The Tsunami Countdown

FIFTY-EIGHT

Aftermath

When the C-130 landed at Wheeler, Denise and Stan went their own ways, leaving Kai and Teresa to find treatment for the injuries that Tom, Lani, and Mia had sustained. They were in the same circumstance as thousands of others who crowded around the edges of the runway tarmac. Wheeler had its own small oil power plant, so it was self-sufficient in case of island power outages. With all of the coastal power plants wiped out, it was one of the few places on Oahu that still had electricity.

Displaced residents and tourists from all over Oahu had converged on the air base as a safe haven. Thirty-five jets had been forced to land because they didn’t have enough fuel to return to the mainland. They packed every bit of spare concrete at the air field, including a long-abandoned runway. Since the base didn’t normally accommodate airliners, there were no motorized stairs or walkways for the planes to unload. Most sat there still full of passengers, while others had disgorged using their emergency slides.

Tripler Army Medical Center had rapidly filled to capacity with patients requiring use of its trauma center, so all other injuries and illnesses were routed to a temporary triage center set up in a hangar at Wheeler. That’s where Kai took his daughter for treatment.

Kai stopped, speechless, as he took in the enormity of what had happened. Before him was an image he had seen previously only on TV. Row upon row of people were being tended to by dozens of men and women, some in uniform, some in scrubs, some in civilian clothing. Because the disaster had happened so fast, only a limited supply of cots was available. Most patients lay on blankets or stretchers on the hangar floor. Many of the victims moaned or wailed, some from injuries, others from the mental anguish of their loss.

An Army lieutenant directed them to a second hangar, where they saw a similar scene of woe. A nurse found an empty space for the children to lie down and gave them some blankets. When she found out that Teresa was a doctor, she took her aside, out of earshot of the kids, who dropped to the floor, exhausted from the ordeal.

After a minute, Teresa returned. “They’re short of doctors,” she said.

“I’m not surprised,” Kai said. Hundreds of people lined the floor in this hangar alone. He could only guess how many more there were.

“I need to go. Lani will be okay. I don’t think there’s any permanent damage. Tom’s shoulder will need to be checked out by an orthopedist. And Mia needs an MRI, but that won’t happen until we can get back to the mainland. The nurse said nobody has any spare clothes yet, so we’ll just have to dry out until we can get some.”

Tom massaged his shoulder, but he seemed more intent on looking around the hangar.

“When you find someone in authority,” Kai said, “let them know that Tom is looking for his parents.” Then he realized that even after all he had gone through with the boy, Kai still didn’t know one important detail about him.

“Tom,” Kai said. “What’s your last name?”

“Medlock,” Tom replied, understanding why he was being asked. “My parents are Joseph and Belinda Medlock.”

“I’ve got it,” Teresa said. “We’ll find them, Tom.” More quietly, she said to Kai, “Listen, I’m just … Oh, God … I mean, Rachel …” Before she could finish, she burst into tears and grasped Kai in a hug. After a few moments she pulled away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Teresa took a breath to compose herself, then made her way toward the front of the hangar. Kai turned his attention back to Lani and Mia.

Neither of them spoke. Mia stared off into the distance, and Lani slowly flipped through the photo album Kai had saved. It was hard to believe these were the same girls who had been so chatty this morning.

Kai knelt down and smiled at Lani.

“How are you feeling?” he said.

“I’m just coughing a little.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Kai said. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Why, Daddy?” Lani cried. “I want Mommy! I want Uncle Brad!”

Lani put her face in her hands and bawled loudly. Kai comforted her the best that he could, taking his own comfort in her vitality.

“I know, sweetie,” Kai said. “I want them too.”

Eventually, her sobs lessened until she just moaned into his shoulder.

A warm puff of air tickled Kai’s ear. He turned just in time for Bilbo to lick his face energetically.

“Bilbo!” Lani said, and the dog sprang to her. Lani lavished him with coos and pats.

Kai looked up to see a massive brown hand held out to him.

“Glad you made it,” Reggie Pona said, pulling Kai to his feet, then throwing his arms around him. “I thought we’d lost you a few times.”

“If you hadn’t sent help for us, you would have.”

“I saw Teresa back there,” Reggie said, pointing to the hangar entrance. “She seems okay. Are you girls all right?”

Lani and Mia nodded, focusing most of their interest on Bilbo. Kai knew Reggie wanted to hear about what happened. The dog was just what the girls needed to comfort them after the ordeal.

“Let’s take a walk, Reggie. Lani, take care of Bilbo. I’ll be back in a little bit.” Kai saw her start to protest, so he held up his hand to stop her. “I swear that I will not drive or fly anywhere without you. We’ll just be outside.”

As they stepped out of the hangar, two trucks screeched to a halt and began unloading passengers and supplies.

“Let’s get some privacy,” Reggie said, leading the way down the tarmac. “I saw a good place on my way here. You don’t know how glad I was to hear you landed.”

Kai didn’t answer. After a few moments of silence, he said, “Is it over?”

“The DART buoy says we’re in the clear. That last monster was absolutely unbelievable. Three hundred feet! I mean, everything’s gone for three miles inland in some places.”

“I know. I saw it when we were in the air.”

“Oh. Right.”

Another silence.

“Teresa told me about Rachel and Brad,” Reggie said. “I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry.”

Reggie was tactfully leaving it open for him to say more, but Kai wasn’t in the mood to discuss the details.

“Who’s handling the warning duties now?” he said, knowing Reggie wouldn’t have left his post without making sure it was covered.

“George and Mary finally showed up. They’re on the phone with Alaska. I left them in charge so I could take a break and come find you. The first wave won’t reach California for another two hours. The West Coast should be pretty well evacuated by then. Given the TV coverage, you’d have to be a grade-A moron to stay by the ocean today.”

Reggie stopped at the base of what looked like a World War II–era watchtower at least seventy feet in height. Although it hadn’t been used in years, it still looked sturdy enough.

“Should be a little quieter up there,” he said.

Kai shrugged and followed him up the stairs. At the top, they were treated to an expansive view that stretched all the way to the shoreline five miles to the south. The fresh breeze felt good on Kai’s face, carrying away the stink of his sodden clothes.

“This is going to get worse before it gets better, you know,” Kai said. “A lot worse.”

“Tell me about it. All the power stations are knocked out. It could take a year to build new ones. They’ve already estimated at least three hundred thousand homeless on Oahu alone.”

“We’re two of them.”

“Right,” Reggie said. “I wonder where we’re going to sleep tonight.”

Kai wondered when he was going to be able to sleep again. All he could think of was Rachel, trying to fix her image in his mind before it faded. The twinkle in her eye when she knew Kai was going to unleash a dreadful pun. Her delightful bray of laughter at Lani’s wrestling matches with the dog. The touch of her lips. The smell of her hair when she curled up with him just before they fell asleep. Without her, sleep would be a long time coming.

“Looks like we’ll have to bed down in the airport hangars for now,” Kai said. “With only one working runway in the entire island chain, any airlift is going to go slowly.”

“Hell, I don’t know how they’re even going to get jet fuel up here to fill up all these planes,” Reggie replied. “I heard someone from the government talk about resupplying Hawaii with the biggest ship convoy since World War II. Who knows how long that will take? At least two weeks before it gets here. I bet they move half the population to the mainland—”

“Reggie,” Kai interrupted. “Do you mind if we just stand here for a few minutes and not talk?”

Reggie nodded and leaned against the railing. Kai just wanted to have a moment to himself before facing the reality of the hardships to come.

So they stood there silently, reflecting on their losses and contemplating the future, staring at the flat blue ocean serenely shimmering in the distance.