Sirens•Evan Buckley

7.1

Hi, thanks for reading to this point so far. So this chapter and the next one are just the earthquake episodes, I thought the earthquake was too big of a thing to skip so I just made it so she was included in it too❤️❤️ thanks guys.

"No, I said that I needed at least two bathrooms. I don't want to have to share with guests when I have people over." We were only 2 days into the apartment search and it wasn't going as easy as I thought it would. Whenever I would find one I liked, Uncle Bobby has to find something wrong with it, like mould or water damage. "I just think it might be hard to get two bathrooms, a renovated kitchen, an outdoor space, and parking for your budget... if you'd just let me and Ath-" he brought this up before but it wasn't something I wanted to do "I'm not gonna borrow money from you and Athena, i just moved here. I don't wanna be in debt with my Uncle." I interrupted before he could finish his sentence. He seemed to have understood that time, so hopefully he wouldn't bring it up again. "What if you rented part of a house.?" Bobby said, I thought about for a second and didn't see any problem with it. I mean this way I wouldn't have to climb stairs or do my laundry somewhere else. "Ya sure, let's pick this up later I gotta go check the fuel on the truck", we walked down the stairs and parted ways. I walked towards the truck but before I could open the fuel gage the floor started to feel like it was moving, and shaking. I quickly realized what it was... an earthquake.

The windows separating the lockers from the garage broke, Eddie, who had been working under a truck, was sliding around on the roller seat, and Buck was around the other side of the truck. I heard Chimney yell "It's gotta be at least a 6" "7" Hen yelled back. Hen helped get Eddie off the roller and then Buck and I got away from the cans of oxygen with the help of Bobby.

"Everyone okay?" "Ya" "yep" and a crowd of other words in substitute for 'Yes' "Okay. The bells gonna go any second now, be ready." Immediately after Bobby finished the bell went calling us to a hotel collapse.

We stepped out onto the dust and rock covered concrete, in complete awe of the devastation the earthquake had left. The building was quite literally leaning, it was broken windows and parts of the ground that had caved in. "You guys ever deal something like this?", Eddie said after standing there for a second. "No" Bobby said right after Eddie finished. We looked over to see police taking a mother and a father out of the building, yelling about their daughter who was still in the building. "They seriously think that's gonna hold it up", Buck said after seeing the rescue team putting long rods of metal and plastic up along from the ground to whatever part of the building it would touch in hopes to stabilize the hotel. "I don't know but if they do they might need a drug test", I added. "Let's find the incident commander", just like that we all followed Bobby over to where most of the other firefighters and search and rescue were. "Have you heard anything from maddie yet?" I asked Buck trying to start a conversation, ever since I was young I noticed talking was my defence mechanism.. or coping strategy. I would never talk about what was happening but I could distract myself from what was happening, so I could have a break. I could talk about anything and everyone, I just need someone else who can shut up and listen while I ramble. "Uhhh, no. Not yet. What about you..? Heard anything from..." I realized in that moment I hadn't really said anything about my whole past, other than my parents being drug addicts the only thing he knew was that Bobby is my uncle. "I don't have many people.. I'd say about 90% of them live here and I'm with 80% of the 90% of them right now. I guess that's the good thing about being lonely... less people to worry about right? Sometimes I wish I had more friends and I think it's funny that you're probably one of the best friends I've had in a long time and I've only known you for about a week and a half. People-" I sighed "sorry. I'm talking too much aren't I?", I was asking because I knew it's made people uncomfortable in the past. "No. Not at all Andy, I like it when you talk this much. Makes me feel like we're better friends", He said it almost flirtatiously.. as if flirting was his coping mechanism. I was relieved he liked it more than he didn't, I don't how I could be friends with someone who doesn't like when I talk. When we got to part of the rescue ground a woman walked up to us.