai was dubious about that prospect. “It’s wedged in pretty good.”

“We won’t know if we don’t try.”

Kai nodded. “You’re right. Let’s give it a go.”

“Me too,” Tom said. He didn’t look like he was in any condition to contribute much strength, but anything would help.

They lined themselves up along the more exposed part of the beam: Teresa and Lani on one side, Tom and Kai on the other.

“On three,” Kai said.

On cue, they heaved with all their strength, which had by now been sapped by the rowing, running, and general stress of the
situation. The girder didn’t move. They tried again, but the effort was pointless. They weren’t going to get Brad and Mia
out this way.

“It’s no use,” Kai said.

“We need something stronger to jack it up,” Teresa said.

When she mentioned the word “jack,” Kai and Teresa looked at each other and realized what the answer was.

“Car jack!” they said simultaneously.

They were going to have to make it quick. By this time the streets were empty of water. The large number of cars strewn everywhere
outside meant that there would be plenty of places to look for a jack, but the search might be hampered by the debris. And
they wouldn’t be able to get at a jack if a car was overturned, as many of them would be.

Kai glanced at his watch. Only seven minutes left. He did a quick calculation in his head. Assume one minute to get down to
the street. Say three minutes to find a jack if they were lucky. Another two minutes to get back up. That only left one minute
to jack up the girder, get down the building, run to another building, and run up the stairs. When Kai finished the mental
arithmetic, he was stunned. They simply couldn’t do it in time. Brad and Mia were going to die. And unless they left and didn’t
come back, the rest of them would too.

“There isn’t enough time,” Kai said.

“I’m not leaving without Mia,” Teresa said. “We are going to try, damn you!”

Kai looked at Teresa, Lani, and Tom. All of them looked ready to risk their lives to save Brad and Mia.

“All right. We can do this,” he said, trying to sound more positive than he felt. “But I need all of you. The search for the
jack will go faster.”

Kai couldn’t help feeling that their efforts would be futile. But when they got to the open air of the stairwell, the glass
windows long gone, he happened to glance past the now-destroyed building behind them and felt a surge of hope recharge him.

Along the base of another building still standing a hundred yards away, Kai saw a partially obliterated sign, some of the
letters washed away.

The sign said, “Re f K ngs.” A red rectangle with a white diagonal line through it flapped to the side. He had seen the same
thing on a truck as they were entering Waikiki.

The symbol was easily recognizable to divers. The store was a scuba shop.

11:39 A.m.
8 Minutes to Second Wave

M
ax had to take a few seconds’ rest after the first two trips carrying the disabled veterans up the stairs to the roof. Adrian
looked just as tired as Max, who had finally taken off his jacket and tie. Three of the vets were grossly overweight, tipping
the scales at three hundred pounds, and the exertion required was overwhelming. If they didn’t take a break, they might drop
some of the people they were carrying. Only ten people were left downstairs: the veterans who couldn’t walk up on their own,
plus the spouses or loved ones who wouldn’t come up without them. Those with cell phones had continued to try to call out,
but without success.

While Adrian rested, Max went over to the edge of the roof and looked at the skybridge twenty stories below. Rachel was taking
far too long. Through the gash in the roof of the walkway, he couldn’t see any movement.
Maybe that meant she was on her way up. She had taken his walkie-talkie, so he didn’t have any way to contact her.

The noise of helicopters had been a constant but distant companion when they were on the roof. The sight of so many helicopters
landing on crowded rooftops reminded him of photos he’d seen of the evacuation of Saigon just before it fell after the Vietnam
War. This evacuation was no less haphazard, but with an even harsher deadline.

The sound of beating rotor blades seemed to be getting louder. Max looked up, shielding his eyes from the noon sun. The buildings
and surrounding mountains could make the direction and distance of sound deceiving. He searched the sky and then saw some
of the guests pointing in the direction of downtown Honolulu.

A small sightseeing helicopter with no more than six seats was headed in their direction. Along with the other guests, he
waved his arms like a madman and yelled loudly, even though it would have been impossible for anyone in the helicopter to
hear them.

