Emily, Harry and Jack and an Earthquake. part 5

This is the end of the first section.

Harry sent Kathleen off to (carefully) rummage through the store cupboard in the garage and find a tarpaulin. ‘Have you heard from Jack?’ Emily asked as soon as they were alone. They walked slowly up the passageway to the bedroom.

‘I got a text, but it doesn’t make sense.’ Harry showed her.

‘Looks like he fumbled the buttons. You know he always does that. The keys are too small for his fingers. He probably pushed send before he’d finished the message.’

‘But “coffee”? In the middle of this? And why’d he send the same thing again?’

Another contraction started and Emily turned in towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he had to brace himself as she writhed, crying and shouting in his ear. Her body felt so hot and damp and foreign. ‘God,’ she growled as it eased. ‘I should be in hospital. Having drugs.’ She sagged and he took her weight. ‘Arrrghh.’ She panted some more. ‘What are we going to do? I’m going to have this baby soon.’

Harry had already figured that one out. ‘It will be fine,’ he soothed. ‘Like Marnie said. You’re fit and healthy and you’ve never had any problems before.’ He really really hoped that was the case. He shuffled them into the bedroom.

He and Kathleen stripped the bed then made it up with the tarp over the mattress, a pile of towels, a sheet and more towels. It crackled a bit but it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable. The trouble was, Emily was exhausted but she didn’t want to lie down. She leaned on her elbows on the top of the dresser and insisted on having the TV on, even though Harry wanted to keep her calm. ‘How can I be fucking calm when Jack’s out there,’ she hissed at him. ‘Leave it on. I have to see.’

Harry looked up alarmed, to see Kathleen’s shocked gaze. Damn. It was barely a year since the girls’ mother had died. He couldn’t bear the thought that they might lose their father too. None of them could contemplate that thought.

‘He’ll be helping people,’ Kathleen said, gesturing at the screen. ‘That’s what he does.’ The TV was showing a group of people, some of them in dirty ruined business suits, still wearing their ties, lifting someone on a blanket into the back of a four wheel drive. ‘He’ll help people then he’ll come home when he can.’

Harry and Emily exchanged glances. ‘Of course he will,’ Harry tried to say brightly.

‘Just if he doesn’t hurry up,’ Emily said in a strangled voice as she doubled over again, ‘he’s going to miss this baby. Oh fucking hell it hurts.’ She screamed.

Harry raced over to support her. Jenny was standing in the doorway, baby Sarah on her hip looking at Emily aghast. Harry pressed his hand into the small of her back, the only thing he could do that eased her pain, even slightly. Kathleen went to her sister and hugged her. The disaster on the TV continued.

It took a bit of coaxing but eventually they managed to get Emily on to the bed and settled her on a pile of pillows, lying partially on her side. She dozed between contractions. Harry lay on the bed beside her pressing into her tailbone. Emily’s phone had been bleeping and she’d had the same message from her friend Chantelle three times. Harry had had the enigmatic coffee message from Jack once more too. The phone system was not working properly. The reports of the destruction on the TV were starting to repeat themselves. There didn’t seem to be any new news although there was speculation of a huge death toll.

Kathleen had fetched the bottle of water that Harry had had rolling around on the floor of his car for weeks. It was the only drinking water they had as they had to treat the tap water as contaminated. He offered it to Emily who drank half of it in one go. He wished he’d thought of it earlier. The kids shared the bottle of fizzy that was in the fridge. Harry directed the girls to use a clean pot and ladle water out of the toilet cistern. He figured that would be fine to use to wipe Emily’s face and cool her down. There had been no word from the midwife for some time.

The boys appeared through the door from the patio. They were covered in mud. ‘The tap outside my bedroom’s come off,’ Wilson announced. They’d followed the sound of rushing water they could hear when they were in Wilson’s bedroom and realised that the tap on the outside wall had come apart. He was brandishing a hammer.

