Chapter 90
Nick
Vinnie grabs my shoulder as the ground shakes suddenly beneath us. In front of us, Battalion Chief Andreyevna holds onto our truck to stabilize herself.
“Shit, another aftershock,” Vinnie says as we cling to each other, trying to support each other.
All around us, the world shakes. The pavement jumps, splitting again. I watch in horror as the hole where the ambulance used to be grows wider, bigger, and more chunks of concrete and asphalt fall in.
“Tristan!” I shout, and then fall to my knees.
I try to crawl towards the growing hole, but Vinnie holds me back. “Nick! You won’t be any help if you fall in, too. Wait out the aftershock!”
I know he’s right, even though I don’t like it.
We wait out the tremors as debris shakes loose from buildings, as the road cracks further, as people scream. I’ve been trying to cling to hope, but it gets more difficult with each aftershock.
Finally, it passes.
I stumble to my feet, do a quick scan around me to make sure that Vinnie, Charlie, Elena, and the national guardsman are okay. They are, so I hurry forward as quickly as I can to the sunken mound of rubble that used to be the ambulance.
It’s a solid mass of broken concrete, metal, and dirt. As I sink to my knees in front of it, I cannot even begin to imagine how someone who fell through that space survived—and if they did, how we might get them out.
For the first time since the earthquake, I let myself cry.