Chapter 3: The Skyscraper
Once again, a frightening silence filled the room, but this time it was broken by Leon's question about the timing of the tsunami. Kaiden somberly replied that it varied, possibly within a few minutes or even a couple of hours.
The urgency of the moment struck them, and they decided to leave immediately.
However, in their haste, they forgot something crucial: Max, who remained severely injured in the classroom. Both looked at him with bitterness and hopelessness.
Max, sensing the atmosphere, understood that he didn't want to be a burden and that his life hung by a thread. However, he didn't want to jeopardize either his best friend or a good friend due to his own injury.
So, he let them go without guilt. But their escape was problematic: the door was blocked, and the only way out was through the classroom window on the second floor, which was perilous.
One wrong step could mean serious injuries and, subsequently, their certain death.
Leon didn't hesitate and rushed to the open window. Kaiden followed, and in doing so, their pants, shoes, and the lower part of their white shirts were soaked with the thick red blood of their classmates.
Leon climbed down swiftly like a monkey, clinging to the black-gray drainage pipes stained with blood. When Leon was about halfway down, Kaiden began his descent.
He looked at Max one last time, who also looked at him and said with a faint smile,
"You better not die, understood."
Kaiden's head slowly disappeared from Max's view. The last words Max heard from Kaiden were his promise:
"I promise, I won't die."
****
Kaiden was now completely out of Max's field of vision, and Max chuckled lightly, tears streaming down his cheeks. His laughter grew louder, almost hysterical.
Suddenly, he felt a jolting pain in his chest, as if his chest were being torn between two galloping horses.
A tearing sensation ran through him, followed by the urge to spit out thick fluid. Max spat more and more, accompanied by immense pain. He could do nothing but cry out in desperation.
More tears streamed down his cheeks, and his throat was now completely soaked in blood.
As Max tried to catch his breath, a relieving sensation began to spread within him. More tears ran down his cheeks, and he uttered with a soft, broken, and fearful voice that he didn't want to go yet:
"I don't want to die yet…"
****
Suddenly, Leon's loud scream pierced the silence, followed by a thud. Kaiden, concerned, asked what had happened and looked down.
He spotted Leon on the ground, explaining that a piece of the pipe had broken off and hit him on the head. Luckily, the fall was only from a meter high.
Leon called out to Kaiden, telling him to trust him and promising to catch him if he jumped. Kaiden gained trust and let himself drop from the point of the missing pipe.
The free fall felt invigorating, as if gravity were challenging their hair.
But the impact was painful, and Kaiden was successfully caught by Leon. However, Leon lost his balance, and both fell forward horizontally.
Leon let go of Kaiden, who collided with the wall, his back taking the impact. As he tried to stand up, he felt a thick substance and slippery, squishy shapes akin to long sausages.
When he looked at his hand, he was horrified to see it covered in corpses. The final moments of Max had caught up with them.
After they had endured this horrific scene, they realized they still had time. Kaiden informed Leon that they probably had at least six minutes, possibly more, as he couldn't see a tsunami on the horizon.
As they ran through the city, they sadly encountered lifeless bodies: some lay motionless on the street, others were covered in debris.
The modern city they traversed bore the marks of devastation. It appeared chaotic and entirely unlike the place they knew. The entire infrastructure was in disarray.
As they ran, they accelerated their pace, getting faster and faster. With each glance back, Kaiden felt relief as their destination drew nearer. But then, another turning point occurred.
Suddenly, screens on TVs and mobile phones in the city activated. The population received a warning:
"All residents of this city should evacuate immediately. Seek refuge in higher buildings."
Kaiden already knew this information, but when the voice announced that the tsunami would reach a height of 100 meters, he was shocked.
He knew they now had to run even faster, as a new goal lay ahead of them. Though it was only two kilometers further, this time amidst this catastrophe was life-defining.
Of course, they could have stolen a car or even a motorcycle, but at this point, everything was congested, and no car would get through.
No sign of a motorcycle. So they ran, and more and more people joined them. The city streets seemed to be filling with survivors.
By now, it seemed like the entire city was out on the streets. Kaiden and Leon deftly maneuvered through the crowds, even though morally speaking, it wasn't the right way to push others aside when they blocked the way.
Kaiden, and especially Leon, didn't feel comfortable doing it, but they had no other choice.
Suddenly, a pitch-black shower accompanied by rain began, and not just lightly, but in pouring amounts that almost rendered them immobile.
It was as if Zeus and Poseidon were having a childish dispute, but with massive repercussions on the people.
Most people held their jackets or vests in front of them to shield themselves from the rain. But Leon and Kaiden did not.
Kaiden explained to Leon that more surface area meant more resistance once it rained and the wind picked up. In a way, this was an advantage for them because compared to a truck, they seemed like sports cars.
They ran slower than before, but compared to the desperate and fearful people around them, they appeared much faster.
Kaiden glanced back again, and his expression changed from one moment to the next. Due to the wind and rain, they could no longer see into the distance.
They simply had to hope to somehow escape.
Kaiden shouted to Leon,
"We're there. That's the skyscraper we have to climb to get out of here alive."
They ran on, and the distance between the building and the two boys seemed to be narrowing.
Instead of joy at almost reaching their goal, a grimace of fear and desperation now appeared on their faces.
Although the building still seemed to be standing, the bottom floor had collapsed due to the earthquakes, and there was no entrance anymore.
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