▌Chapter 9 ─ A Tsunami ▌

━━━━━ WHEN THE SHAKING was over Hugo helped Basil up. The brunette held onto her wrist while Blake and Hugo went to help Ben. Basil ripped some of her shirt off and started to wrap it around her wrist. It wouldn't do much but she hoped it would help for the time being. Turning towards the others she walked over to them kneeling down next to Hugo. He briefly looked at her, his eyes catching a glimpse of her hand.

"I'll be okay, probably just a sprain from falling that hard." Basil whispered, as Blake took a closer look at the glass that protruded from Ben's thigh.

"Okay. We have to get that out of there." Blake informed them she proceeded to pull her leather jacket off. "If you try walking with it, it could cause more damage." Then she pulled her white shirt off and wrapped it above the cut, tying it as tight as she could get it. Blake glanced at Ben for a moment. "This is going to hurt." Ben looked back at her. "Are you ready?" He gave a nod of his head.

Basil watched as her sister placed her fingers on the piece of glass. Hugo unknowingly reached for Basil's non-injured hand and gripped it tightly as her sister pulled the glass from Ben's leg and he grunted in agony. She gripped his hand back to let him know that it would be okay. Blake threw the glass to the ground and moved the shirt down over the wound.

"Ben!" Ollie called out, fear evident in his voice.

Hugo stared at his brother, he exhaled looking at Ollie and then Hugo. "I'm all right. I'm all right." He told them.

"Do you think you could put some weight on it?" Basil questioned, concern rushing out from her voice.

"We have to keep moving. We got to get up that hill." Blake continued. Both the Gaines sisters hoped that they could get to higher ground before anything worse could happen.

Ben started to nod his head rapidly, glancing between Blake and Basil. "Yeah." He breathed out, almost close to a whisper.

"Okay." Hugo let go of Basil's hand and walked over to his brother helping Blake lift Ben from the ground. Blake grabbed a hold of Ollie and pulled him close to her as the two watched Ben stand. Blake adjusted herself as the three started walking, Ollie and Basil following them.

Ray and Emma were in a small boat on the water heading towards Coit Tower. Buildings were crumbling to the ground, while others were on fire from the damage they had taken during the quake. Ray stopped the boat, their eyes on what was left of Coit Tower.

"Oh no." Emma whispered, following behind Ray as he moved to the front of the small boat to get a better look.

"Coit's been burning a while. They've gone someplace else." Ray paused, thinking. "Now, where are you, girls? Where are you?" He looked around at what was left in the aftermath so far. "What's your Plan B?" A sudden noise caught his attention up ahead. He watched as the bowie's hooked up to the dock moved slightly, the water was pulling away from said dock. He continued looking around as some of the ships adjusted slightly leaning up against whatever they were closest to. "Oh, shit."

"What's happening?" Emma questioned him.

He turned towards her and pushed her back to the wheel. "We got to go. Water being pulled out like that, that's a tsunami. We gotta get outta the bay, now." The engine rumbled back to life and he turned the boat around heading out of the bay.

Ollie and Basil walked ahead of Hugo, Ben, and Blake. They weren't far from the building, but they still had a bit of a walk before they made it to the building.

"Wait. Wait, wait a second. Just give me one second." Ben called out. Basil stopped in her tracks looking back at the three as Ben reached for the wall to hold onto. The walkie started beeping pulling Basil and Blakes attention away from Ben as he grunted. Blake pulled the walkie from her pants and held it in front of her trying to get a better single until she finally did.

"The Weather Service has issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas of Northern and Central California, including the following counties: Marin, Napa, San Francisco and Monterey." The voice said, Basil looked away from the walkie as the sirens started going off. Blake walked forward placing the walkie back on her pants. She ran back towards Ben.

"Come on, guys. We gotta go!" Blake shouted. Hugo helped grab a hold of his brother while Basil grabbed a hold of Ollie's hand holding it in hers. "We got to go! We got to move fast! We got to get to Daniel's building." They took off running as fast as they could even with Ben's leg injured.

Meanwhile Ray was gunning it, trying to get them out of the bay before the water started to rise higher than the normal capacity it was used to. He however wasn't the only one attempting to flee the bay, other boats raced to get out alongside them for a shot at survival.

"Ray." Emma called out looking dead ahead at the rising water.

"I see it!" Ray shouted over the wind. The water ahead was already inching upward towards the bridge not far from them. "All right, hold on! We got to get over it before it crests!" He moved the gear forward allowing them more gas to glide further across the water. Emma held on tightly as they passed other boats by.

As the water started to get closer to cresting, Ray pushed the boat harder to get over it. Emma looked to her side, rattling coming from the fire extinguisher until it eventually was pulled out of its holster and fell out of the boat into the water behind them. People alongside them raced to the top. One boat that they came up flipped back falling back into the water. Ray looked ahead, hoping that the boat would get them over.

"Come on! Come on!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it!" Emma held onto the bar, while her other hand held onto Ray's shoulder. Fear fell upon her face as she and Ray watched a large cargo ship appeared in front of them. It's larger propellers spinning around, swinging the ocean water into the air.

"Oh, shit." Ray moved the steering wheel allowing the boat to move over to the side. The propeller's took off the roof that was on the boat. The two looked behind them watching it disappear from sight. Ray turned back around to see the cargo containers starting to fall in the water.

"Ray!"

He turned the wheel of the boat to ensure that they dodge the containers that fell behind them. Ray was able to make it past safely, he slowed their boat down and turned to look at the ship. Both he and Emma watched as the ship was pushed up by the way, eventually getting caught on something and tipping towards the bridge. With the force of the water pushing into the cargo ship the bridge started to pull apart. They watched as it ripped through what was left of destroyed buildings.