章節 19: San Andreas 3/4
Upon leaving the appliance store, they all mingled with the large crowd of people fleeing the city on the main street. Chaos had not yet fully spread on the main avenues, and in the face of the crisis, most people were still thinking of escaping.
Just as some people were walking in the direction indicated by the map, a loud roar was heard behind them and the people around them quickly began to panic. Ethan turned around and saw a tall building, not far away, slowly collapse.
The people around him began to run forward, seized with fear.
At the start of the earthquake, Ethan had witnessed the horror of the collapse of a high-rise building. Without hesitation, he grabbed Blake and Ollie, who were still paralyzed with fear, and pushed them aside with all their might. Ben, who initially planned to run forward with the crowd, thought twice before moving with the group.
With great effort, they reached the edge of the street. And a man approached them quickly, Ethan retracted Blake and Ollie you bring him, under cover under a concrete roof to prevent something from hitting them from above.
—Blake, how lucky you are well. — said a man covered in dust, running towards them with an expression of relief. His suit was wrinkled, and he only wore a leather shoe.
At that time, the tall building succumbed to pressure and collapsed. Debris and dust came like a sandstorm. Seeing this horrible scene, the man in the leather shoe tried to grab Ollie by the neck to drag him and make a safe place for himself.
— Go to hell Daniel! — Blake shouted, raising his long legs and kicking Daniel out into the street.
As the debris creaked, Ethan hugged Blake tightly.
—Cover your face, try not to inhale the dust.
The next moment, the smoke and dust enveloped them in suffocating darkness. Ethan held his breath, not knowing how long it was until the smoke finally cleared. Several people coughed and shook the dust off their bodies.
The streets, once crowded, now seemed like a purgatory on earth. The scene was so tragic that Blake couldn't bear it and reached out to cover Ollie's eyes.
—Keep walking, don't stop, continue to the evacuation channel — the police shouted, guiding the crowd fleeing on the road. On both sides of the road, at intervals, members of the National Guard, fully armed, watched.
—It's only a few blocks to Lombard Street, and then we'll be at Coit Tower in no time — Ollie said, carefully comparing the map in his hand.
Several of them were surprised and quickened their pace.
—Hey, look over there — Blake exclaimed, taking Ethan's hand and running to the side.
—That's just a crashed fire truck, what's surprising? — Ben looked at Ethan enviously, avoided the people next to him, and quickly followed them.
—Quickly search for the supply box. There should be something useful in the box — Blake said, opening the truck's storage compartment.
— Is this it? — Ollie asked, pulling out a silver aluminum box.
The box hit the ground with a muffled sound. Blake quickly approached, opened it, and after a brief search found a radio.
Blake turned to block the view of the crowd and handed the radio over to Ethan. Ethan understood and put it in his pants pocket. At that time, several people ran after them and pushed Ollie. Seeing that there was no food in the box, they returned disappointed to the crowd.
After walking for a while, Blake couldn't bear Ollie's gaze and explained in a low voice:
—Each city has its strategic channel for emergency rescue personnel to communicate. Using that radio, we can find out about the most recent situation.
They found a remote corner and listened to the radio, but unfortunately they did not get any useful news.
—Guys, look over here. There seems to be a problem with the Coit Tower that Blake — mentioned, Ben said, his hands around his waist, standing on the side of the road looking into the distance.
Observing the distance, they saw a tall tower, as well as several teams of Emergency Firefighters fighting fire and smoke. Beneath the smoke, a sea of fire consumed nearby buildings, while a fire truck sprayed weak water.
The light of the fire illuminated Blake's face like a sunset. She opened her mouth and murmured: —It seems that we will have to carry out plan B.
—Blake, you expect we have a plan B, right? — Ben said, scratching his head confused.
Blake grabbed a corner of the map that Ollie was holding and said quickly:
— Now we have no way to go to the Coit Tower. We can only search nearby highlands. My father will look for us near the Tower.
—Here — Ollie pointed to a place on the map — This is the closest mountain, maybe your father can find us there.
—All right, we must move fast. We don't know when to temper again. — Ethan said.
After checking the direction, Ethan, Blake, and Ollie began to move against the flow of people, heading forward with them.
—Wait a minute — Ben called them, jumping into a car and looking around from the ceiling.
—Blake, only we are taking that path — said Ben Taylor, getting off the car — Just take a look. Everyone is trying to get out of town to seek ransom. Should we reconsider? And follow them.
—My dad told me to go to high places — Blake explained — He is already driving the rescue helicopter. If we are in a high place, it will be easier for you to find us.
— But what if you can't come? Or if he can't find us? — Ben asked, worried.
—You have to believe me — Blake insisted — My dad will come. He promised me, and I'm willing to believe him.
— How about we listen to what Ethan has to say? — Ollie said suddenly.
Blake and Ben's eyes fell on Ethan. After a moment of hesitation, Ethan got into a car, stood on the roof, and looked into the distance. In the chaotic streets, people fled the city in an endless stream, and the Golden Gate Bridge filled up quickly. Behind them, the city was silent, except for the terrifying occasional sound of a collapsing building.
Ethan jumped out of the car and walked in front of some people, looking at the hectic crowd.
—I want to go to Noble Mountain. The Golden Gate Bridge is blocked. I don't know where else we could go, we would be trapped. —he said, pointing to the huge number of people trying to escape —. With so many people, how long do you think it will take us to get to the outskirts of the city? And we don't even know if among all the people we could be rescued.
