"Baammm!!"
Seth closed the trapdoor with a thud. He hurried down the stairs following Ben who have gone down to the bunker.
For now, they are still safe as the house and garage are not blocking both of the lavas from Mauna Loa and Kilauea. All they got to worry about is the fire.
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"Seth, just now, we heard another loud sound. Was that the sound of another volcano has erupted?" Jane asked as she disinfects and cleans Seth's wounds.
"It might be. We are not sure yet. Don't worry too much honey. Even if it did erupt, help is on the way." Seth hugged his wife and said his words in a soft voice.
Lucy stares at her father and uncle. "Uncle Ben, what is it like out there? When can we go out of the bunker?"
"Yes, when can we come out?" Suzy looked at his uncle and dad eagerly. She is scared to stay in the bunker. It was small and smells funny.
"We might need to wait for another day or two until the fire in the forest died down. It is safer down here, I will go out again tomorrow and check the condition outside." Ben smiled at Suzy and smoothed out her hair.
Lucy stares at her Uncle's eyes and she can see the looks of hope flashes through them. Her uncle seems to be in a low spirit, but he still tried to be positive around them.
"Uncle, can you let me use the radio for a while? Who knows if we can contact the rescue team and call for help?" Lucy steps down from her bunker bed and walked to sit on a chair at the corner. There was a standard four-seaters dining table in the corner of the bunker that looks like a standard dining table from a Diner. Her mother has placed the radio on that table.
Without waiting for her Uncle to reply, Lucy started turning and clicking on the buttons of the radio.
"Mayday.. mayday.. is anyone out there? Mayday.. mayday... we need help." Lucy keeps on repeating the help call for every different channel that she changed.
For one whole hour, all Lucy heard was just another crackling or a buzzing sound from the radio speaker. She almost loses her patience and she shouted to the receiver, "Somebody please! come and help us for god's sake!"
Lucy cried and sobbed out loud. After about a couple of minutes, she calmed down and picked up the receiver again. "No, I will not give up. There must be a frequency that the rescuers use to contact with each other." Lucy inhales loudly and she pulled herself together.
Seth smiled at her daughter. He is proud of her positive thinking during a crisis. Only with a clear mind, then only you can make a correct judgment.
Jane cooked their dinner from a one-burner stove. From the food from Ben's house, coupled with the food from the bunker itself, they actually can survive for another week. Although most of the food in the bunker has expired, but they still can open up one or two cans in case of emergency.
Suzy was the one who founded the hidden compartment on the floor that was between the two bunk beds. Thanks to her tantrum for being thirsty, and her habit of slamming her feet on the floor. A layer of dust was uncovered, revealing a silver knob on the floor.
The silver collapsable knob was connected to a large board. Hidden inside the compartment, lays a carton of bottled water, some dried fruits, and ready to eat army food. There are also some cooking utensils and a one-burner stove.
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Two days have passed since the second explosions. Ben and Seth have been going out of the garage to refuel the generator and keeping a lookout. Ben's house was burnt down, and the forest was no longer burning.
It rained for the whole day yesterday. The fire must have been gone due to the heavy downpour. The sky was no longer red, but it was still hazy and the air was still highly toxic.
Ben sighed. There is no use to go out now and seek for help. The rainwater is highly acidic. Even if they can breathe with the help of a respirator, they will suffer a serious skin disease if they were to go out in the rain.
They still need to stay in the bunker.
Both of the brothers finally closes the garage door and locked them.
".... Mayday, mayday, mayday! Please identify yourself. I repeat, please identify yourself." Lucy was stunned to hear the voice. She pulled out the receiver's cord and let the voice sounded through the radio speaker.
"Mom! There is a response!!" Lucy jumped excitedly.
"Hello... This is Lucy, we are trapped inside an underground bunker. We need help!" Lucy replied hastily. She is not an army personnel nor knows how to make a proper distress call.
This was the first-ever response that she has heard for the past two days they were stuck inside the bunker.
"Lucy, my name is Ali, can you tell us where is the location of the bunker?" Ali was thrilled to know that there are still survivors in Hilo.
Ali and his teammate were supposed to arrive at Hilo 24 hours after the tsunami. They have to used boats as a means of transportation to get to Hilo as the road connecting Hilo and the nearest town was damaged by the quakes. Who knew that when the rescue team was still on the sea, Mauna Loa erupted. Her lava was very fluid-like and the timing of the hot lava enters the sea was so fast, that it only took a couple of hours after it has erupted.
The rescue team was forced to retreat and docked their boats somewhere in Honomu. They were shocked to see a volcano erupted. They were not informed that a volcano was about to erupt when they agreed on the rescue mission. Who knew that it was not only one volcanic eruption, but two volcanoes has erupted!
The team was not ready for this situation. There have never been two volcanoes to erupted simultaneously. Luckily the Honomu Fire Department has several gas masks that they can lend to the rescue team.
Their rescue mission was delayed again as they have to help to evacuate the people away from the disaster area. Most of them were affected by the toxic gas and ashes from the volcanoes.
It is no longer a simple rescue mission from tsunamis, but now it has become a major rescue mission that needs hundreds or maybe a thousand of manpower.