Chapter 4: Total Annihilation

1

June woke up the next morning gladly to not having nightmares last night. Yesterday was a bit of a blip, the Faley affair and the rain had disturbed their triumph for the day. But today things are looking pretty great. The sky was clearer than ever and the sun was high, perfect for wakeboarding. They did their daily routines and went out straight away.

'Should we go to the Skyview Point, Junie?' asked Sammy.

'We certainly could, Sammy,' said their mother. 'Just let June do her towing first, okay?'

So they did – June wore a wetsuit and rode on the surfboard with her hands grabbing onto the rope attached to the speedboat that they rented, skimming across the Denmosgäkfjord. She cried extremely triumphantly, the cool sub-arctic breezes blowing past her cheeks, and her blond hair. Her hands touched the blue, sparkling water as she bent her knees. Freshwater. There is a layer of freshwater on top of the saltwater from the ocean in every fjord. She learnt that from her science module. In front of her, a voice shouted from the speedboat. 'Wanna go faster?' And the reply was instant. 'Yes!'

The engine roared as the boat accelerated. The surfboard tilted up as June swayed left and right to gain maximum speed on the waves. I wish I could do this every day. June thought passionately as she zoomed so fast she had almost caught up with the jet ski. They eventually returned to shore where June changed her clothes to her iconic clothing – A T-shirt with the words "Jeg elsker fjorder" engraved at the front and short jeans for pants. Their parents permitted them to go to Skyview Point on top of the mountain while they had lunch in the cafeteria nearby.

'Just don't get lost!' cried their mum from afar.

'Don't worry, we won't!' June called back and waved her arm, although she probably couldn't hear her anymore.

They climbed up about 50 metres in altitude and walked for more than one kilometre to reach Skyview Point, where the entire suburb of Skendåsgurg and Denmosgäkfjord can be seen.

'This looks beautiful,' exclaimed Sammy.

'Agreed,' replied June.

'I want to be a writer when I grow up.'

'I want to do Bungee jumping, too bad I have to wait another 5 years to do so. We can only watch the grown-ups do it on the Steaming Bridge.' June suddenly had an idea. 'Should we go?' 

'Let's go!' whispered Sammy, then giggled. 'If mum finds us going on the bridge by ourselves she's going to kill us.'

'I'm sure she won't mind just this once,' said June, and without further ado she was jogging further down the track, dragging Sammy along.

'Hey! Wait up!' cried Sammy, his legs trying to keep up.

The Steaming Bridge was a suspension bridge 70m above sea level. It was a further kilometre down the walking track, just at the borders of the Kondalen region. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. The bridge was a massive platform across the thinnest part of the Denmosgäkfjord, made for bungee jumping and hanging around mostly.

There weren't many tourists on the bridge at this time. There were none. Perfect. They walked to the middle of the suspension bridge and stared long and far at the fjord. The increment from the bridge arches perfectly bordered the faraway mountains. Sammy threw a rock that splashed beneath the bridge. Ripples made a disturbance in the unusually calm water.

A sudden shift between the footbridge and the mountains it connected knocked them both to their feet. It was followed by a series of loud tremors that echoed, rebounded and expanded through the fjord. Sammy was cradled by June, both of them terrified, covered their ears. They watched as a dozen or so ravens flew overhead, seemingly terrified of something that was going to happen. They fled from the curve which hid the northern parts of the fjord tightly packed by mountains. Ben, from the hospital in Skendåsgurg, saw the same group of birds flee from the natural reservoir.

A few moments later the noise stopped. Anxiously, June decided to go off the mountain and find her parents. They took off—and as soon as they did—the bridge swung again, more aggressively this time. A low rumbling sound was coming closer and closer. After what seemed like forever for them to get off the bridge and were supposedly embracing safety, a massive tidal wave appeared as it turned a corner of the fjord. The wave was 60 metres high and steadily growing taller as it approached the narrowing gap where the bridge was suspended. It sounded like calm waves that break on the seashore, but the seismic shocks that were constantly shaking up the fjord told them that this was no ordinary insider. The towering giant blocked the sky and cast a shadow, making the fjord as black as ink. It sucked up trees and rocks into the violent current, tossing them back into the water like falling down a cascade. A ferry cruise—wooden deck, a steel-rimmed bow that slowly sailed out—was picked up like a toy and disappeared into the surge with everything else on it.

The wave was closing on them and there were maybe seconds before they got engulfed so there was no point in running. Desperately, June threw themselves behind a tree trunk and tried their best to hold onto it. Preparing for the worst, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

For a second, everything was still. 

