The Earthquake of all Earthquakes

Class that day ended with Madi taking the same bus home at four in the afternoon. She went in, sat on her usual place at the back and took a nap, to be awakened a short time later by the violent and merciless shaking of the bus. Madi woke up confused. Her first thought was that the bus was under attack. The shaking went on for what seemed like hours, startling the other passengers who screamed at the driver to stop. The bus screeched to a halt.

Madi looked out the window and watched with frightened eyes as the giant mall across from her collapsed like a tin can from an unseen force. It wasn't only that one building but the other structures as well that surrounded it. Each one mystically tottered then fell down, the domino effect catching the motorists unaware so that the ensuing panic that followed came as a raging tide that gathered force around the unmoving bus.

"It's an earthquake!"

It was funny to watch people run and flee like headless chickens on the streets. The panic was palpable. Each person in that street corner was held in the merciless reality of oncoming death. It was there waiting. It didn't even have to do anything because some unwittingly fell on its trap, crushed by falling debris, run over by moving vehicles, slammed against building walls by the sheer force of the fleeing crowd.

Madi dialed her father's number with shaking fingers. Adam answered in one ring, his voice on the other end panicked and scared.

"Dad!" Madi screamed.

"Madi, where are you?"

"I'm inside a bus. Dad, I can't get out. There are too many people on the streets and I'm scared."

"Stay where you are," Adam ordered, "I'll come and get you. What street are you in?"

"Wilson."

"Right, stay where you are for now. I'm ten, fifteen minutes away so wait for me."

"Dad, be careful."

"Stay out in the open," Adam said. "The after effects might be stronger than the last one. I'll be with you soon, honey. Don't be scared and just wait for me."

The last twenty minutes was the longest that Madi experienced in her short life. She and several passengers huddled in their corner of the bus, watching as the world went mad before their very eyes. The quake lasted only minutes but the damage it left behind could very well affect the lives of thousands.

When father and daughter finally reunited, the sun was about to set. But as far as L City goes, it might as well be midnight. The earthquake destroyed the power grid, plunging the city in total darkness. The streets were now an unregulated space for panicked commuters, the injured, ambulances, firemen, policemen, and of course, looters.

When Madi's phone rang, the sound was loud and somewhat eerie inside the quiet bus. Madi answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Dad, where are you?"

There was silence then an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"It's not dad."

Madi frowned.

"Who is this? Get off the phone. I don't want to waste my charge."

"It's Jayde."

"Who?"

"Jayden. Your classmate."

Madi felt her heart stopped but then the clarity of what was currently happening cleared the fog in her brain.

"What do you want?"

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Madi asked, perplexed. "I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"

Again, silence on the other end.

"I'm hanging up now. I'm waiting for my dad's call."

She waited but his end of the line remained silent.

"Okay, I'm hanging up now."

Madi ended the conversation with a frown. A short while later, the phone again rang. It was Adam. He was at the other end of the street and wanted to know the number of the bus she was in. His voice and his familiar figure as he finally arrived and took his daughter in his arms in a tight embrace drove any other thoughts from Madi's mind.

Their journey home was ironically accomplished via an Uber driver who had taken advantage of the chaos by offering his services to the stranded and injured. They were driven home in a new Audi, the enterprising driver behind the wheel entertaining them with the blood and gore snippets of the afternoon's tragedy.

When they arrived home, it was actually no surprise to see their house fallen to the ground as other houses around it. The silence was deafening and somewhat scary. Madi saw several of their neighbors slumped on the street, watching the devastation of their homes and loss of worldly possessions with vacant eyes.

Adam stared at the fallen remains of the house he built with his own hand with a calm expression. He then turned to his daughter and said, "You're safe and sound. I think that's the best exchange I could have had in the aftermath of this devastation."

Madi smiled with eyes bright with unshed tears and looped her arms around her father's waist in a tight hug.

"We'll rebuild," he whispered, kissing her on the temple. "It was an old house anyway. I'll design a new one and surprise you with it."

"I don't care if we live in a shed or not," Madi said, smiling. "As long as we're together, I don't care where we live, Dad."

In the days that followed, Madi would come to regret these words as her life took a surprising turn as chaotic and drastic as the after effects of the earthquake everybody dubbed the Super Tremor.