To top the afternoon off, the head of Pinehurst announced that we would have to evacuate the school, as the excessive amounts of rain backed up the sewage and now in some of the dorms, including the one I shared with Shelby was flooded with rainwater.
"We will be finding suitable living accommodations for our guests with Pinehurst students here in New York City." A few grumbles came from the Pinehurst students, but they had no option.
"Hey," J.D. said, pulling a long black wool coat over his uniform. "You guys can stay at my place for a while." "Really?" I asked. Even thought I was a little angry with J.D., I was grateful for meeting him, and for him being so kind to the guys and me.
"Yeah, sure. It's no problem." J.D. picked up his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. "You can stay for as long as you like." I saw Sam emerging from the phone booth, and as he approached I said, "Hey Sam, guess what?" I asked. "Looks like we got a place to stay!" I said motioning toward J.D.'s direction.
I could tell Sam was somewhat displeased. But he smiled. "Great."
"Come on guys, let's go." J.D. held the door open for me like a gentleman, as I piled my hair on top of my head, and jammed my head into my hat. Stepping out into the rain, I buttoned my coat, and followed J.D. to a Rolls Royce with a gray haired man standing in front of it.
"Good evening, Mr. White." J.D. grinned. "Hey Victor, these are my friends, Sam, Brian and Laura." Victor smiled, and ushered us into the warmth of the vehicle.
This time, I sat on the edge, Sam beside me, J.D next to Sam, and Brian up front. I stared out the window, as the bead of rain streamed down the window in a bizarre pattern.
"I want to take you guys somewhere first." J.D. had said. So now, they stood inside New York's Natural History Museum. J.D. had taken us to each and every exhibit, and I thought that was very kind of him.
"Hey, thanks for bringing us here." I said honestly. "I couldn't let you leave New York without seeing the Natural History Museum." "Of course not, it's the world's finest collection of stuffed animals." Sam grumbled, as Brian stopped at an exhibit of a Woolly Mammoth.
'Hey guys, check this out." Brian beckoned us over, and began to read from the plaque on the glass window. "The body of this Mammoth was found perfectly preserved in the Artic Tundra. It was found with food still in its mouth and stomach, suggesting it froze instantly while grazing." I shivered. What a horrible way to die.
J.D.'s apartment wasn't far.
The car pulled up in front of a chic building, with a fancy green and white awning, complete with a doorman standing out front.
"Good evening sir!" the doorman said, holding out an umbrella. "Hey Hugh! Victor, I'll see you in the morning!" "Right sir." With that, the Rolls drove of, and we followed J.D. inside.
The apartment was on the top floor.
Taking the elevator, we arrived up at the penthouse in less then four minutes. Groping for his key, J.D. unlocked the door, and led us into the grandest apartment I'd ever seen.
"You LIVE here?" I asked disbelieving. "Just on the weekends. It's my Dad's, but he's kinda never around." "Where is he?" I asked, staring at the rows of pictures on the mantel. "Skiing in Europe with my Step mom." I nodded, picking up one of the photographs.
In the picture was J.D., on a bike, next to a young boy of eight. "Is this your brother?" "Yeah, that's when we took a bike trip together." I smiled. J.D. must love his brother, I thought. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
I looked up to see Brian and Sam at the window. I heard Brian say something, but I couldn't make it out. Something about rain.
I sat on J.D.'s sofa, my eyes glued to the television set. "It's a mob scene here at Grand Central Station. Over half the platforms are flooded and service has been suspended on all trains. With planes still grounded and trains now out of service, that's bad news for countless commuters ---"
J.D. interrupted the newscaster. "Victor's coming to pick me up. Do you guys want a ride to the train station?" Brian snorted, motioning toward the TV. "Not anymore." The newscaster came back on, this time, a man. In Nova Scotia earlier today, the ocean rose by twenty-five feet in a mater of seconds. What we have feared for the past few days has indeed happened. The cold front moving down from the Artic has created an enormous storm system over Canada, which incredible as it sounds looks more and more like a tropical hurricane."
"Well, I gotta pick up my little brother, do you guys want me to give you a ride?" "Where is he?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the screen. "He's in a boarding school is Philadelphia."
The newscaster had continued on: "If this system moved south, we could see a wind driven storm surge that could threaten the entire Eastern seaboard."
With a clap of thunder, and a flash of lightening, the power went out.
"Victor's stuck in traffic over on Fifth Avenue. It'll be easier to get out of town if we just meet him over there." J.D. said, striding out the door, and to the elevator, as the lights around us flickered. "Walk? No, not in this." Brian said defiantly. The lights flickered and this time they went out.
We stood in the dark hallway. "We should take the stairs." Sam said, picking up his bag, and heading for the stairs. "But we're on the top floor." J.D protested. I paused, and then followed Sam.
The building wasn't that tall to begin with, and it only took us ten minutes to get to the lobby. Piling my hair on top of my head again, I put on my hat, buttoned my coat, and stepped outside into the storm.
The water was hubcap level now, and it was slowly rising. Standing under the safety of the awning, I turned to Sam. "Maybe we should just stay here." I didn't think it was safe to be driving in this kind of weather, and the car probably wouldn't get to far when the water was rising the way it was. I guessed if the water rose at it's same rate in twenty minutes, any car would be completely submerged.
"I think the young lady is right sir." Hugh said nodding. "No, we have to get home." Sam said, and began walking.
J.D.'s phone finally lost power. "Hello?" he shouted into the phone. "I can't reach my driver!"
By the time we made it to Fifth Avenue, J.D.'s phone finally lost power. "Hello?" he shouted into the phone. "I can't reach my driver!" At that moment we all looked like lost drowned rats. My coat and hat were useless, the rainwater soaking right through the fabric. My nerves were pushed, I was cold, I was wet, and I was finished.
"This is insane!" I yelled over the pounding of the rain. "We're not going to be able to drive anywhere in this, we should just go back to your apartment!" Brian must have felt the same way, because he quickly agreed. "Yeah, I vote for that." Sam didn't go for my idea.
"What are you kidding?" he cried, pressing on. "We have to get higher!" I was about to protest when he said, "To the library!" The library was not far away, so I gave in, and followed them through the water, which had now risen swiftly up to my waist.
I struggled to keep up, but with my bag, umbrella, and the water dripping off my body, it was a difficult task. Finally, I stuck my wrecked umbrella into a nearby trash bin, lightening my load.
Through the sheets of rain, I could see the vague silhouette of the Manhattan Public Library. Mentally sighing with relief, I trailed behind the group, squeezing between two rusted out taxicabs. Suddenly, a searing white-hot pain shot up my leg, and I cried out, jerking my leg away.
"The door's jammed!" a voice behind me screamed.
I twisted my head around to look, but rainwater hanging onto her eyelashes made it hard to see. I gritted my teeth, and dragged myself toward the screaming. Swiping at my eyes, I saw a girl no older then ten pressed up against the window of an almost completely submerged taxicab, screaming, sobbing hysterically. Her mother was behind her, doing the same.
I could hear him screaming at them to be calm, but it was almost impossible to make out his exact words. I knew for sure that the mother and daughter did not speak English, and from what I could make out, they were speaking French.
I remembered that I took French for four years in grade school, and I knew the basics, so pulling myself over to the panicked officer, I hoped I could help him.
"What's the problem?" I shouted, glancing over at the cab with its passengers in peril. "They're speaking some different language!" "It sounds like French." I said, and leaned in. "Parlez-vous français?" "oui" the woman shouted back, pulling the girl; away from the glass.
"You speak French well?" I nodded, and leaned in toward the window. "Just tell them to calm down." I did as I was told. "Calme vers le bas." I could tell the man was impressed when, like magic, the woman pulled her daughter away from the window, and looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes.
"Tell them to cover their eyes!" The officer brandished his nightstick as I leaned in again. "Couvrez vos yeux!" "Ok, fin votre miel d'yeux." OK, close your eyes honey, I heard the mother say to her daughter. Raising the nightstick, the officer brought it down atop the rear window, shattering the glass.
"Can you grab the girl?" the officer asked. I nodded, as the mother lifted her child through the busted window. I tried to be cheerful. "Quel est votre nom?" What's your name? I asked in French. "Jacqlene." The girl whispered, clinging to me tightly.
Three minutes later, the officer carried the child through the water, through the traffic, the mother and I in tow. Suddenly, the mother spun around, pointing at the cab, screaming wildly, "Mon sac! Mon sac! Nos passeports notre intérieur!" My bag! My bag! Our passports are inside! I nodded, trying to calm her.
"What's the problem?" the officer asked. "She left her bag in the cab. Their passports." I said, and then speaking in French, I told the woman I'd go get her bag. "J'obtiendrai votre sac." "Tell her to forget about it!" the officer shouted. "I'll get it for her!" I yelled, as the man continued toward the library.
Wading through the icy water, I hoisted myself up onto the trunk of the cab. Flopping onto my stomach, my hand groped blindly for any sign of the purse. In the distance, I could hear a low rumbling, and some little part of me noticed that the noise around me escalated. But all I had on my mind was retrieving the purse.
My fingertips brushed leather. Stretching my arm to its fullest extent, I carefully curled my pinky finger around the strap, and pulled. Drawing the purse through the window, something clamped down on my arm.
Shifting myself onto my knees, I looked down. "Laura!" I saw Sam splashing through the water, finally grabbing my arm, tugging me toward him. "What's wrong?" I questioned, clutching the purse tightly in my gloved hand.
"Laura!" he shouted again, pointing at something behind me. Twisting my head around, I saw it, climbing up Fifth, marching past Lord & Taylor's and the only thought that managed to penetrate my frozen brain was "run!"
"Come! Come on! GO!" I heard Sam scream, and I couldn't move until he hauled me off the trunk of the cab, and then I was running, Sam behind me, the safety of the library ahead of me. Through my fear I couldn't help thinking that Sam must have an ounce of feeling towards me, or else he would have just stood rooted to safety, watching the water take me.
I glanced back, the wave gaining strength and speed, Sam doing the same. Then all at once, he was right beside me, holding my hand, urging me on, up the slippery stone steps of the Manhattan Public Library.
Once, he slipped, but I grabbed him by the arm, looking back in horror, as the wave was not but one block away, but then we were racing for the revolving door, as the wave swept up the steps after us. Sam shoved me forward. Stumbling, I fell into the door, and was ejected out the other side, Brian and J.D. catching me in their arms.
Sam staggered out backwards, and I grabbed him, just as the wave struck the building with a powerful impact. Then, Brian and J.D. beside me, Sam behind, we rushed up the stone staircase, the water breaking through the stained glass windows, while a taxicab muscled its way through the doors, propelled by the murky death.
AuthorsNote: This was my favorite scene in the film, so therefor, this was my favorite chapter to write about. Please R&R when you're done!