Chapter 49
The landslide, when it finally stopped moving, was the size of eight soccer fields and as deep as a lake.
Siri stood in mud and brush up to her knees.
It felt like the ground was trying to suck her into the depths.
Later on they brought in boards and baffles to walk on, but not enough of them.
They had to be moved around, and it took an unreasonable amount of time to search every square meter.
Helicopters hung in the air like insects. There was no parking lot around here big enough for the many vehicles that arrived, so they were all over the place. Police dogs barked and the area filled with people slowly picking through the rubble.
One second you might be walking by the remains of a splintered house, only to find yourself moments later in front of a garage that had fared so well the paint cans were still lined up on the shelves and tools were still hanging from their nails.
Inside the houses, demolished bathrooms shared space with kitchens where late-night sandwiches still lay on plates, uneaten.
Siri stopped.
“Gerd!” she called.
A foot was sticking out from under debris. It wore a thick, handknitted sock that was now rusty brown with blood. From the toes hung a slipper.
Gerd and Siri began to dig with their hands, tearing at rubble and pieces of house, helping each other lift it away, but the house seemed to sink farther and farther into the muck the harder they fought to free the body.
“It’s impossible,” an exhausted Gerd said at last. “We need help.”
When they finally got her out, she could hardly speak. Hours spent stuck there, pressed into the mud, had brought on hypothermia. The internal bleeding was only discovered later, at the hospital.
“Felicia,” Siri said, crouching at her side. “We’re here now. We’re going to help you.”
“You have to…” Felicia said. “We’re…I’m having a baby.”
Gerd froze.
“We’ll do everything we can,” she said. “I promise. How far along are you?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Six weeks, I think. At the most.”
Felicia grabbed for Gerd’s hand and she took it, squeezed it gently. Sudden sorrow took hold of Siri’s heart and squeezed.
“Felicia, stay here with me. Look at me. Felicia. Felicia!”