Hailey felt stupid for running away from the manor that morning. But she couldn't allow herself to get close to anyone else again. She had drawn close to her father but he died. So did Jason. Alfred and Tim both left without looking back. The only one left was her dad and she'd almost lost him too. Richard had his own life and she couldn't count on him when there was no one else around. She only had herself to rely on, no one else. Not even her dad. She had proven she could take care of herself. That was why she'd gone straight to the community center that morning instead of Mrs. Saurez's house. She only went to the older woman to seek comfort. Hailey didn't need that at the moment. She needed to be on her own.
Hailey was warming up on the mats when the shock came. It hurled her across the floor towards the opposite wall. She sprung up and held firmly to the wall barres to stay on her feet. The walls were crumbling in some spaces. The floor was splitting and shifting. The shock became stronger every second; rumbles, crackling noises, and falling objects scared her and the others in the community center. There was a group huddled together underneath the craft table in the next room. Hailey could see them through a hole in the wall.
Hailey made her way to the doorway by holding on to the barres. Her heart was racing and her eyes were filled with tears. She had never been so scared. But she knew, instinctively, that she needed to get out of the building. The others did as well. When she reached the door of the gym, it refused to open. The earthquake had wedged it in the door-frame. There was someone pushing on the opposite side and she pulled with all her strength. A crack in the ceiling spread to the frame and the door sprang open. Ethan, the outreach manager, grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. If he spoke, Hailey couldn't hear it. They braced themselves in the doorway, clinging to the casing.
The tremors grew constantly worse. The noise was deafening. Broken glass and falling plaster, shelves filled with books and craft items were overturned, the piano was hurled across the main room, the building groaned and strained with the pressure; everything together made a roar that no single noise could be distinguished.
Everyone was frequently shaken. Hailey lost her grip from the door at some point. Ethan rolled towards the wall and struggled on his hands and feet. Hailey jumped across the space to help him up. They managed to stay on their feet through mutual help and effort. The floor moved like short, choppy waves of the sea and crisscrossed by a tide just as mighty. Hailey didn't think they would ever make it out of the building. Every step forward was followed by a few steps back. The others started to follow them hoping to make it outside and wishing the tremors would stop.
Then it was over and they had all made it to the street. The street was packed with people that all had the same look on their faces. Shock. Fear. Some tear-streaked. Everyone was covered in a film of dust.
Everything seemed to stand at an angle; buildings and light poles alike. Chimneys laid on roofs or where crumbled on the street. Bricks and broken glass were everywhere. The asphalt and sidewalks were pulled apart in some sections. Car alarms were blaring. Fire hydrants had turned to geysers.
People began to help the fallen and injured as they made their way en masse to the nearest hospitals and clinics. Two blocks over everyone stopped walking. The street was elevated by several feet. A broken water-main was flooding the area making it hard to get across. They had to figure out a way to either get across or find a way around. Someone down the street called out. Everyone moved together and made sure no one was falling behind.
The hospital was in bad shape. Its stone facing had nearly fallen away and the tiles were twisted and broken. The roof was exposed to view and the arch over the entrance was ready to fall. A paramedic had just been uncovered from a heap of debris. The attendants were making frantic efforts to get the ambulance out from under the fallen patio cover.
The injured were gathered together as others who'd arrived helped to get the hospital entryway cleared of debris. Willing hands lifted and hauled it out of the way. After a half-hour, the nurses and doctors that were available came out to help the injured. There was no point in going inside. The inside looked worse than the outside.
Spirals of smoke began to ascend from various places throughout the city. The gas, water, and power were out. A group of people built a fire in the middle of the street where everyone was gathered. Any available food and water were given to the injured first.
As Hailey looked around, she realized that she was utterly alone. She had been separated from anyone who'd been at the community center. She had been herded over by the fire and sat beside the other kids and the elderly. She didn't know how much time had gone by since the earthquake. Then from the corner of her eye, she saw someone running towards the hospital. When she looked over she recognized him.
"Dick!" Hailey shouted and stood up. It was as if she was being ripped from a nightmare. Her brother was there. She wasn't alone.
"Hailey!" Dick said and rushed over to her.
Hailey ran to him, tripping over debris and frantically weaving through the people until she was wrapped in Dick's arms and being lifted off her feet.
"Hailey, oh my god. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to find you," Dick said and held her tighter.
"I'm sorry," Hailey said into his shoulder. Tears started to stream down her face. "I'm so sorry."
"Shh," Dick said and rubbed a hand on her back. "It's okay. It's okay now. I got you."
It was then that an aftershock hit. Everyone screamed. Hailey hung on tighter.
"It's just an aftershock," Dick said as he spun them around. He was looking around the area making sure everyone was okay. The ground settled and more debris fell making crashing noises all around them. "It's going to be okay. Did you get hurt?"
"No," Hailey said in a small voice. Any scratches she'd gotten had already been tended to. She looked up at him and wiped her eyes. "How did you find me?"
"Bruce told me about the community center. I looked there first and looked around the area until I found you," Dick said and brushed her hair back. "I'm sorry it took me so long."