Then she was submerged in the distilled water, still clutching onto the log. The water current was too strong for her, and she wondered how long she still had to live. I need to breathe. She thought as she fought the urge to breathe out the precious oxygen. The log was serving its purpose well as it endured the water for quite some time before another trunk carried with the rest of the debris severed it off its roots. June and Sammy drifted away helplessly, trying to not lose their grip. Meanwhile, debris impacted their bodies and June could only hope the injuries were minor. There was another problem though—they were going to run out of air if they didn't reach the surface soon. Not soon, now. She thought as she accidentally swallowed some muddy water, and now she was losing consciousness.

They splashed out from the water inhaling and gasping. Her arms were covered with bloody cuts. Sammy was also grasping onto the log, his clothes were drenched in mud water, sweat, and blood. Despite everything, they had survived the direct hit.

'Hold my hand,' she said weakly, her voice slightly out of synch from the water. 'And don't let go.'

The wave carried them like ants and became taller and slower as it reached their city's land area. June foresaw this and climbed onto the log hastily. 'Get on, Sammy! If we don't, we'll get hit by buildings.' She pulled him up, her arms shivering from the cold. He looked drained—his face was as pale as snow, and his entire body shook. When he finally managed to secure his position, he began to cry. 'I never signed up for this,' he said, sobbing.

'Neither did I,' said June. 'We need to hope our parents saw the wave coming and went to high ground in time.'

Then, she caught the sight of his bleeding arm. 'Does it hurt?' she asked, and he nodded. The cut wasn't deep, and she had no bandages, so she made a small tourniquet using her ankle bracelet. 'Don't worry, we're fine now, I-' Before June could finish her sentence, a disturbance that caused a small tsunami wave to form on top of the main one knocked them off their tree, pulling them under.

Sammy screamed and thrashed in the water. June could only make out a few words under the dirty salt water—the wave entered the city now, smashing them into wrecked buildings, most of them being residents. June could only pray to see this. She closed her eyes—pain shot up her right leg; a snap followed by Sammy's shriek—and everything blacked out.

2

She was woken up by the sound of running water trickling past nearby. She felt heavy things on top of her that were pinning her down. I'm under a pile of rubble. She thought, and then: where is Sammy? 

'Sammy,' was all she could manage, a whisper that only she could hear. Exhausted, she tried to move—her head, then her arms, flexing her fingers. Excruciating pain shot up above her right knee. Dismayed, she felt warm blood gushing down her leg. It had already soaked through her clothes. She was lying in a pool of blood. I'm going to bleed to death like this. She thought. There's no way to stop it without a tourniquet, and I have no idea how bad my injuries are. She would have cried then, but she knew better. The broken wall panels were too heavy to move on her own. Using her only free arm, she removed some of the smaller ones off her back. There was a chance that Sammy was near—he couldn't have gone too far. She saw the water that she heard earlier flow into broken, exposed storm gutters and knew that the tsunami was over—and that she hadn't been unconscious for too long. Yet there was another problem—she was stuck under a pile of debris and the wound that impaled her was potentially fatal.

There wasn't much to do except to call for help. Surely some survivors would hear and pry me out of there. Staying here for too long would be a death sentence.

'Help!' she yelled with all the strength she could muster. The adrenaline rush that was making her willing to survive in combination with her positive attitude was making her heart—constantly pumping out blood that she could never regain—feel warm.

At first, she heard nothing, only the sound of running water and cold wind blowing to make her skin feel icy. Then she heard shuffling footsteps getting louder and louder. 'Sammy? Is that you?' She called out and found out that even speaking hurts.

'Junie?' She heard a person—Sammy, limping over to her from the side. His arm was dangling uselessly at an awkward angle.

'Is your arm broken?' asked June, wincing.

'I think so.' smiled Sammy wryly, trying to hold himself together. 'I woke up a few minutes ago and heard you calling.'

Relieved, she turned her attention back to her problems. 'Sam, listen carefully. You need to go find help from grown-ups,' every word was painful hell to deliver, 'I'm stuck in here and I'm bleeding out. I'm probably going to pass out in a moment - don't cry! I'm already half relieved to see you safe and sound and I promise that when you return, you won't find me dead. Find somebody. I can't say anymore. But please! Be well.' And after that, she fainted.

That was the first time Sammy heard her plead to him, he couldn't resist tears and only nodded firmly. Despite the pain wreaking havoc inside his arm, he ran away promising her not to stop until he found help.

3

Out of all of them, Ben sure was the luckiest. He was looking out of the hospital window when the tsunami made landfall. The 30th floor made the tsunami look miniature, but when it rammed the building, Ben realised this tsunami was not to be underestimated. The wave crashed through the front door, sending water up the stairways, plunging the first twenty floors underwater. The velocity of the water weakened the building's structural beams, making the interior unstable.

Terrified by the sight of the building dangerously leaning over, and the people inside the building panicking, Ben rushed to his father's ward—it was empty.

'Oh god,' started Ben, 'Oh dear god.'

Ten minutes earlier his father had been lying on the operation table, ready for his intestine surgery. They must have evacuated him. thought Ben. But where? We're trapped in the hospital. And just to confirm his idea, the building tilted even further, causing Ben to slide across the floor, splitting his legs wide to provide balance. He crashed into a nightstand, sending a shock up his spinal column. The building was toppling over now; the hospital wasn't built to withstand a direct hit from a tsunami that was over 60 metres tall. If he doesn't react fast, he's going to die with the rest of the building.

He scrambled to the window sill. Down. He thought. My only chance. Without any more hesitation, he took a deep breath—I'm going to regret this decision later but now is not the time—and without admiring the water whatsoever, dove straight for the earth or in this case, water like a bullet. It was a clean dive—almost epic (if there was anyone to give him credit that is). He fell into the water without hitting a thing.

Having no idea—SPLASH—of how to get back up, Ben waited a few seconds for the kinetic energy to die out and for the buoyant force to take over. The water propelled him towards the surface. Despite running out of oxygen, Ben thrashed and kicked to boost himself with all his might.

The first breath he took contained water, but the second one was clear. Ben swam along the ruthless current, managing to grab onto a tree before the water dragged him into a powerful cascade downtown. Panting, he closed his eyes, praying for this to end. And—though he didn't realise it back then—the person he was worrying the most about right now was June.

4

'Hey! I think I see a boy in the distance!'

'Is he injured?'

'Take him over to us now!'

'Is that Sammy?'

'Hey! Hey! It's me!'

Steven Hodgetts gripped the half-conscious child's shoulder firmly; his eyes seemed to be unfocused, and his face had traces of dried tears from crying. 'There, there. You are safe now,' said Steven. Steven Hodgetts was a tall man with a quiff brown haircut and a wild, bushy beard. He was a part of a volunteer rescue team that day to find and treat survivors. He found Sammy who had wandered for an hour without anything, and collapsed on the ground. The impact made the agony in his fractured arm explode. Steven had heard a scream a few blocks away and came in just in time.

'It's me, Steven. Don't you remember me? I live next door.' he said as he put a cast on Sammy's arm.

'My sister…she…' sobbed Sammy, unsure of what to say next.

'June?' asked Steven with concern. 'Has something happened to her?'

'No, she-'

Steven's face went pale after hearing Sammy's story.

'...and she promised that when I returned, she wouldn't be…' Sammy lost it.

'We need to get to her now!' ordered Steven.

Fifteen desperate minutes later they found her under the ruins, unconscious. Her face had lost most of its colour and was covered with dust, her breathing was shallow.

'This looks bad,' said Steven gravely.

'Will she be okay?'

Steven crouched down until he was parallel with Sammy. Their eyes locked. 'I can't be certain, but I'll try my best to keep her in good health.'

'What do you mean "her former health"?' exclaimed Sammy in a broken voice, fearing the worst.

'It depends. How long has she been trapped for?'

'An hour or so.'

'Then we still have some hope,' said Steven as he picked Sammy up from the ground. 'If she's still alive after all that having a broken rebar impaled in her thigh, it means the steel didn't rupture any major arteries. Thank goodness for that.'

While they talked, the medical team acted. They pried the concrete that pinned her down and ensured that the structure was stable. However, the metal bar that her leg caught onto was anchored deep into the ground—it was not viable to move her just yet, but blood was steadily flowing from the wound by the second so they needed to think of a solution fast.

There was the simple and obvious solution—amputation.

'No,' said Steven. 'That's not fair for an 11-year-old to go through that.'

So they had to improvise.

5

(1964)

'Ouch, that must have hurt lots,' said Ozin, munching on a burger. 'Mhm, this tastes good. Keep up the good work, Sammy!' Sam glared at him, annoyed.

'Oh, it gets worse, perhaps for the best,' said June wryly.

'Does the curse still affect you lots?' asked Ozin.

'It's better on most days; still hurts when it's cold, though,' replied June thoughtfully. 'But I'm kind of getting used to that.'

Click.

As they were chatting, the front door opened unexpectedly, like a ghost stepped into the room.

Sam's wife and children stood in the doorway still.

'Oh, crap. She's gonna kill me,' said Sam guiltily.