"Everyone will be fine!" Ed almost shouted. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Whispers of 'what?' and 'how?' spread throughout the group quickly. Then Roy stepped up.

"Edward and his brother, Alphonse, are going to try and make an exit through the old coal chute. Everyone, please exit this room calmly. Bring the most severely injured into the hallway first." Everyone did as they were told, and things went much more smoothly. The worst injury was that of a receptionist. She broke her arm while fleeing her office.

Roy, Ed, and Al led the way to the generator room. Once inside, Roy pointed at a small door near the back. He had to yell over the noise of the generators. They were still working, but they were sputtering severely. "Inside that door is the coal chute! It's about 30 feet long and comes out on the side of the building! It's made out of steel, so you should be able to handle it ok!"

Ed muttered to himself, "Bastard." He and Al walked to the small room. When they opened the door, they were instantly covered by a layer of coal dust. "Oh, great. Thanks for the warning, Colonel Dumbass."

The brothers stepped into the room and flipped on the light. A single, flickering bulb hung from a wire in the middle of the ceiling. On the opposite wall, a small, metal door was hanging half-open. Ed walked over to it. "This must be the chute. It's rusty, and kind of small. It's…" He hesitated.

"What, brother? Can you not do it?"Al sounded concerned, and began to walk over.

"No, Al." Al stopped. "It's… too small… for you to fit." Silence.

"It's fine, I'll figure out a way to get out. Let's just get everyone else out." At that moment, the whole building seemed to groan. "Let's hurry. It doesn't sound that stable."

Ed nodded. "Right. Here we go." He turned to the chute.

Clapping his hands together, he concentrated. Then he slammed his gloved hands into the chute. There was a blinding flash of blue light. Then, where the chute had been, a staircase appeared. It was bigger than the chute was, but it was at a very sharp angle and very dangerous. Al, however, would be able to fit.

Ed looked at his brother very seriously. "I wouldn't leave you behind, Al. You know that." Then he smiled and scratched his head.

Roy stepped in. "Good work, boys. Alright, everyone. Let's go!" He stepped out to let others in. The brothers helped everyone, one by one, to enter the chute. The first person up was Armstrong. He punched open the door at the top so everyone could get out. As he did, the building shook. "Double time, everyone! This is very unstable! We have to get out now!" Leiutenant Hughes, Ed, Al, Roy and Riza were last. By the time they got in the chute, it was collapsing. Ed was last.

"GO! I'll stabilize it!" He slammed his hands into the wall and concentrated on keeping them stable. When Al got out, he let go. Instantly, the walls started falling in again. Then he saw a cable and heard someone calling out to him.

"Grab it, Fullmetal! Hurry up!" It was Roy. He latched onto the cable, and instantly he was being yanked up the shaft. He was almost to the top when it collapsed on him. Luckily, it was only his leg. His left leg.

He dropped the cable and used alchemy to clear away the debris. When he stood up, he looked around the city.

Everywhere, there was nothing but destruction. Buildings were destroying, or collapsing. There were people wandering around, some screaming, others deathly silent.

"Dammit, why was there no warning? How could this happen, Mustang!" Ed grabbed Roy's sleeve. A click went off right by his head.

"Let go of the Colonel, Edward." It was Riza. With her gun pointed at her head. "Sir, what are we going to do?"

Roy thought for a moment. "Form search parties. Anyone with sufficient medical training will remain here. All others, break up into groups. Search the city, and bring the injured here. Fullmetal, you and your brother go with Hawkeye. Stay together, you hear me? That's an order!"

Everyone split up and headed out. Ed's group headed for the warehouse district. They turned up nothing fruitful, seeing as how everyone would have been home when it hit. While passing an alley, Ed paused. He thought he heard something. Shaking his head, he took a step. There it is again. I wonder if-

"Edward, are you coming?" Riza was staring at him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Coming." He walked up to them. Everyone turned and began walking again. He slipped back to the alley way.

The alley was very dark. The sun was hidden behind clouds, and the walls were high. It was a dead-end. "Not for long." He pressed him hands to it and a small hole appeared. Big enough to squeeze through, but small enough to not make enough noise for anyone to hear. He came up to a very large, old building. The sign was old and worn.

"Steel Manufacturing Inc. Hm. I wonder-" Then he heard it again. It was a voice.

"Mommy! Daddy, someone! Please help!" It was very faint, and it sounded like a young boy. He also heard crying. Great, two people. He agilely climbed over the broken-down barbed-wire fence and slipped into the broken-down building. It had been already collapsing before the tornado, and that just made it worse. The whole west face was falling, and the rest of the building could barely support it.

He made his way towards the noise. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm here to help you. Say something so I can find you." He walked through mazes of crates and steel materials and equipment. Steel poles with jagged edges lay everywhere. Sharp gears and rusty barbed wire littered the ground. "Oh, great. Good thing I've had my tetanus shot." He laughed at his own sarcasm. He kept calling out every few seconds.

Finally, he heard a reply. After the boxes, the wall had caved in. His current position would have been in the middle of the room, but the collapsed building made it impossible to go further. "Hello? Please help!"

"Where are you? Can you wave your hand or something?" Ed looked around, but saw only rubble. Then he saw something move. It was a little hand. "I see you, hold on!" He ran along the edge of the fallen wall until he came to a gaping hole in the floor. On the other side, buried under rubble, he saw them.

There were 2 little children, a boy of about 5 and a girl of about 2. They were safe because the rubble had fallen in such a way that it was both trapping and protecting them. "Stand back, kids!" He concentrated, and touched part of a beam that was protruding across the gap from their shelter. The pile of scraps on top of them changed shape and became more of a shelter. It looked like a shed without one wall.

Ed easily leapt across the gap. "Who- who are you? How did you do that?" The kids were staring at Ed in wonder. He managed a small smile.

"I'll tell you later. Ok, the way out of here is to follow this fallen wall here, then the other wall over there." He pointed while he explained. Crap, should have made a bridge. At that moment, the building started to groan. The ceiling was buckling and dust was sifting down from the rafters. Shit, no time!

He picked up the boy and threw him across the gap. Then the floor under him shifted. The little girl lost her balance and almost fell into the basement through a gaping hole. Ed leapt and caught her hand, which caused the floor to shift more. He threw her across and was about to jump when a steel beam fell on his left leg, pinning it.

"Run, now! Run, go go!" The children ran as fast as they could, looks of terror on their faces.

With a great heave, Ed pushed the steel beam away. However, his escape efforts were futile. He leapt across the crack, but everything was collapsing. The floor gave way, and he fell through, with tons and tons of steel and wood and cement following. His last thought was, I hope the kids are ok.