He paused, measuring the words before continuing:
—The only sure thing now is that Blake's father will come to rescue us. I'm willing to bet on the possibility of getting on a helicopter and getting out of here.
Blake's face lit up with joy. He nodded repeatedly and positioned himself behind Ethan.
Ben opened his mouth to reply, but Ethan raised a hand, stopping him:
—I understand what you mean, but it's just as risky to follow the crowd. We cannot rule out the possibility of replicas of the tremor. We've been lucky so far, but if something happens, a stampede of people could kill us.
Ethan said no more. He turned to little Ollie next to him, who looked at him with eyes full of uncertainty, holding on to his brother's clothes. Ben, seeing Ethan's determination and Ollie's worried gaze, had no choice but to accept Blake's plan.
Leaving the crowd behind, the surroundings became surprisingly silent, the creaking of the boots on the gravel was the only thing that broke the stillness. Along the way, they encountered some people who, like them, had strayed in search of an alternative. Ethan suppressed any temptation to trust strangers.
Blake slowed down, staring at a half-built building not far away, his melancholy-dyed expression.
— Is something wrong? —Ethan asked, lighting a cigarette.
—Daniel designed this. He boasted that when it was finished it would be the tallest building in San Francisco —Blake shook his head, outlining a sad smile.
Before they could go any further, a beep emerged from Ethan's pocket. He quickly pulled out the radio, turned the knob, and turned the volume up.
—Attention, an emergency alert has been issued. A magnitude 9.6 earthquake is expected in the waters near San Francisco. The California Department of Emergency Alert requests that residents evacuate the city immediately.
The group stopped dead, the sound of the transmission filling a disturbing silence. A gust of sea wind blew up a newspaper, entangling it in Ethan's feet.
— Run! —gasped Ethan, throwing the cigarette on the ground.
Before finding refuge, the ground began to move in undulating waves, causing everyone to wobble. Telephone poles on the side of the road fell one after the other, and broken cables sparkled with dangerous discharges.
Blake barely had time to hide behind a Cadillac truck when Ollie, in her panic, tripped over a stone and fell to the ground. Ben tried to run towards him, but was knocked down by the tremor. Next to it, a small building collapsed; the glass on the facade burst, and the fragments rained down on it.
Ben could only cover himself as best he could, helplessly watching a telephone pole collapse towards Ollie.
— Ollie, run! —Ben roared, his voice full of despair.
At a critical moment, Ethan regained his balance, ran to Ollie, lifted him up, and covered him with his own body. The heavy pole fell with a roar beside it, and the sparkling wires danced dangerously close.
Still scared, Ethan carried Ollie and ran to Blake. Her eyes met, reflecting panic, before Blake threw himself into Ethan's arms with tears in his eyes.
The three snuggled into the truck, while Ben lay nearby, trying to protect himself from chaos. The ground kept shaking, and the fear was palpable. Ollie howled, suffocated by Blake's tension and weight on him, as Ethan looked around, lost.
In the distance, the ground cracked, the tall buildings collapsed, and columns of smoke and dust ascended into the sky. It seemed like the end of the world.
When the tremor finally stopped, he helped Ollie and Blake stand up. They quickly headed for Ben, who let out a cry of pain as he tried to move. A fragment of glass had embedded deep in his thigh.
Carefully Ethan and Blake helped him sit against a wall.
—I'm fine. At least we're alive, right? —he said, forcing a smile as he wiped tears from Ollie's face and gratefully grabbed Ethan's hand.
—We have to get that crystal out. Walking with him will only make the wound worse —Blake announced, taking off his coat and wearing his sleeve to make a tourniquet around Ben's thigh, pulling hard.
Ben groaned, beads of sweat sprouted on his forehead.
—It doesn't hurt too much, so you have to put up with it and hope not to damage the arteries —Blake said, looking at Ben seriously.
Ollie shoved a travel guide into Ben's mouth, while Ethan held him firmly. Blake, taking a deep breath, carefully removed the glass.
Ben squirmed a few times before they managed to get the fragment out completely. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped quickly. Ethan relaxed his grip, and Ollie rushed to dry Ben's sweat.
After the earthquake, everyone ran out of strength, sitting in a corner to catch their breath. Suddenly Ethan remembered something and got up, walking to the nearby truck. Pretending to look for something, he took out a bottle of bourbon that he had taken from the Savoy Gentlemen's Club the last time.
—This will do. —murmured to himself.
— What did you find, Ethan? —asked Blake, curious from the ground.
Ethan said nothing. He raised the bottle and waved it, causing screams of surprise.
—You're a lucky bastard —Blake said, getting up quickly, shaking off the dust and snatching the bottle from him.
Facing the ruined city, Blake, in his tight jeans and a red vest, raised the bottle and took a long shot of whiskey, his golden hair shining in the sun.
Blake noticed that Ethan was looking at her intently, flushed, and passed the bottle to her.
Ethan coughed slightly, took the bottle, and had a few drinks.
— What are you doing standing there? Give me a little —Ben insisted.
—I'm coming —Ethan said, walking towards him with the bottle.
—It tastes horrible, I don't know how they can drink that. —Ollie complained, looking at them with disgust.
After a few minutes of rest, Ethan finished the last sip of bourbon under the surprised gaze of Ben and Blake. Just as they were discussing what to do next, the radio in Ethan's pocket rang again.
—The meteorological department has issued a tsunami warning for the waters of northern and central California, including the following areas: Maranello, Napa, San Francisco, Monterey ...
—Damn, this never ends —cursed Ethan, throwing the empty bottle at a broken wall.
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