Welcome to "San Francisco". It's loosely based on the 1936 movie of the same name starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Jeanette McDonald.
San Francisco:
Chapter One: 'It's the End of the World as We know It' by R.E.M.
Laying in bed, his face buried in the crook of her neck, Damon lurches upright when the first rumbles start, shattering the early morning silence at 5:15 am on April 18, 1906. Taking Elena by the hand, he pulls her out of their bed. Running towards the door, he pulls a jacket off of the coat rack as they run outside and into the darkness. The roar of earth is deafening as they run onto the road. Looking left to right, Damon doesn't know what to do. The earth beneath his feet is shifting dangerously, causing the road to split. With her hand firmly in his, he pulls her over the chasm just before it swallows up one of many vehicles that are damaged and parked askew, many already being destroyed by falling debris. Having only the clothes on their backs, they start to run. Finding themselves staggering and reeling, it is as if the earth is slipping from under their feet. Then comes the sickening swaying of the earth that throws them flat on their faces. They struggle in the street to get onto their feet but can't. Seeming as though his head was splitting with the roar that crashes in his ears, Damon looks around to see buildings crumbling one after another. It is as if they were nothing more than cracker one would crush into a bowl of soup.
Just ahead of them, a great cornice teeters and crashes to the ground, crushing a man beneath it. Not wanting Elena to see, he shields her against his chest momentarily. With panic and fear threatening to overwhelm him, he squeezes her hand to anchor himself. Having nowhere to run, Damon feels his stomach turn as he watches the police struggle futilely to rescue a men, pinned under a pile of burning wreckage. The man himself watches in shock and silence until the fire reaches his feet. His screams and begs to be killed. Swallowing thickly, Damon has to turn away when the policeman takes out his gun, aims and shoots him point blank in the head.
Elena's face is a mask, almost as if she's hiding somewhere inside of her mind. Dutifully she follows Damon down the street as he tries to get her to safety. Fire is burning out of control at the Windsor hotel at Fifth and Market streets. Three men are on the roof, screaming for help. Impossible to reach them, a military officer directs his men to shoot them. There are scores of people watching as the men follow orders, the bodies dropping to the sidewalk below with a sickening thud.
Moments later the rumbles stops but as they run down the road, fires and explosions erupt all around them. No matter which direction Damon looks, flames are seething and thick black, acrid smoke is billowing into the sky. As they stand there, not knowing which way to turn, a five-story building half a block away falls with a thundering crash, and the flames sweep clear across Market Street, catching a new fireproof building recently erected. The streets in places are sinking three or four feet, in others great humps appear four or five feet high. The street car tracks are bent and twisted out of shape. Electric wires lay in haphazardly in every direction. Streets on all sides are filled with bricks and mortar from buildings either completely collapsed or brick fronts had just drop completely off. Wagons with horses hitched to them, drivers and all, lay dead, having been struck and killed by falling bricks. Warehouses and large wholesale houses of all descriptions are either down or have walls bulging or else twisted, buildings move bodily two or three feet out of line and although still standing, the walls are cracked.
The Call building, a twelve-story skyscraper, looks at first glance to be undamaged but on closer inspection, it's moved at the base two feet at one end out into the sidewalk. The whole of the interior is twisted out of shape. Before he can look away, flames burst from several broken windows. Finding himself mesmerized by the scope of the destruction, the city literally laid to waste, he stares in shock. Worried about Elena, he gives her hand another squeeze and pulls her into his arms. Holding her close, he runs his palm gently down her hair, whispering that he won't let anything happen to her. Unsure as to whether he can keep that promise, Damon knows that he has to give her some hope, something to cling to amidst all the devastation.
Fires are blazing in all directions, and all of the finest and best of the office and business buildings are either burning or are surrounded by flames. People are pumping water from the bay but the fire is soon too far away from the water front, rendering their efforts futile. The force of the earthquake ruptures the water lines so there is no supply for the fire engines. Standing by helpless, they watch with frustration as fire consumes more and more and more. As they gain momentum and with the city's water system destroyed, survivors gather wherever they can find water to drink. Victims huddle together in the open air as flames light the sky.
"Damon, I'm scared for Brady," Elena whispers, snuggling into his chest to try to keep warm.
"We'll find him, Elena, I promise we will," Damon whispers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. With his face grimy with soot and sweat, he licks his lips. After waiting their turn for a drink of water, Damon takes her hand again and they leave the group to try to find their way to her brother's parish. It's dusk and the sun is just beginning to rise, illuminating the air as it still crackles with flames and smoke. As they walk down the street, staying off of the sidewalk, Damon and Elena are knocked off of their feet when suddenly a cavalcade of falling stones are crashing to the earth all around them. Knowing they're in mortal danger, Damon throws Elena over his shoulder and runs, finally finding shelter under a huge chunk of building. When the rumbling stops, he looks peers outside, breathing a sigh of relief that the chunks of concrete are no longer pelting the earth.
After kissing her fiercely, he pulls her out and they continue, Elena still in shock stares aimlessly at the carnage. Even though it feels like they're literally walking into hell, they really have no choice but to keep going. As they walk one way, people are scurrying past them. When a Catholic priest walks by, Damon grabs his arm. "We must get to the ferry," he says, his eyes hazy and unfocused. Not knowing what to do, Damon decides to follow him. As they hurry down Market street, he's astounded by the men, women and children who are still crawling from the debris. Hundreds, even at this hour are rushing down the street and every minute people are being felled by falling debris.
With one arm holding Elena close, they walk down the street when suddenly a thunderous sound fills the air as the earth shifts with aftershocks. A huge chasm opens up and spreads in all directions. With the people now in an even greater panic, running haphazardly towards the bay, not caring who they bowl over, Damon is knocked down and separated from Elena. Hearing her screams, he runs towards her voice. At the same moment he sees her, the ground splits beneath his feet, her terrified face is the last thing he sees before he drops into the endless dark abyss.
It starts out like "Phoenix Rising" but this is a very different story.
Huge thank you to Eva. I get these wild ideas for stories and she glad pitches in. She helps so much to get me plot points and encouragement. You are priceless my dear friend.
I really hope you'll like this. It is a short story but I so love adding DE to the historical record as it were.
Please click the review button. I am excited to hear your thoughts.
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate. For those of you who do not, just have a phenomenal weekend. We'll see you next week for updates on all of my stories.