By the time Lila made it to 24-7 store, the sixth tremor came. Buildings collapsed, car alarms were blazing and water spume all over the streets.Soaking wet, exhausted Lila used the little strength she had left to bang on the store"s door.
"Mr. Shen... Mr. Shen, are you there?" Lila waited and listened. Trying a few more times before she chose to a.s.sume Mr. Shen and his family made their way to safety.
"d.a.m.n, I wanted to replenish my energy with some snacks" Leaning against the door Lila tried to recover her strength.
Water on the street was now reaching her ankles. She needed to get moving or she"ll be treading water soon. Pus.h.i.+ng away from the door, Lila almost lost her footing when her hand disappeared into the doorway.
"Lila?... What are you doing here?" Mr. Shen caught her in time just before her body met water.
Pulling Lila to stand before him. Mr. Shen and his family rushed out before re-locking the door.
"Aww... my snacks." Lila pressed her face to the window in sadness.
Turning around to ask Mr. Shen if he could open up for just a few minutes. Mr. Shen and his family were already rus.h.i.+ng off towards the direction she just came from.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"Lila, the snacks can wait. There"s an emergency right now." Mr. Shen abolish before grabbing the hand of his wife and daughter.
"Geez.." feeling heat color her face," I wasn"t talking about that. Though it would be helpful right about now." Lila mumble the last part underneath her breath.
"You can"t go that way. That way is towards the epicenter, you"ll die. Follow me towards the orphanage." Lila didn"t wait to see if they listen to her or not. She has gotten used to being ignored by now.
Lila made it all the way to the orphanage before another tremor took place. The front gate was locked. Lila had no other option than to try the back door. Even if that door is locked at least she could jump the wall using the dumpster, if it was still there.
Water was now reaching knee level. Lila carefully stepped towards the dumpster. She will need to lift herself up onto the dumpster then climb on top of the wall to jump over.
With hands grasping the top of the dumpster lid, Lila held on as the water gushed around. Her stamina was depleted. She couldn"t even find the might to pull her leg out of the water.
Her hands slipped on the smooth surface of the lid. No longer having any support, her body pitched sideways into the water.
Once again she body was caught in time. "Oh. Why Mr. Shen you do care about me." Lila looked up into the face of Mr. Shen and his family. "Are you done playing around yet?" "Yeah...yeah I"m done."
"Good. Now what do we have to do to get to safety." Lila who forgot herself for a moment. Quickly told Mr. Shen of the situation.
"I"ll lift you and my wife up first, then pa.s.s you my daughter. You jump over first then my daughter. Wife will go after you and I"ll jump last. Okay?" Mr. Shen quickly came up with the plan, to solve the situation.
Lila prepared herself as Mr. Shen lifted her body out of the water grasp. Getting st.u.r.dy footing, Lila then turned to help Ms. Shen. Once the two stood on top of the dumpster Mr. Shen quickly pick up his daughter and pa.s.sed her to his wife.
"This way the orphanage has it own safe house." Once Mr. Shen jumped over.
Bang* Bang* Bang* " Ms. Joy! Please open up. It"s me Lila. Ms. Joy!" Lila banged on the metal door. The creaking of the door opening gave relief to Lila which she didn"t know she was holding. Ms. Joy didn"t even question why, she just quickly ushered them in. When Lila was closing the door the seventh tremor came.
The last tremor felt like it took an eternity to finish.
___________
The destruction after the earthquake went pa.s.sed the collapsed buildings, flooding, and even the down electricity. The earthquake cause the whole of County Q geographical structure to change. When the war ended, the only reason why County Q, M, and K were able to survive when others didn"t. Is all due to their high levitation, which allowed their countries citizen to escape the toxic fumes that lingered close to the ground. With Country Q"s mountainous terrain being the barrier between the wasted lands and the three countries. They stayed safe for the time being.
But now this earthquake has changed everything, Country Q, M and L natural barrier has s.h.i.+fted and been destroyed. With no barrier the three countries are now out in the open.
Their ten years countdown just hit zero. They were out of time. They needed to leave now.