The corner of the building folded into itself and came down, pulling the rest of it with it.
Ed howled into the haze, “Cora!”
ChapterTwenty-One
An earthquake.One like he’d never felt before ravaged the city. Ed climbed over the large pile of rubble to the portion of the building that still remained upright. Cries echoed from beneath him. A hand shot up through a hole, and he grabbed it, pulling the person free. Then another and still another, but none were his love.
“Cora!” He yelled until his voice went hoarse. All his fears rushed in at once, but he refused to believe he’d lost her.
A man tugged on his shoulder, but Ed shoved him away. “No, I won’t give up. I won’t leave until I find her.”
“We won’t leave.”
Ed looked up to see the face of one of the men who’d worked the party at his house only a few days ago.
“We’ll help you look.” He turned and waved others over. “The fire-haired angel. She needs us.”
Several men, women, and children joined in his search. They passed rocks down, and Ed shimmied inside. Several people clawed at his arm, using him to find purchase to climb out.
Once they were free, he looked into the darkness below. He knew the structure could cave at any time, but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t live while another person he loved died.
He pulled and yanked and climbed and slid around rocks and pieces of broken furniture. His hands were bloodied, his back, legs, and arms screamed for a break.
“Ed,” a man’s voice called down to him.
“Ghost?”
He slid down in between two couches and landed at his friend’s side. “This must’ve been the parlor. We need to go up.”
Ed crawled between what appeared to be a bathtub and a suitcase. In the darkness, it was hard to see more than a few feet ahead.
Ghost placed a hand on his shoulder. “Rest. I’ll keep searchin’.”
“No, I won’t stop.”
“Let me do the heavy liftin’. It’ll go faster since you’re fatigued.”
Ed let Ghost move ahead of him. He shifted piles of indecipherable objects.
A child’s cry gave them direction. Ghost hurled objects out of his way until they spotted a little one in a corner, rocking and crying out for her mama.
“Take the child out,” he ordered Ghost before he moved past him to the next room. As he climbed higher, hope seeped in, knowing there was less to crush her from above, but when he reached the next floor, it was no better. Beds and other furniture had come through the ceiling, crushing people below. He imagined this was what the aftermath of war felt like.
“Cora!” he tried to scream, but it only came out a hoarse whisper, the dust choking his every inhale.
“Help!” A woman’s voice echoed from ahead, too strangled for him to know if it was Cora, but he had to help whoever waited to be saved.
He climbed over a mattress to the wall that was now a floor. On the other side of a bookcase, he spotted a woman trapped under a beam.
At the sight of her gray hair, his heart sank to his gut. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you.” His gaze traveled around the room to look for any other survivors but saw none.
The crumbled structure overhead groaned, as if warning it would give way at any moment. He reached the woman and lifted a piece of wall out of the way and then grabbed hold of the beam and looked down at her.
She opened her eyes, and he saw evergreen. He collapsed by her side and dusted the dirt from her face and hair. The red was only recognizable in a few places, but it was her. It was his Cora. “I’m here, darling. I’m here. You’re going to be fine. We’re going to be together today and always.” He kissed her cheek, her head, her bruised and swollen cheek.
“I knew you’d find me,” she whispered then coughed and coughed until she wheezed.
“Hold on. I’m going to get this off you.” Ed squatted over the beam and heaved, but it wouldn’t budge.