‘The place was flooding so we’ve turned the water off at the main,’ Jayden explained waving a large wrench. Harry was impressed. ‘Now we’re going to go and fix it.’

‘What?’ Harry sat up. ‘How?’

‘Well we probably can’t actually fix it,’ Wilson told him, ‘but it’s not like we need the outside tap right now so if we bend the pipe up and stop it running then we can turn the water back on.’

‘Can’t make things any worse,’ Emily murmured beside him.

‘Okay then,’ he agreed reluctantly. ‘Don’t wreck the place.’

Five minutes later, when Emily was in the middle of another wrenching contraction there was a huge after shock. The house thrashed like it was in labour, things crashed and broke and Harry hung on to Emily and tried not to scream. Dear god, the kids were under the house. How could he have let them do that? What sort of moron was he? The whole building could collapse on them. As soon as he could stand he raced for the man hole. Jenny and Sarah were screaming. As he got there Wilson shot out of the hole. He was pale, his eyes huge with fright. He threw himself at Harry. ‘Jayden?’ Harry yelled.

‘I’m here. I’m coming.’ The other boy climbed up out of the hole, shaking and white.

Harry pulled him into his arms, hugging the filthy pair. ‘Don’t you do that again. That was a really stupid idea. I’m such an idiot.’ He realised he himself was shaking. ‘Just stay safe okay. Stay safe.’

Jayden gave a funny grin. ‘We fixed it though.’

Back in the bedroom he found Emily on her knees on the bed, her eyes wild. ‘They’re all right,’ he told her hurriedly. ‘The boys are fine.’

‘The baby’s coming,’ Emily gasped. ‘I think I want to push.’

‘Oh shit.’ He hurried to hold her as she tried to pant through the contraction. He was absolutely terrified. ‘Don’t push. Not yet.’

‘Not going to be able to hold off for too long,’ she grit out. She let out a string of swear words and Harry could feel her whole body involved in the effort of giving birth. ‘Goddamn bloody Jack,’ she cursed as the contraction finally eased. They were much stronger and longer than they had been.

‘Is this his baby?’ Harry could have bitten his tongue as soon as he said it.

‘You know I don’t know,’ Emily growled at him. ‘Could be either of you. Not going to happen a bloody gain.’ She snorted through her nose and reared up, grabbing for the head board and slumping back onto her knees, legs wide apart. ‘Oh god.’ She leaned her head on the wall, taking a moment’s rest. ‘I need to know. You’ll have to look. Am I dilated enough? Is it safe to push?’

‘What? How would I know?’

‘Have a bloody look.’

Unwillingly Harry lifted her nightgown and peered at her nether regions. ‘It doesn’t look normal,’ his voice squeaked.

‘Of course not,’ but her voice tapered off into a grunt as the next wave took her and Harry watched helplessly as things bulged where they shouldn’t. Jesus, he was a gay man. He shouldn’t be looking at women’s twats at anytime and certainly not like this.

‘Oh gross,’ said a voice. Harry dropped the edge of the nightie and looked up to see Jayden staring at them appalled. Brilliant. Then his eye caught a glimpse of a familiar looking uniform and his heart thunked. ‘Someone’s here,’ Jayden announced and a police officer walked into the room. The young man was very deliberately not looking at Emily on the bed. Harry felt all the breath leave his body. ‘Jack?’

‘Pardon?’ said the officer.

A moment later a small middle aged red haired woman swept into the room. ‘Now what have we here?’ the midwife said cheerfully. She handed Jayden the towel she’d been drying her hands on and beamed around the room. For all the cheerful smiles her gaze was assessing. ‘Emily love, you’ve created a lot of fuss. Looks like I got here just in time.’