"It's not your fault," Hailey said. Because it wasn't. It was hers. She'd run off on her own without permission. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Dick reassured her and set her down. "I have to talk to the doctor in charge. Is that okay?"
Hailey nodded and Dick smiled at her. He bent down to kiss the top of her head. After wiping the tears from her cheeks, he stood and took her hand in his. Dick looked around and started to walk towards the hospital. He went up to one of the doctors but kept a hand on her shoulder. "Hello, I'm Officer Richard Grayson. The GCPD is going to start evacuating the city soon. I need to take those who are able to walk with me to a pickup zone. They'll send a chopper to evacuate the critically injured. After that, your staff and any volunteers will be taken to safety."
Hailey looked up at Dick while he was speaking and didn't pay much attention to the doctor. She wasn't sure what it was she was feeling. Guilt. Protected. Relieved. After the two stopped talking to one another, the doctor shook Dick's hand and he turned to the crowd to give them instructions. As Dick moved, he held onto Hailey's hand tightly. She realized that there was urgency in his voice and movements as he spoke to the others. Hailey kept up pace with him. She felt safe with him and so did everyone that was following. As they made their way to safety, Dick talked to more people until there was a large exodus following them out of the city.
By the time they made it to the edge of the city, it was twilight. The immense fires started by the earthquake made a ruddy glow that made it easy to see everything, The wail of a baby rung out through the tramp of feet and noise of heavy-duty trucks that were coming and going. It was clear that the entire city had been affected by the earthquake. People were being escorted to nearby buses but Dick and Hailey didn't get in them. Instead, they got in a patrol car that read BCPD after the commissioner thanked Dick for his help.
Less than an hour later, they were pulling up to an apartment building in Blüdhaven. They had called Bruce on the way over to his place. Hailey apologized and told her dad she was fine. She was still in shock about the day's events. Bruce reassured her that everything was going to be okay and promised to be there the next day. Dick settled Hailey on the bed after she ate. She fell asleep within minutes.
An hour later she woke up screaming when a tremor woke her. Dick was beside her and held her until it was over. It had been strong enough to rattle the windows and set the car alarms in the neighborhood blaring. Dick turned on the TV and found out that another quake had hit Gotham. It had been stronger than the first and more devastating. A state of emergency had gone into effect. Dick managed to get Hailey back to sleep. Though she only slept tucked at his side on the sofa.
By morning, Bruce had arrived and was watching the news with Dick and Hailey. The president was announcing Gotham as No Man's Land. The remaining survivors had twenty-four hours to evacuate or they would be left to their own devices. Bruce made a few phone calls while Dick and Hailey prepared breakfast. Bruce knew he had to step in to help the city. He couldn't turn his back to it. He knew that it could be rebuilt. He spoke to Dick and Hailey and told them that he had a plan to help but that in order to effectuate it he had to leave town. Hailey understood what he was asking and so did Dick. He told Bruce not to worry that he would look after Hailey. In turn, Hailey gave him a big hug and told him to come back soon. Lucious showed up in the afternoon with some paperwork that he handed to Dick and left with Bruce. They would be going to Capitol Hill where they would meet up with Superman to talk to the senate.
In the days that followed, Dick and Hailey helped volunteer at the shelter where the people who'd evacuated Gotham were staying until the city found them homes. Dick was able to help place five families with small children in the vacant apartments located in his building.
It was at bedtime that Hailey struggled the most. She wouldn't go to bed and didn't fall asleep unless Dick was with her. It was then that Dick decided to get Hailey some help that he couldn't provide. He spoke to the department's therapist who recommended someone for his sister.
Dick went back to work a week after the quake had hit but left Hailey in the care of his superintendent, Bridget Clancy, who offered to babysit her. Hailey didn't mind even though she knew she didn't need a babysitter. She spent most of her day checking up on the other kids in the building who like her were forced to leave their homes while Bridget worked on repairs. The building had taken on a lot of damage and Bridget had her work cut out for her. So much so that she received a notice from the city that the building and the neighboring ones had been condemned due to the damage. When she told Dick about the notice he told her not to worry about it that he would take care of it.
Bridget didn't understand what Dick meant until the city sent another notice saying that the building's owner had been changed to from LaGrange to Halley Enterprises. When Bridget told Dick, he told her not to worry and that she didn't have to worry about her job either. When a contractor stopped by with a representative of the company to make the repairs necessary to make the building structurally secure, Bridget also received her new employee contract. She was so happy with her pay raise, she took Hailey out shopping so that she was ready to go back to school.
Hailey had to make up her last month of seventh grade along with everyone else who wasn't able to finish school due to the earthquake. The city arranged for them to finish their school year when the Blüdhaven school districts let out for the summer. Hailey wasn't looking forward to it. It was like starting a new school all over again. Because the majority of her classmates probably hadn't stayed in Blüdhaven like she had. Most of them either had family out of state or their families had other properties outside of Bristol. She wasn't going to have much of a summer but at the very least while she was living with Dick, for the first time that she could remember, she wasn't alone.
