Boyd Morrison - The Tsunami Countdown

The sound of the Black Hawk grew fainter, along with Kai’s hopes.

The walkie-talkie squawked again, and Kai thought he’d given up too quickly.

“Kai,” Rachel said, “I couldn’t hear everything that pilot said. Did you get a ride?”

“Rachel?” Kai hadn’t expected to hear her. He assumed she was on her way to being dropped off in the other helicopter, which would be out of range by now. “Where are you?”

“The helicopter was too full, and I drew the short straw.”

“You mean you’re still on top of the hotel?”

He looked at the roof of the Grand Hawaiian and could just make out her tiny figure waving at them. Kai nearly fainted. After all that, she still wasn’t safe.

“Not the best place to be, I agree,” she said, trying to sound brave in her plight. “Do you mind picking me up after the chopper arrives?”

“Honey, we can’t. They don’t have room on the Army helicopter. It won’t be back for a while.”

The pause at the other end was heartbreaking.

“That’s okay,” she finally said. “The pilot that was here said he’d come back for me.” She paused again, then her voice came back more weakly. “But just in case, you better keep calling for help.”

“I will,” Kai said. “Trust me, Rachel. We’re going to make it.”

“I know,” she said, but Kai could tell that she didn’t really believe it.

Stan circled the helicopter over Tripler Army Medical Center looking for a flat space that hadn’t been overrun by evacuees. Every inch of the massive hospital’s grounds was occupied by people, thousands of them. Then he spotted a Navy Sea Stallion take off from a parking lot that had been cleared as a landing zone, and he zipped in to take its place before another helicopter could get it.

The hospital was just six miles northwest of Waikiki, so the trip had only taken a few minutes. Not only did Stan want to get his passengers to safety, he was starting to worry that the damage to his tail rotor was more serious than he initially thought. A high-pitched whine was coming from the tail, a faint sound that someone unfamiliar with the chopper wouldn’t have noticed over the helicopter’s turbine roar. But Stan, who had been flying for over ten years, knew every normal sound his craft made. He had never heard this one before.

After Stan dropped these people off, his plan was to head directly to Wheeler to get it checked out. If it was still okay, he’d refuel and head back.

He maneuvered the AStar until it hovered just above the lot’s asphalt, and then the skids came to a rest on the surface. Two members of the hospital staff, burly men dressed in scrubs, ran over and began helping the passengers out of the helicopter.

Stan pointed at Jerry’s slumped figure behind him and said, “That one first. He’s injured.” After retrieving a stretcher, the men pulled Jerry down and placed him gently on it. Sheila and Doris, who didn’t even turn to thank Stan for his efforts, began to babble about Jerry’s condition as the men wheeled him toward the hospital.

Paige, with the help of Deena, guided her kids down, and they ran straight in front of Stan, away from the tail rotor, as he had instructed.

Deena climbed back into the helicopter and was about to belt herself in, but Stan put out his hand.

“You need to stay here!” he yelled over the throb of the rotors.

Deena was stunned. “What?” she said. “I’m going back to the hotel with you. I’m getting my camera back.” By this time Paige had returned to the helicopter. Her kids stood at the edge of the parking lot, watching them.

“I’m not going back,” Stan said. “I’m afraid the chopper might be damaged.”

“You’re not going back?” Paige said. “You have to!”

“The tail rotor rubbed against something. It might go at any time.”

“You can’t just leave her there!” Paige screamed. “She’s the reason my kids are alive!”

Stan was about to tell her that he was sorry, that he couldn’t risk it, but he stopped when he saw tears streaming down Paige’s face. He remembered the way that Rachel had so readily given up her seat to give the others a chance to get to safety, and he felt a moment of shame for considering not taking the same kind of risk for her.

He slowly nodded and said, “I’ll get her.”

Paige mouthed “Thank you,” and backed away from the helicopter.

Shutting down the engine to do a visual inspection of the tail rotor would take too long. He’d just ignore the sound coming from it. Besides, he wasn’t a pilot because it was the safest thing he could do for a living. His bird was tough; she’d make it.

He glanced at Deena.

“You still can’t come. If I do go down, I’m not taking you with me.”

Deena didn’t glare at him or protest, like Stan expected. She didn’t even mention her camera. She simply gave him a look of understanding. Without a word, she climbed out of the helicopter and walked away.

Stan increased power and lifted off. He waved to Paige and the kids, but they didn’t wave back until he made his turn and headed back in the direction of the Grand Hawaiian.

12:19 p.m.

18 Minutes to Fourth Wave

As the water started to flow back to the ocean, the creaking and rumbling from the apartment building increased. After every broadcast for help, Kai would release the Talk button. He heard lots of other voice traffic on the frequency, most of it garbled and unintelligible, but his calls continued to go unanswered. Everyone on the rooftop, including Chuck and Denise, crowded around him, hoping to hear a response. He was about to try again when a choppy message mentioned the name Rachel. Several of the others started talking, but Kai shushed them. At first the communication faded in and out, then it became clearer, as if the transmission was getting closer.

“I repeat, Rachel at the … Hawaiian … returning from Trip … you up. Are you … there?”

Then Rachel’s voice came through clearly. “You are breaking up. This is Rachel Tanaka on the Grand Hawaiian. Repeat your message.”

Now the voice came through with no interruptions. “Rachel, this is Stan Milne from Wailea Tours. I am returning from Tripler to pick you up. Be prepared to jump aboard.”

“Stan, listen to me,” Rachel said. “You have to get my husband and daughter first.”

“You have someone else with you?”

“No,” she said, “they are on a white apartment building about a mile northeast of me.” From the walkie-talkie, overpowering Rachel’s voice for a moment, Kai could hear rumbling that was even louder than it was on his building. It was worse than he feared. The Grand Hawaiian was about to collapse. Suddenly, all he could think about was that his wife was in danger, and he couldn’t help her.

“So I should go there first?” the pilot said.

“No, pilot!” Kai shouted. “Stan! Pick Rachel up first—”

Chuck grabbed Kai’s wrist and yanked his thumb off the Talk button.

“Are you crazy?” Chuck said, a wild look on his face. “We need to get off this pile before it falls down.”

Brad pushed Chuck away with a flick of his arm, but his face registered as much panic as Chuck’s.

“Kai, unfortunately, I agree with the bozo here. We should be first.”

Rachel’s voice cried out through the tinny walkietalkie speaker. “Kai, no! Get Lani out of there first. Pilot, if you can hear me, get my husband and daughter first.”

To Brad, Kai said, “The Grand Hawaiian took the full force of the tsunami. We’re lucky it’s still standing as it is.”

“We’re lucky this building is too,” Brad said. “And I’m not going back in the water.”