When the chopper got within one hundred yards, Max could see the pilot’s face. He could also see that the helicopter was already
carrying several passengers, although he couldn’t tell how many.

The pilot brought the helicopter lower until it hovered about thirty feet above the roof, where it held steady. He
waved with his hands to back off. Max understood, but many of the hotel guests had thronged to where the pilot was trying
to land. Everybody wanted to be the first on the helicopter.

“Adrian!” Max said. “Help me get these people back!”

They pushed the guests back toward the roof edge, despite some protests. When they were safely away from the landing zone,
the pilot eased the helicopter down.

“Stay here!” Max yelled above the din of the rotors.

He ran over to the helicopter, and the pilot popped his door open.

“Are we glad to see
you
!”

“How many you got?” the no-nonsense pilot said.

“Maybe sixty, sixty-five. I haven’t counted.”

“Jesus. All right. I’ll see if I can get some more choppers headed this way. A lot of the Marine helicopters got caught on
the ground by the first wave. The radio waves are jammed. It may take a few minutes.”

Max looked around the cabin. Three passengers sat in the back. It looked like two seats were still available.

“Do you have room for more?”

“Yeah. Give me two, but no more; I don’t want to be mobbed. I’ve already seen that happen to one helicopter. Crashed when
it tried to take off. It won’t be the last one, either, and I don’t want it to happen to me. If I see more
than two people run over here, I’m taking off before they get here.”

“Gotcha.”

Max went back over to the guests.

“Okay. This helicopter can only take two people,” he announced. Groans and curse words erupted from the crowd. Max put up
his hands to calm them.

“More helicopters are on the way. But we don’t have time for a lottery, so I’m just going to choose two people at random.”
He pointed at a septuagenarian couple standing right in front of him. They were obviously husband and wife, the man on crutches
because he was missing his right leg.

“Come on, you two.”

He expected a revolt from the others who weren’t selected, but perhaps because they were veterans, they knew how to take orders.
Although there was a lot of grousing, no one tried to make a break for the helicopter.

Instead, the man who had been selected protested.

“I’m not going when there are still women here. What kind of a man do you think I am?”

“Sir, this isn’t the
Titanic
, and we don’t have time to argue—”

“I don’t care. I’m not going until all these women are gone.”

“Mr. Lateen, can you help me here?”

Bob Lateen, who sat to the side, his wheelchair now a floor below him, quickly glanced around the crowd and shook his head.

“I think I can speak for every one of us when I say that not one man is getting on a helicopter until all the women are gone.
You’re just wasting your time if you think something else will happen. And I’m going last.”

Max started to protest again, but he could see that Lateen was not going to budge. The other battle-hardened veterans seemed
equally stubborn. Max knew he had no time to argue, so he pointed at a woman standing on the other side of the man.

“Fine. You, then. Let’s go.”

Each of the women hugged her husband good-bye. Max escorted them over to the helicopter, instinctively ducking his head under
the blades. The women climbed aboard and tearfully waved to their husbands after they strapped in.

“Come back quick,” Max said.

The pilot nodded.

“We’re dropping people off at Tripler Medical Center, or Wheeler Field if Tripler is too busy. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Max backed off as the helicopter’s blades spun up. It lifted off gracefully, made a neat turn, and headed northwest.

The crowd behind him let out an unexpected cheer at the first good sign they’d seen since the end of the brunch.

Max got Adrian and went back to bring the rest of the guests up, hoping what he’d told the guests was true: that more helicopters
really were on the way.

Rachel dangled from the pillar with one hand and held Wyatt with the other. When she saw Bill start to come over, she yelled,
“Wait! The bridge might collapse if you get on too!”

Bill saw that she was right and stayed on his side, wringing his hands in frustration.

Wyatt was too heavy for Rachel to pull him back up.

“Wyatt,” she said. “Grab my legs and climb up my back.”

“Okay,” he said.

