“Chief, over here,” she called out. “I can’t find Frank.”
“Why are you looking for Frank?”
“He was standing in the doorway, right over there,” she replied.
“Willa,” he said, “Frank is probably dead. We can’t waste any time, the tsunami is coming.”
“I have to know,” she said. “I can’t leave someone behind in Dolphin Beach to die — even if it’s Frank, I just can’t.”
A distant boom sounded from escaping natural gas exploding. The snap and crackle of live electrical wires punctuated the deathly silence.
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud,” he said.
Willa picked up pieces of the wrecked building and tossed them to the side.
“Come on, Willa, we have to go.”
“Wait,” Willa said. “I think I heard something.”
“How can you tell?” he said. “All I can hear is this horrible ringing in my ears.”
“No, listen,” she said as she lifted another shattered 2x4 out of the pile and threw it to the side.
Chief Dolan walked over, bent down, and stuck his head next to the debris pile, mostly to humor Willa so he could get her to leave.
That’s when he heard the soft moaning coming from the pile. “Willa, we can’t get him out in time. If we stay all of us are going to die.”
“Then you go on,” she said, “but I’m going to get him out.”
“Willa…” He realized nothing was going to change her mind. “Alright, just remember, this is all on you.”
Willa was too busy digging through the pile to say anything. Chief Dolan pitched in feverishly grabbing piece after piece and flinging them off to the side. The moaning became louder as they dug. Soon Frank’s head was visible and they could see which way they had to dig.
Progress was slow. Too slow. There was at least six feet of debris piled on top of Frank. There simply wasn’t enough time to remove it all. Chief Dolan looked around. A three inch diameter steel pipe stuck out of the debris pile about twelve feet over. He rushed over and pulled on it. The pipe moved but then became stuck on something.
“Willa, over here,” he said. “See that 2x4 right there? Lift up on that as hard as you can.”
Willa came over, looked at the pipe and smiled. “I get it,” she replied. She gripped the 2x4 and pulled up with all of her strength. Chief Dolan yanked hard on the pipe, with most of it pulling free.
“Again,” he shouted. The pipe came out. Chief Dolan ran back over to where Frank was buried and examined the way the debris was lying. He found the hole in the debris he needed, inserted the pipe, bent over and placed his right shoulder under the pipe. He straightened his back and legs, lifting a major section of the debris off of Frank.
“Those pieces should be loose now,” he said straining under the weight. “Pull them out and then pull Frank out.”
She snatched one piece after another from the pile until she could see that Frank was mostly clear. She grabbed Frank by the left arm and pulled. She could move him only six inches at a time.
“Come on, Willa,” he shouted, “I can’t hold this up forever.”
She yanked at Frank over and over until he was free of the pile. Chief Dolan set the pipe down and came over to Frank.
“Oh crap,” Chief Dolan said as he looked Frank over. “There’s blood all over his lower right pant leg and his foot is facing backward.”
“Which means?”
“His lower leg is broken,” he replied. “From the blood, it’s probably a compound fracture.”
“What are we going to do?”
Chief Dolan walked over to the south edge of the pile that was the Ocean Grand and looked at the water in the small bay that formed Dolphin Beach. “Oh, dammit,” he shouted.
“What?” she asked.
“The ocean is rushing out to sea. I can see the bottom of the bay for two hundred yards out.”
Willa rushed over to where the Chief stood. “Oh no,” she said. “That means…”
“Yeah,” Chief Dolan replied. “The tsunami is coming — we’ve got maybe two minutes. We’re trapped.”
“Not necessarily,” Willa said, “we have the old stairs going up to Promontory Point.”
“But Jason said the tsunami would over run the point.”
“Yeah,” she replied, “but the first wave won’t be the highest, the fourth one will be.”
Chief Dolan ran back over to Frank. “Help me get him up.”
“He can’t walk,” she replied.
“Fireman’s carry,” he shouted. “Help me get him up.”
Frank was only semi-conscious, but he stood shaking on his left leg. The Chief crossed his arms, grabbed Frank’s wrists, ducked and turned, pulling Frank’s arms over his shoulder. As the Chief stood, Frank’s feet cleared the ground. “Now run,” Chief Dolan shouted.
Willa and Chief Dolan got to the old stairs and started climbing. There was an old steel pipe railing along the steps that had been there for decades. As they climbed, Willa’s legs began to burn from the exertion. She could only imagine what Chief Dolan’s legs felt like with Frank’s weight added onto his own. Willa paused briefly to catch her breath and looked at the bay. Boats that were anchored in the bay rested on the mud, many on their sides. The large rocks that stood as the Three Sentinels to Dolphin Beach jutted up from the bottom of the bay. Then she saw the tsunami forming out in the deeper water. It was rising out of the ocean and drawing everything in under it. As the tsunami rose it began to dwarf the Three Sentinels. Chief Dolan glanced back.
“Run, Willa, run,” he screamed.
She forced herself to look away from the tsunami and rushed up the stairs. Chief Dolan had stopped and slowly turned to Willa.
“The rock has cracked,” he said. “We’re missing two steps. Do you think you can make the jump?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Chief Dolan backed down two steps to let her pass. Willa looked at the cleft in the rock where the steps had been. The step beyond looked solid, but she really didn’t know.
“It’s now or never,” the Chief said.
Willa breathed heavily three times, rushed forward and jumped. She landed on the step right at the edge of the cleft, her momentum carrying her up the next two steps. Willa turned back, holding on to the old railing.
“It’s solid,” she said.
Chief Dolan already looked exhausted. He was breathing hard and his face was flushed. He looked at the steps, counted back from the edge, took one step back and took a deep breath. He rushed up the steps and threw himself across the gap. His left foot landed solidly on the step, but his other foot fell short, and hung in the air. He tipped backwards. Willa grabbed the center of Chief Dolan’s shirt and pulled with all her might. Chief Dolan began to collapse with Frank’s weight on him. Willa held on to the railing with her right hand and pulled on Chief Dolan with her left. As the Chief collapsed, his right knee landed on the step. Willa pulled him forward and he gradually managed to stand.
“Thanks,” the Chief said.
They both looked at the tsunami closing in on Dolphin Beach and continued up the old stone stairs. As the tsunami closed in, they could hear the roar and rush of the wall of water. Before they could reach the top of the steps the tsunami hit Dolphin Beach. The wall of water didn’t slow down. It just plowed through everything, lifting and pushing cars and building debris along the front edge of the wave. The sound of the tsunami hitting the remains of the Ocean Grand Hotel sounded like everyone hitting a strike in the Dolphin Beach Bowling Alley, all at the same time. They still had a dozen steps to go as the tsunami swept past them demolishing the railing behind them. Willa recoiled as the railing she was holding was ripped out of her hand. She held close to the rock wall as she made her way to the top of Promontory Point, Chief Dolan right behind her.
As they stepped onto the hard flat surface of Promontory Point they turned to see the water rushing up the side of the hill. Willa watched in horror as the wave, filled with debris, rose up the side of the hill and curled around and over the road that led to Promontory Point. The wave covered the parking lot with incredible speed and swept back toward them pushing a shifting wall of building debris.