She nodded at the police officer. ‘I flagged down young Benjamin here and his four wheel drive. He’s been a real trooper. I’d never have made it otherwise.’ She pulled a large green wrapped bundle out of her bag and proceeded to quickly and efficiently set up equipment on the top of the dresser. ‘It is absolute carnage out there on the roads. You’ve got no idea, there are pot holes the size of trucks and,’ her eyes spotted the TV and went wide. The cop was riveted by the images too. Harry realised that if they’d been on the road they probably had no idea of what was happening in the city centre. Well they’d probably heard on the police radio but to see it... Marnie’s eyes narrowed at Harry and he shook his head. No, he wasn’t turning it off. Her prattle continued, ‘You’re so lucky you stayed put. If you’d tried to get to the hospital you’d probably be giving birth in the car. I know you read about that in the papers all the time, but believe me you don’t really want to try it. Awfully messy. Really hard to get the stains out of the upholstery.’

She hitched up the night dress and ran her hands over Emily’s belly, feeling the baby, assessing the situation. ‘Oh not long now, doing well.’ She pulled out some sort of instrument. ‘Let’s just listen to baby’s heart beat shall we,’ and a swisha swisha swisha sound filled the room. Harry had never felt so relieved in all his life.

‘I want drugs,’ Emily moaned.

‘Too late for that.’

Emily gave a strangled cry. ‘Can I push?’

‘Go for your life.’ Marnie motioned to Harry. ‘Hey Dad. Up on the bed. Whatever she needs,’ she whispered as he clambered up. The cop’s eyes were wide and Harry realised that all the kids were hanging in the doorway too. It didn’t matter at all.

Things happened very quickly after that. Emily hung onto the headboard and bore down with everything she had. Harry pressed on her back. Emily screamed. The world outside was full of chaos and death but in here, on the bed where the baby was created, Emily was giving birth.

‘There’s the head,’ Marnie said with satisfaction. ‘Just easy now. Let baby come. Good girl.’ And with a final agonised cry from Emily the baby arrived.

Emily collapsed into Harry’s arms as Marnie wrapped the baby in a soft white towel. ‘It’s a lovely girl,’ the midwife said happily.

‘Oh.’ Emily sighed against Harry’s neck.

Something wasn’t right. ‘She didn’t cry,’ Harry said panicked. He looked down at the little bundle. A bemused blue eye blinked at him from a scrunched up face.

Marnie grinned. ‘They don’t all. She doesn’t need to. She’s fine. She’s just lovely.’ She wrapped an arm around Emily and kissed her. ‘You did real good.’ She passed the towel wrapped baby up into Emily’s eager arms. ‘Turn around real careful. We haven’t cut the cord yet.’

‘So everything’s all right?’ Jayden asked anxiously, edging into the room.

‘Everything’s just fine,’ Marnie told him. She smiled at the kids. ‘You’ve got a new sister and she’s perfect.’

‘Thank God for that,’ said a gruff and unexpected voice by the patio door.

Harry jerked his gaze away from Emily. ‘Jack?’ He didn’t look real, didn’t look like Jack. He was chalk white, eyes huge and dark in his face, lips pale. Harry’s first startled thought was that this was Jack’s ghost. Then the figure gave a choked sob and slid down the wall to sit on the floor and Harry realised that this was Jack all right. He was battered and broken and he was covered in dust. There was blood too.

Jenny screamed and everyone surged forward.

‘Thank God,’ Harry said with utmost sincerity. His eyes filled with tears. ‘Oh thank you God.’

Emily, Harry and Jack and an Earthquake. part 4

Part 4

Harry didn’t know what he was going to come home to. It had taken him an agonising ninety minutes to get from the gym, collect kids from two schools and get home, covering an overall distance of roughly fifteen kilometres. Emily had been right though. The schools had stood up quite well. Freaking out teachers trying to do the right thing had held him up. Jayden and Wilson were corralled in the middle of the playing field with the rest of their classmates. A teacher was stationed at a desk and anyone leaving was supposed to sign out at the desk with the parent/guardian collecting them. All well and good. The problem was that Kathleen should have been there too and she wasn’t.

Once that was sorted it had taken him and the boys nearly half an hour to get to the primary school along with every other panicked parent in the suburb. With flooding, liquefaction and torn tarmac there was barely one lane passable on the main road the school was on. He let Wilson out of the car and sent him running ahead, hoping that he’d be able to collect the girls and come back. That hadn’t worked of course. Jenny’s school had an even more stringent sign out system than the high school. Harry ended up driving into someone’s front yard and running down to the school himself.

It seemed to take forever before he had them all and could head home. Jenny was pale and freaked out by the quake. Her school had already had quite a bit of damage from the first one and her teacher had gone into a screaming panic when it struck. The three older kids however were quite excited by all the drama. They had their phones, thumbs texting frantically and seemed to know more about the destruction of the city centre than he did. He didn’t tell them that Jack had gone to town.

He’d given his phone to Jayden who’d done a mass text of all their gym staff and friends in the city simply asking “Ok?” His phone was now continuously bleeping. Jayden checked the messages and passed them on.

Finally coming up their long drive he was relieved to see the house still standing and looking perfectly normal. Emily had said the kitchen wasn’t safe. He really hadn’t known if the house would be standing or not. They’d passed other houses that weren’t. Harry hit the automatic garage door opener as the phone beeped again. ‘Jack,’ Jayden shouted as he looked at the phone. So maybe Jayden had picked up on Harry’s concern. He felt overwhelming relief, a great weight lifting off his chest. Then he had to hit the brakes when he realised the door had only risen a few centimetres and then stuck. ‘What’s he say?’

Jayden sounded confused. ‘Coffee? What?’

‘Give it here?’ Harry grabbed for the phone as everyone clambered out of the car. The message didn’t make sense. “Coffee L8”.  ‘What’s he on about?’

The boys had grabbed the garage door and were trying to push it up but it wasn’t going. Kathleen grabbed Harry’s keys from the ignition and tried the front door. She shoved it hard. ‘It’s stuck.’ They all streamed around to the back.

The back yard was a surprise. Liquefaction had come up through the patio and in several places across the lawn leaving grey greasy mounds. It had flowed right into the dining room through the open sliding doors but at least they could get in.

‘Emily.’ The kitchen was trashed but the house seemed sound.

‘Mum.’ Everyone was shouting.

Harry’s phone bleeped again. Message from Jack. He fumbled to open the message only to stare at it in confusion. The message was the same as before. “Coffee L8”. ‘What the fuck does that mean?’ The feeling of dread settled back in his chest. Jack wasn’t sending nonsense, not at a time like this. He stopped long enough to text back, “whr r u ru ok”. Doing that meant that by the time he got to Sarah’s room, following the sound effects, he found Emily and all the children balled up in a semi hysterical huddle. They were all of them on their knees on the floor. He pulled the baby out of the crowd and passed her to Kathleen before fighting his own way in and taking Emily in his arms. She groaned as he grabbed her, arching back and crying out. Her protruding belly pressed against him and he started in surprise as he felt it go rock hard against him. The kids backed away nonplussed as she screamed.

The spasm seemed to last forever as he held her and tried to think of what to do. It was obvious that the pain was beyond what she could breathe through. Her attempt at panting sounded more like a gas burner as she forced air through her nose and teeth. He was inordinately pleased that he’d seen her in labour with Sarah because otherwise he would have been terrified. He was still pretty scared but at least he knew this was normal. Then he felt her belly soften and she collapsed against him puffed and limp.

‘Hey,’ he said gently, placing a kiss on her forehead. ‘How you doing? How far apart?’

Emily nuzzled against him tiredly. ‘Getting closer. Haven’t timed them recently.’ She looked up and grinned at the appalled circle of teenagers. ‘It’s okay guys. I’m having the baby and it hurts. But it’s okay.’ Harry couldn’t believe her instinct to care for everyone else, even in the middle of all of this. ‘Having babies hurts.’ He hugged her tight and buried his face in her tangled hair.

‘What do we need to do Mum?’ Jayden’s voice cracked.

‘Yeah, you know,’ Wilson piped up, ‘aren’t we supposed to boil water or something?’

Harry tried to pull himself together. He’d just spotted the TV over Emily’s shoulder and the sight of the destruction was distracting. God Jack could be in the middle of that. ‘Ah. Boiling water. Actually that’s a good idea. Get out the big pots and boil water. We’ll need it for drinking. The tap water won’t be safe.’

‘Just like last time,’ Jayden agreed.

‘Yes, three minutes, just like last time. And while you’re at it, can you two have a go at getting the kitchen cleared up. Bring the rubbish bin in and just chuck anything that’s wrecked. See if you can shovel out the sand too.’ That should keep them occupied for several hours and save them from seeing Emily in pain. They didn’t need to see that.

He turned back to his wife. ‘Have you got hold of Marnie?’

‘She’s trying to come. The bridges are out so she’s having to come around the long way. She should be here soon.’

Harry thought about how long it had taken him to travel a much shorter distance but kept his concerns to himself. ‘Have you spoken to her?’

Emily shook her head. ‘Text. Landlines work but you can’t call to cell phones. Texts work sometimes. She says I’m a healthy woman who’s already had two normal deliveries so she doesn’t expect any problems and not to worry.’ She passed over her phone and Harry scrolled through the messages from the midwife. Every message said “Don’t Panic” in it somewhere. He was resisting the urge to panic and collapse completely so he didn’t find Marnie’s advice particularly helpful. Emily gasped and tightened her grip on his arm as the next contraction arrived. They really weren’t very far apart. Panic seemed like a bloody good idea right now because it looked like he and the kids were going to be delivering this baby.

‘Oh god.’ Emily was crying. ‘It hurts.’

He kissed her. ‘I know baby.’ He held her through the contraction then stood up carefully when it ended. ‘Come on. Let’s go do this on our bed. You’ll be more comfortable. Kathleen, give us a hand.’ They helped Emily to her feet.

He tried to think of what else needed to be done. ‘Jenny, you’re in charge of Sarah okay. Keep her out of the kitchen until the guys have made it safe. Get her something to eat at her tea time. Can you do that?’

Jenny clutched her little sister, her eyes round and scared. ‘I can do that,’ she whispered.

Weakly Emily smiled at her. ‘It’s all right sweetheart. Really. I’ll be okay.’

‘Where’s Daddy?’ the little girl asked quietly.

Emily, Harry and Jack and an Earthquake. part 3

Part 3

Emily peeled the mud soaked nappy off Sarah and dropped it on the floor with a plop. She could hear the breathless voice of the TV announcer and it took her a moment to work out what was wrong with that. The radio had been on and now it wasn’t. The radio itself was still in its cabinet in the lounge and the lights were still going. She looked at the footage on the TV of the devastation in the city centre and realised that the building housing the radio station was in the city, it may well be one of those destroyed. Shivering with horror at the thought that the voice she was listening to, only minutes ago could be silenced, could be dead, she collected Sarah in her arms. The little girl automatically wrapped her legs around her and Emily was glad of her warm solid weight. ‘You’re getting to be such a big girl,’ she crooned, enjoying the normality of cuddling her daughter. Her back didn’t feel up to it but she wasn’t letting the baby go. ‘Come on. Let’s go to your room and find another nappy.’ They needed to be somewhere where Sarah would be safe, even if Emily herself was incapacitated.

They’d just made the hallway when she felt the pain starting and had to put Sarah down. ‘Go on love,’ she gasped. ‘Race you to your bedroom.’

Sarah looked up anxiously as Emily doubled up, leaning against the wall. She made shooing notions with her hands, biting back the urge to cry out. Sarah was scared enough already. Sarah plopped onto her bottom and didn’t move. Emily panted as the contraction turned her abdomen rock solid. The pain started to ease and as she straightened up she felt a sudden rush of fluid down her legs. ‘Oh great.’ Her nostrils twitched at the warm fecund smell. ‘Well at least we’re not too worried about ruining the carpet right now.’ Her waters breaking meant she really was in established labour though. ‘Brilliant timing.’ She hitched back the sob that nearly broke from her. She couldn’t give in to it now.

When she collected herself she realised there was a crack in the wall. It ran all the way up the wall and across the ceiling. They’d had virtually no damage in the September quake. Now it seemed this one had broken the house. It wasn’t falling down though thank goodness.

Sarah’s room seemed completely unscathed. Thankfully Emily left her on the floor and raced back to the lounge for the phone and as an afterthought, her handbag with her mobile and her list of phone numbers. She was moving really awkwardly now and it wasn’t just because her legs were wet and sticky. She could feel the baby’s head, hard and solid in her pelvis, forcing her bones apart. The next contraction really hurt. Alone she let herself scream.

Hurrying as best she could she stripped off her wet things and after a moment’s thought pulled off her top as well and replaced it with a nightie. She’d have loved a shower but this really wasn’t the right time for that even if the water still worked. She couldn’t afford the time to find out. She grabbed a towel and wiped her lower half down and then grabbed another pile of towels from the cupboard and went back to Sarah’s room.

Sarah was battering against the door trying to get out and protesting extremely vocally about being locked in.

After waiting out another contraction Emily finally tried to phone the midwife. A call to her mobile didn’t connect. In desperation she fumbled through her handbag to find the card the woman had given her on her first visit. It had her home number. Hardly daring to hope she dialled the number. It was answered by a man. The man was her son. His Mum had been coming home from a call. He didn’t know where exactly that she was but she had texted to say she was okay. Emily felt an overwhelming relief. That meant that she would be okay.

Texting. Emily hadn’t thought of that.

It took her ages to compose the text. She seemed to be lacking the ability to co ordinate her brain and her fingers. “In labour, pls come. Emily Jones.” Her body’s whole focus wanted to be on giving birth, but she couldn’t stop and do that. Not quite yet. She remembered this from her other labours, the way her whole being became totally focused on giving birth. It was quite zen like, quite amazing and looking back, she’d actually enjoyed that part of it, before things had become too intense. Now though, she still had things to do.

After the text to the midwife she sent one to Jack, “Ok??” She managed to hold Sarah down enough to get another nappy on her. Sarah’s room had been the spare room and office up until only a couple of months ago. There was still a cheap old television on the floor of the wardrobe. She managed to drag it out but decided against lifting it up on to any of the dressers. It was safer on the floor. She had to shift furniture to lead the power cord to the plug and attach the aerial cord and by the time she’d finished she was wondering if it was worth the trouble. It was the thought that she might see Jack on the television footage that helped her do it. She had to know he was alright.

The phone beeped.

Emily flung herself across to where she’d left it on the bed. Marnie. The midwife. ‘Thank god.’ She fumbled to open the message. “Don’t Panic,” she read. Emily burst out laughing. “Stay put,” were the next words. “Pls confirm. Are you at home? Are you alone? How long in labour? Time between contractions? I will come to you.” Emily’s amusement stayed with her. That was the most succinct Marnie had ever been. She tended to rattle on and on and on and it drove her nuts to be around her longer than the 15 to 20 minutes that their appointments usually took. But she also made Emily feel safe and cared for. Other than her eyebrows rising to her hairline when she realised that Emily had two male partners and that either could be the father, she had passed no negative judgements on their domestic arrangements. For that alone Emily would have hired her. The midwife she’d had for Sarah’s birth had not been nearly so easy to get along with.

She didn’t want to lie down but she did need to rest. After a moment’s thought she piled the pillows up on the bed and leaned across it, on her feet but her upper body supported. It eased her aching back. ‘Hurry up and come home Harry.’ She tapped out her reply to Marnie as the horrific images on the TV continued. She couldn’t look away. A dishevelled lady reporter was trying to explain that the phones weren’t working and hundreds, herself included didn’t know if their families, their children were all right. Someone else asked people nationwide to use phones only in emergency situations to reduce the overloading. There were pictures of bloodied people being helped from ruined buildings. People in business clothes, dirty and bloody themselves assisting others, doing first aid. She had to keep watching in case one of them was Jack.

On the floor Sarah scolded her new baby dolly and spread books and toys around the room in a temper. She latched onto Emily’s leg and yanked, telling her off for not picking her up. Emily’s contractions were about three to four minutes apart.

The phone beeped. Marnie again. “Bridge out. Still coming. Don’t panic.”

The horrifyingly familiar sound of a train approaching morphed into a wild jolting shake knocking Emily face first into the pillows as her feet slipped. She struggled to breathe as another contraction wrapped her in its grip. ‘No,’ she yelled. ‘Ow, damn. No.’ The whole house rattled and shook. Terrified the roof was going to fall she slid to the floor, head against the bed, pulling Sarah in too, even as the pain of the contraction paralysed her.  Sarah was shrieking in terror. ‘Oh god,’ Emily moaned into her hair. ‘Oh god, I can’t do this.’

Emily, Harry and Jack and an Earthquake. part 2

The story continues.


Part 2

Harry’s was pretty sure he was in shock. The baby was coming and Emily said the city was destroyed. The gym was in chaos, the building itself broken and its contents tossed together in a jumble. He had been helping people injured by flying weights, machines and broken glass when Emily rang. People were cut and bruised but there was only one serious injury, Steven, the instructor on duty in the main gym who had been knocked out and whose leg now bent the wrong way.

It felt like a betrayal to leave him even though there was nothing he could do for him. Clients in the gym had included a doctor and an off duty paramedic who had instantly come to the boy’s aid. The side door of the building was the only way out, the front door blocked with rubble, the back apparently jammed closed. Aisha, the young instructor who’d been taking a class when the quake struck was trying to keep people calm and usher them out. She seemed perfectly unflappable and Harry was thankful for it. ‘I have to go,’ he told her. ‘The baby’s coming.’ She looked like she’d been about to argue but changed her mind.

Out in the staff car park at the back Harry could barely believe what he was seeing. Three cars parked behind the bakery were flattened, completely covered in bricks and rubble. Heart in his mouth he raced across, trying to peer through the grimy windows, hoping desperately that there had been no one inside. Something moved in the second car and his heart leapt into his mouth but it was a dog, a small fluffy white thing bouncing up and barking furiously at him even though the car it was protecting was now just scrap metal. Harry had no idea how they’d get the creature out.

He huffed in a relieved breath. He could see right into the kitchen of the bakery, everything looked perfectly normal, if you ignored the fact that there was no exterior wall. Thank god, there didn’t seem to be any injuries there.

His hands were shaking as he tried to get his key in the car door. Sarah had managed to chew up the remote door opener mechanism just yesterday. Jayden was trying to fix it. In the meantime he was back to the old fashioned key in the lock and he could barely manage.

Sitting in the car he took a moment to try phoning Jack. That didn’t work. Then he tried the kids’ mobiles; they all had them. No mobile phones seemed to be working. In desperation he sent Jack a text. “Ok?” Then he sent a bulk text to Kathleen, Jayden, Wilson and Jenny. “Cmng 2 gt u.B rdy”, and wondered inanely if they’d understand his version of text speak. Then he wondered if they’d even get the text in the first place. He threw his phone on the passenger seat.

Roads which an hour ago had been ordinary suburban streets were now four wheel drive territory. Harry’s car was just an ordinary sedan. He was negotiating a flooded street with unexpected sink holes and small hillocks when his phone chirped to say he had a text. He grabbed for it as he kept driving, trying to see who it was from. Kathleen. He stabbed at the buttons. “Wth Jny” she said.

So texts worked.

And Kathleen must have left high school and walked or possibly run three kilometres to get to her sister’s primary school. Another chirrup. Jack? No, Jayden. “U hv 2 sin us out”. Really? No one had signed Kathleen out.

Harry kept waiting for another text. It didn’t come.

tbc