Bab 61: Earthquake
Lucy has been feeling a lot happier as they walked out of the USGS building.
She hummed a tune happily as she sat on the military hummer back to the Air Force Base.
From the base, they will take a special tank that will transport them to the secret bunker.
"I am glad that you are back to your former self." Mike smiled at Lucy warmly. It looks like his effort in distracting her from overthinking about her family issue, was not wasted. Mike clicked on his seatbelt as he greets the driver in front.
The driver raised his hand and started driving out of the USGS office compound.
"Well, I am always a happy go lucky person. Which person are you referring to, huh?" Lucy replied smugly to Mike. She continued to hum the cheerful tune as she gazed outside the window.
On their way back to the Air Force base, Lucy could see the sky has become hazy. The visibility has drastically reduced as Lucy needs to squint her eyes to look at the shop lot in front. There are lots of people were wearing masks and carrying some bats on their hands.
"What is going on? Mike, is it hazy tonight, or my eyes are getting blurry?" Lucy rubbed her eyes a few times before she looked outside the window again. All she can see were dim streetlights and torches with a couple of people running and screaming while vandalizing the cars and shophouses.
"It's haze, alright. I think tonight the wind brought the ashes from the volcanoes to here. Hmm...I remember in the afternoon we came, the sky was clear, also... the people during the day are not as aggressive as tonight." Mike moved to his window side and rubbed it with his sleeve.
"Yup, the he haze is outside and not because of the dirty window," Mike exclaimed to Lucy.
The driver glanced at both of his passengers and frowned. "Did you guys just came here? It has been hazy for almost 2 weeks now. The haze comes and goes depending on the direction of the wind blow."
The driver glanced at his rearview window, and he slowed down his Hummer cautiously trying not to attract the rioters. "Not dust, its ashes from the volcanoes. It has been a few days since the warning of tsunami triggered due to the frequent earthquake. They said the volcanoes are going to erupt, but as you can see, the people did not care much about the warning. Their priority is to survive the apocalypse. So the shops and all have been robbed these few days. "
Lucy widens her eyes at the driver's remark. Her face shined with horror. She looked over to the man beside her and asked. "I am afraid that those people will get killed first before the disasters killed them." Lucy paused her speech and glanced at Mike again.
"So, the volcanoes. Is it true? Is it going to erupt real soon?"
The driver sensed the panic in Lucy's voice as he continued. "No worries young lady. Alaska has many volcanoes. This is a normal occurrence for the people here. We are used to this kind of weather. But, unfortunately, this time around the people are panicking as they linked every natural disaster that is happening, as the trigger to the apocalypse. This haze and the warning of tsunami and volcanoes eruption only adding fuel to the flame of curiosity. They got panicked, and these happen." The driver raised his hand to show the situation outside of the hummer to Lucy and Mike.
"A reminder though, it is not safe to venture outside anymore. You guys better stay put inside, if there is nothing important." The driver shrugged his shoulder before he sighed sadly.
"The situation is bad. Every day the army and police officers were rushed to the site of houses being robbed, peoples being mugged, and shophouses to be emptied."
"Right, I can see that." Lucy sighed and her voice sounded dejected.
'Probably today will be the last day that I got to get out of the bunker, and see the blue sky again.'
She bowed down her head slightly before continuing to observe the road and the people out there.
Suddenly, she witnessed some kind of a riot going on with a few burning cars and a few men holding a bat on their hands, smashing the grocery store and nearby shop lots. Lucy observed the people out there and she got scared. She hunched her back on her seat as if hiding her body from being visible to the people outside.
"Luckily, none of the rioters were armed today." The driver's casual remark makes Lucy jittery on her seat.
Police officers and armies were dispatched on-site to control the situations.
"I am sorry you have to see this chaos. Ever since the news on the apocalypse made public, we have recorded almost every block of shophouses were robbed." The driver continued with his explanations.
Even though he is a driver for the military, he too holds the responsibility to bring peace to the people.
"Right. That is why Jason arranged this car for us to get back to the Air force base isn't it?"Lucy looked over at Mike. She felt thankful for Jason's compassionate action to her. He has proved that he is a good guardian to her by ensuring her safety during her trip out of the bunker.
Mike did not say anything after he makes the remarks on the volcanoes. He sat on his seat while pursing his lips and knitted his brows.
"Yeah, Commander Jason has instructed me to bring you guys back, safe and sound. So, are you guys relatives of Commander Jason?" The driver asked with a face full of curiosity.
"Something like that..." Mike shrugged his shoulder and answered the driver's questions nonchalantly.
He did not want the secret location of the bunker to be divulged to commoners.
So even though the driver is also a military man, but he did not have any clearance to know the location of the bunker.
Although, roughly he can predict the location of the secret bunker is somewhere around the Air Force Base ground.
Feeling the air inside the hummer had turned awkward, the driver moved his hand to turn on the radio.
As he shifted his hand away from the steering wheel, the hummer suddenly shooked violently, as if they were driving on an off-road.
"Ahhh!" Lucy screamed as she felt the car suddenly become unstable.
The driver quickly steered the vehicle with both of his hand professionally, as he ditched the cracks on the road.
Within a few seconds, the roads forward have cracked on the surfaced and most of it has damaged the road.
"Wow, she's strong!" The driver exclaimed loudly as he skillfully dodged the cracks on the roads. He did not sound scared, but more like he is excited.
Lucy clutched on her seat belts carefully as if her life were hanging on a thread while her eyes stared at the window panicking.
Mike propped one hand over Lucy protectively as the ride gets rougher and rougher.
"It's a strong earthquake, alright! "Mike bellowed from the passenger seat to the driver.
"Hold on! I will get you guys to the base as soon as possible. We need to make a detour a bit." The driver was almost shouting as he spoke loudly to his passengers on the back.
The town was suddenly in chaos as people were screaming and crying while they ran out of the shaking buildings, out to the open road.
The riot has automatically disperse as more and more buildings started to shook and temporary shelters started to topple down to the people.
LED signpost one by one falls to the corridor and some of it hits the people on the ground.
Cars that were parked sideways, were suddenly slanted as their tires were caught on the cracks.
Lucy's mind started to rewind to the scene back in Hawaii.
It's scary, she did not expect to witness this scene ever again!
"Pheww... Luckily the strong quake only lasted for a few minutes and the roads were no longer cracking." The driver exaggerated a bit as he started to laugh.
The car has stopped shaking.
Mike and Lucy looked at each other as they catch on their breath.
Even though this is not the first earthquake experience for Lucy, still, her body could not stop shivering from experiencing the horrifying and overwhelming situation again.
The driver started picking up speed again when he felt the ground has stopped shaking.
The after shook was still there, but it was not as strong as the first one.
Lucy glanced at Mike on the site and she gave out a bitter smile. Their normal outings out from the bunker unexpectedly has become an adventure for them.
"Boom!"
The driver sweats profusely as the second earthquake hit them with a much stronger magnitude.
Mike grunts for the nth time as his body swayed dangerously following the swerving of the car.
Lucy holds on to her stomach as she felt her stomach to queasy.
"How much further are we?" Lucy shouted to the driver.
She can't wait to get out of the car and crouched on the road for safety.
"Almost there... I will make a stop at the checkpoint in front. Be careful!"
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