Tide

Chapter 2

The next thing I knew, I found myself in a car, my head pressed against the window, eyes trailing along side of the road. Everything had happened so quickly - everything that had unfolded directly after the wave seemed like a blur. My memory was in bits and pieces, and the only thing I could really remember was how I'd clung to a palm tree for hours and screamed until the water calmed and became part of what seemed to be a giant puddle stretching across Thailand. A group of people had then approached me carefully, speaking to me with heavy accents and then scooping me up into their arms and carrying me away.

"Calm down," they'd said as I cried, shaking and choking on water. "You're safe now."

They kept carrying me and trudging through the puddles of mud and water as I cried, pain throbbing everywhere. My skin stung with cuts, I had a splitting headache, and my arm was searing, unbearably hurt. I stayed like this, curled up in the arms and sobbing and demanding answers as to where my family was as if they'd know, until they made their way to the car, which was where I found myself now. They dropped me off and I was still in a daze, still in shock and uncertainty if what had happened was real. All I could say were the words thank you, again and again and again, and I kept crying, and I couldn't stop.

I caught a glimpse at the people in the car with me. It was a woman cradling her daughter in her arms, sobbing so loudly and crying things in a language I couldn't understand that they muffled my cries in the process. Both were covered in cuts and mud, clinging to each other and not daring to look at their surroundings.

I let out a deep, shaky breath and closed my eyes in an attempt to block out their cries and the pain. That was when the images began flooding my memory for the first time.

I remembered Mason fighting back his giggles as he poured water onto my skin. I remembered how he had curled his toes deep into the sand and watched me get annoyed. I remembered how I had chased him around the beach. I remembered how Mason had suddenly gone out of sight, and how people had warned me about the ocean. I remembered how I had searched frantically, but I couldn't manage to find him. I remembered how my best friend had tried to save me, but I refused to cooperate. I remembered how the current had swept me off my feet, and how my surroundings had so suddenly become the ocean.

There was nothing left of Thailand. I'd never seen anything like it. Buildings were destroyed, trees had collapsed, and people had passed. You could see their bodies, wounds, and blood - but I didn't know how to react. You'd think I'd feel something; some kind of distress, I guess you could say. But I didn't. Instead I felt numb, because everything around me seemed so surreal. What happened couldn't have happened. It was impossible.

I looked away from the window and winced as pain shot up my arm, holding in the urge to cry. I clutched my injured arm and sucked in deep breaths, my skin sticky from the thick and humid air, smeared with blood and bruises.

As we got closer to town, I observed the streets and saw some people laying on the side, caked in crispy blood and smooth dirt. Untreated wounds and severe injuries rested everywhere on their bodies. People roamed around looking like zombies. Some cried, some argued, and some just stood in shock.

The car slowed down and the woman unclasped her seatbelt, grabbing her daughter and opening the door, jumping out of the vehicle. I watched the mother carry her little girl, sobbing and limping into the distance. Others approached the car, asking the driver where he was going and hopping in. I opened the car door with my good arm, crawling out with the help of a stranger.

He led me into a hospital, where a doctor pointed out my injuries. The doctor said that I'd ended up with a broken arm, then bandaged it with a cast. I squeezed my eyes shut when he disinfected the wound near my forehead. I required stitches, some for the gash on my head and others for the injuries everywhere else. There were pieces of wood sticking out of my skin, dirt drying over them. I had never been injured this severely before, but my wounds were nothing compared to some others. I saw a man, sobbing, his leg cut so severely I could barely look. Another woman screamed and cried as she carried and refused to let go of the body of her injured son.

I was given a fresh pair of clothing. It felt great against my skin - it was soft and warm and I had never been so grateful for new clothes.

I was painted with mud and dirt, and my once soft hair was now a mop of dark knots. My lips were chapped and swollen, and my body felt tender with bruises.

I rested on the hospital bed, trying to process what had just happened.

All I could hear was noise. People were screaming and crying, yelling in multiple languages. I felt my throat tighten, but after everything that had gone on, and after hours of sobbing and screaming, I couldn't bring myself to cry anymore.

A nurse came by with a paper and pen. She asked me a question, but I didn't hear her. Unanswered questions spiralled through my mind, and I couldn't bring myself to control them. Where were my parents? Where was Piper? Where was Mason? What had happened?

"Huh?" I blinked.

"What's your name?" she repeated.

My eyes met hers. "Ava Grace Kato," I said slowly.

She nodded and wrote it down on a piece of paper. "Did you have any people that were with you today?"

"Yes."

"What are their names?"

"Mason Kato, Piper Peterson, Elliot Kato, and Kimberly Sullivan." I said. There was a long pause before I built up the courage to say, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied. She kept writing, not looking up from her paper.

I swallowed hard, my voice breaking as I asked, "What happened?"

She stared at me. What she said next made my blood freeze and my heart drop.

"A tsunami."

A/N: Hi everyone :) I realize that this chapter was quite short, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Thanks so much for reading!

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