Chapter 9: 24 hours
Somewhere in the abandoned warehouse
"Albert, currently we have 158 people seeking shelter in this warehouse. There are 80 males and 70 women, 15 of them are kids, and we have around 10 elders age 65 and above here. All of them currently in good health."
Albert nodded his head. It was a blessing that Albert was stuck here together with the other survivors as he is one of the well known and respected elders as a retired army officer. The other survivors whole-heartedly voted Albert to lead and manage them.
Albert then raised his head looking at Kazuma, his assistant, as if waiting for him to continue with his findings.
"Oh, we have two policemen here that is injured now, but it is not that serious. They are asleep right now. We are here all thanks to the brave policemen as they are the ones that directed the survivors to this abandoned warehouse. They mentioned that the rescue team knew about our shelter's coordinates."
"They tried to make several distress calls from their patrol car radio again for an update. Unfortunately, only crackling sound was heard from the other side.. it seems that the radio tower was damaged or anything might have happened to it." Kazuma sighs deeply.
"Though currently, no one responded to the policemen distress call... But at least those people in the central knows where to look for us." Although Kazuma sounded like he is convinced but deep down he knew that something is wrong.
"Did the policemen mention when he makes the call?" Albert asked.
"Benjamin said that 10 minutes after the siren rang, they were already out on their patrol car directing the people to safety. It should be around 3.30 am when the electricity was still running and the radio tower was not damaged yet."
"Our town's people have never lacked any food supply before and we never depended much on the central resources. We should be able to sustain here for a few more days. Let's just wait for the outdoor team to come back and listen on more about what happens outside."
Kazuma sighed when he remembers about the disaster last night. Luckily he did not ignore the tsunami siren. Those who got swept away by the sea probably neglected the warning, thus unable to save themselves.
"They are probably many other survivors out there that found similar shelter like us. Hawaii geography is not a flat land anyway. But I am afraid those huge quakes caused more damages than the tsunami itself... These quakes that we are experiencing this few hours are much stronger and more frequent than usual." Albert was frowning when he speaks to Kazuma.
He just hopes that this building is strong enough to shelter them a few days more. It would be terrible if these quakes shook this building down and trapped the survivors down under it.
The tsunami that hits Hawaii last night was considered mighty enough reaching up to 15 meters high. That is higher than the previous record from the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. The Hawaiians were lucky, as their land is not situated in the low lands area.
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"Chief, we found several people that need medical attention right now. We have gone to the place where the town's Hospital is, but half of the building has collapsed. Nobody survived." As Jing spoke, the people in the shelter were already helping the injured survivors. Luckily they have a couple of Doctors on vacation in this shelter.
Jing stopped halfway in his speech and he gulped hard. He was looking at all the people that he came with not long ago. There are also several new faces wearing uniforms among them. They looked sad, haggard, and tired. Some of them even look lifeless.
"How's the situation out there? Are the condition safe enough for us to be back to our houses then?" Albert asked Jing nervously, hoping to hear good news.
Jing gave a bitter smile to Albert when he heard the question. "Outside, most of the seawater has already traveled back to the sea, and most of the land already dried up. Unfortunately, the quakes destroys most of the road foundation and building. We have to park our cars after only about less than a kilometer outside of this warehouse and traveled on foot. There are not many houses that survived the quakes and tsunamis. Those who want to venture out there... I suggest it would be better to toughen out their heart first."
Jing stopped talking again. His face was solemn like he was remembering something that he won't be able to forget for the rest of his life. The faces of those people that died by the tsunami were flashing through his mind. He remembers some of the corpses that they helped to retrieve from the totaled cars were dismembered and horrifying.
"Albert, it would be best if we gather people that have lost their family members to do some identification of the bodies. Along our journey today, we have laid down at least 50 dead bodies. I am sure there are more out there..."
Albert nodded his head. By tomorrow, those corpses would attract stray dogs and other predators. He will send out another team tomorrow just to make a proper burial ground for the dead.
"But other than that, it's fine anyway. We managed to find several medical supplies from the yacht that were swept up by the tsunami. We have canned food too. Other emergency equipment and supply were there as well. We are lucky those rich folks dock their yachts here. Thanks to their supply in their yacht, our people that stuck here in this disaster will not be in hunger while waiting for help to arrive."
Albert smiled and he felt relief. With all of the additional supply that Jing found, Albert was convinced that they can hold on at least for a few more days now.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone