Page 74 of Just Watch Me
Murmurs, then talking. Questioning voices. The woman said, “The quake was centered fairly close by, on the Wellington Fault. That made the shaking worse, but the wavesdidn’t grow as much as they could have if they’d started from farther away. We’ll keep you here for another half hour to make sure, and then you’re free to go.”
“Where do we go?” a man called out. “We were supposed to be flying out to the States tonight. Is the airport open? And if not, where will we be safe?”
“The airport’s closed,” the woman said, “but there’ll be evacuation centers. In the schools, and in some government buildings as well. Police will be out there, too, and emergency services. They’ll point the way. Water’s out in places, and the electric, too, but no worries, there are centers.”
“Why can’t we stay here?” a woman asked. “Our hotel is a good mile away, and I don’t even know if we can get there.”
“We’re not equipped for that,” the lady-in-charge said. “We have no blankets, and not enough food and bottled water, either. But no worries, there are centers all around Wellington.”
Where?Skylar thought.Where are these centers? And how full will the ones around here be, if I can even find one?With all the hotels, the shops, the restaurants? But nobody, it seemed, could tell her. She was sitting on the floor with seven hungry, scared, tired children, and she didn’t have a plan.
Then make one.
Zane was still in the wood-and-glass house, but only eight of the group were still there with him. The homeowners had gone round to the neighbors, who’d stepped up to feed and house the group of stranded travelers, dispersing them throughout the neighborhood. At the moment, he and Gordon were eating cheese sandwiches and drinking the latest of the endless cups of tea served up by their hosts. They were all watching the news, because, astonishingly, the powerand water were still on here. There’d been some dishes broken, the owners had told them cheerfully, “but our shear walls and bolts and so forth seem to have held, because nothing’s shifted too badly. Got a few cracks in the paint, that’s all. We’re built on rock up here, and we had the bookshelves bolted to the wall. Lucky, eh.”
Well, yes and no. It was good to be lucky, but it was even better to be prepared.
“No estimate yet on number of fatalities,” the TV announcer was saying, while the camera panned over wreckage. Buildings without windows, a collapsed carpark, crumbling concrete. “We’re getting reports of injuries and some deaths from falling debris and collapsed buildings, but the number of casualties from the tsunami is still unknown. Over to our own Iris Johnson in the CBD for more.”
Zane didn’t want to hear from Iris Johnson. He wanted to hear from Skylar, and as the minutes crawled by and the news got worse, that need became stronger. He was trying his text again every ten minutes, and the ones to his Nan and parents, too.Somebodywould get a signal and answer him.
He thought that for thirty minutes more, and then he heard theding.
He didn’t have to grab the phone, because it was already in his hand.
Mum and I are here with Nan and Jade and Geoffrey,his father had texted.You OK? Where are the kids?
Don’t know,Zane texted back.Geoffrey didn’t hear from Skylar? You all OK?Such a normal-sounding text, as if plans for Christmas lunch had gone amiss, when it was his whole world on the line.
Not yet,his dad texted.No service. Where are you?
Safe,Zane sent.On the road.He pushed the button, but got the message again.
Text failed to send.
“Bugger,” he said. Softly, but Gordon heard it, because he said, “What?”
“Dad and Mum and Nan and Jade are OK. All at the house.”
“Oh,” Gordon said. “The kids, though?”
“No word,” Zane said, and stared at the black windows. At the blankness.
Gordon’s hand gripped his shoulder. “It’s a bugger getting through, that’s all,” he said. “You’ll hear.”
Zane didn’t answer. People said things like that all the time.It’ll be OK. You’ll hear soon. I’m sure she’s fine.He knew it wasn’t necessarily true. Others around him were getting through now. Getting news, with the relief on their faces almost painful to see. He sat, phone in hand, and waited.
And waited.
Anotherdingof a text. His heart pounded, but it was Eddie.
Training facility’s standing. Some damage, a boil-water advisory, and the power’s out, but there’s a generator. Working out how to get us back there. Pass it on.
He did. And then he sat.
Anotherding.The sick feeling was past his stomach now, into his throat. Eddie again.
Looks like the bus may be able to go roundabout and get up here, or we can walk to it. Driver thinks so, anyway. Working that out now.