Rachel felt him let go of her hand and grab her legs. She gripped the pillar with her free hand, securing herself. Wyatt clambered
up her back until he could pull himself to a standing position. When he was out of the way, Rachel swung her leg up until
she had some purchase. Carefully, she inched up the pillar until she was on her feet. Together they completed the last few
steps of the journey and collapsed onto the floor of the lobby, stunned from the ordeal.

Wyatt’s family cheered from the other end of the sky-bridge. Rachel looked up to see that neither of the parents had made
a move to come across.

“Maybe we should just stay over here until this is over,” Bill said.

“No, Dad!” Wyatt begged, terrified by his near fall. “Don’t leave me here!”

Rachel tried to comfort the boy. He lunged as if to go back on to the bridge, but she restrained him.

“Stay there, Wyatt!” Bill yelled. “It’s not safe.”

Wyatt dissolved into tears and sagged to the floor. Paige cried at the sight of her distraught son but didn’t move.

“I’m telling you,” Rachel said, “my husband works at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. He says that more waves are coming,
and they’re going to be massive.”

“Maybe he’s wrong—”

“He’s not wrong. Just look below you if you don’t believe me. There’s nowhere for a helicopter to land on your roof, so you
have to decide right now. And this is your last chance. The skybridge won’t last through the next tsunami.”

Bill and Paige conferred.

“Are they coming?” Wyatt asked Rachel.

“I hope so, honey.”

“Okay,” Bill said. “Paige’s coming first with Hannah.
Then I’ll carry Ashley.” He took the five-year-old from Paige’s arms so that Paige could grab Hannah.

“Good. Hurry up. We don’t have much time left.”

Using the method Rachel had used with Wyatt, Paige cautiously began the trip across the skybridge, holding the hand of her
eight-year-old daughter. Not wanting to frighten Paige into making a mistake, Rachel suppressed the urge to shout for her
to move faster. Because they were being so careful, the crossing took much longer than it should have. Finally, Paige and
Hannah made it to the Moana tower without incident.

Bill put Ashley down and squatted so she could put her arms around his neck from behind. Then he stood, holding her piggyback
style, and started to cross.

“Paige,” Rachel said, “the kids should start climbing up the stairs. The next wave is supposed to be a hundred and fifty feet
high. We need to get at least to the fifteenth floor to be safe.”

Paige was obviously torn. Keeping the children with her meant a slower climb up those ten stories once Bill and Ashley were
across. But she didn’t want to leave her husband and other child, either. And sending the children up alone wasn’t an option.
They were already scared, and having them by themselves was a recipe for confusion or worse.

In the end, the idea of having two of her children safe was more important than having them with her.

“Will you take them for me?” Paige said. “I can’t leave Ashley and Bill here. What if something happens?”

“I understand,” Rachel said. “I have a daughter myself. I’d do the same.”

Paige hugged her two kids.

“Remember,” Rachel said, “you’ve only got a few minutes left. Besides, you’ll know when it’s time to head up. We’ll wait for
you on the sixteenth floor.”

“If you don’t see me in ten minutes …” Paige’s voice trailed off.

“I’ll take care of them.”

“Thank you.”

Rachel led Wyatt and Hannah to the stairwell.

“Where are we going?” said Hannah.

Rachel forced a smile. “We’re going up the stairs so we can ride in a helicopter. Won’t that be fun?”

She opened the door to the stairwell and the children hesitated at the gloom, with little more than a faint glow filtering
down from above. Thankfully, the emergency lights in the stairwell above the eighth floor were still on, powered by the batteries
in each unit as soon as the hotel power was lost. Below that level, all of the lights had been short-circuited by the water.

“It’s spooky,” Wyatt said.

“That’s just the emergency lights.”

“Aren’t Mommy and Daddy coming?” Hannah said.

I don’t know
, Rachel thought as she looked back at Bill tentatively stepping onto the skybridge with Ashley riding piggyback.
I hope. I pray. But I don’t know
.

“Yes, sweetie,” Rachel said confidently and started up the stairs holding both children’s hands. “Your parents will be with
us again soon.”