Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 There was no time to think. "Get to the car!" Ojisan shouted. Mom picked up Harry and they all sprinted to the car and jumped in. Mom pulled Harry onto her lap in the front; Ben threw himself into the back. Ojisan had the engine running even before Ben had closed his door. The car screeched out of the driveway. Why was Ojisan panicking? Why was everyone running? They weren't very close to the ocean — it was at least a five-minute walk. Ben had never heard of a wave traveling so far inland.

Probably Ojisan just didn't want to take any chances. The road had been split apart by the earthquake. Ojisan had to swerve around the cracks. Ben flew from side to side in the backseat until he managed to put on his seat belt. "What's happening?" Harry cried, hugging Nya so tight Ben worried the cat's head would pop off. "We're just moving away from the ocean," Mom said in her usual calm voice. There was a strange noise. It rose up suddenly, a roar louder even than the earthquake. This time it seemed as if jets were landing right behind them. Ben turned, and what he saw almost stopped his heart: A frothing wall of water, rushing up the street. And it wasn't just water. The wave carried parts of houses, a smashed car, an entire pine tree, slabs of wood and metal. It was devouring everything in

its path. Two men were running on the sidewalk. Ben gasped as the wave swallowed them whole. And now the wave was coming for them. Ojisan stomped on the gas pedal. The engine whined, and the car zoomed forward. Mom reached back and grabbed Ben's hand, squeezing it tight. Their eyes locked. At first Ben couldn't read the expression on Mom's face, because he'd never seen it before, not even in the days after Dad's accident. Mom was scared. And suddenly there was water all around them, foaming black water, rising up in angry waves. The car spun wildly as the waves rushed up around the tires. Time seemed to stop. The car tipped sharply in the rising water. Ben was held tight by his seat belt. Mom and Harry toppled onto Ojisan, and they all crashed together into his door.

The door popped open. Ojisan fell out of the car. "Ojisan!" Ben screamed. And now Mom and Harry were about to fall out, too! The car door was swung wide open, and Mom and Harry teetered in the doorway. Mom clung to the steering wheel with one hand, and kept her other arm around Harry, who gripped Nya. Ben jumped forward to grab Mom, but his seat belt choked him back. "Mom!" Ben shouted. "Hold on!" "I'm trying!" Mom said. Ben struggled with his seat belt, and finally got it open. But before he could grab hold of Mom, the car tipped all the way to the side, almost all the way over. Mom, Harry, and Nya tumbled out. Ben watched in horror as the water swept them away. Ben tried to climb over the seats, to dive out after them.

But the water was higher now, thrashing the car back and forth. The door slammed shut. Waves crashed over the roof of the car. Freezing water gushed in, surrounding Ben. In seconds, it was up to his chest. Ben tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. The water was at his chin now. And there was no way out.