"Hey Revaan, ordinary as always, with a plain face and basic clothes. You attended a party for affluent people, bro. Moreover, you are Nathan's best buddy, right? Get a few branded outfits, at minimum."
Eric, an idiot in our class who believes he is superior to everyone else. He never passes up the opportunity to show that he is wealthier than everyone else.
Nathan and Leah defended me when Eric made remarks about my appearance and attire.
"At least, he never faked himself like you."
"And also he didn't need to wear some kind of branded clothes to prove our friendship." Nathan responded with a smile.
Hearing such comments, Eric was unable to respond and returned with an annoyed expression.
"Thanks guys."
Leah questioned me while pulling a grumpy look. "Why do you never respond to him on your own when he says stuff like that?"
"Ahh! I have never thought that responding to him was essential."
"OK! OK! Let go of all that and embrace the celebration now."
Everyone at the party, including me, simultaneously gets a warning message on their phones. And as everyone checks their phones.....
"What? An earthquake at such a time?"
While everyone was checking their phones, the ground began to shake. It appears that the earthquake has already begun.
"Wooo!" The pressure was quite intense. However, it lasted for only five seconds.
"It appears that the earthquake has passed. Honestly, it was not that big of one. Hahaha!" Someone said in a relieved tone.
Once more, everyone's phone simultaneously displays a warning about a new earthquake.
"Again?"
The earth began to tremble once again. The pressure was considerably higher this time than it was the last. A bronze statue that was in the party room toppled down and started to slide across the floor. Two further marble statues broke apart after falling to the ground. The lights began to turn on and off, eventually becoming permanently off. In an attempt to defend themselves, several people retreat beneath the party tables out of terror. Everyone started shouting. A few began to bolt from place to place in terror. And their fear is obvious looking at the situation. But this time, in my opinion, it was more than just an earthquake. Even after more than 30 seconds, the shaking did not even slowe down. Gradually, even the walls started to crack.
"Now what?"
A Cyclone? Can't believe God brought two disasters on the same day.
After a minute and a few seconds, the earthquake steadily decreased in intensity and eventually came to an end.
"Hff! The earthquake seemed to have ended. I just hope that there is not another one."
All of a sudden, everyone heard cries coming from outside. One person discovered that there was a massive cyclone on the island when he went to open the window to see what was happening outside. The color of the sky likewise changed to a reddish-blue hue. It appears like a demon has entered the island, however this is not true.
An elderly guy began shouting, "Oh My God! My entire family was in danger. How on earth were they going to survive in that kind of disaster? I had to return right away to my family."
"Sir, you must stay in this place for the time being, or you will die. Right now, this place is the safest." Everyone began to soothe the man.
Outside, the cyclone began to wreck everything. People outside were shouting and running for their lives. Everything has been devastated, including trees, houses, buildings, and roads.
We heard loud, cracking noises out of the blue, and before we knew it, a section of the party room's roof collapsed on top of a few individuals.
"Ahhhh! Someone help us."
All of us attempted to help them, but all of a sudden, a powerful lightning strike struck Norris's Mansion, causing half of it to gradually collapse. Within the mansion, some areas were even on fire. Everyone began to flee out of the mansion. There was complete mayhem everywhere.
"It is unbelievable that my birthday coincides with all of this." Nathan was filled with grief, despair, and dread.
"Bro, right now, we need to get through this crisis and stay alive. If we can somehow get ourselves out of this mess, we will be able to celebrate your birthday even more extravagantly next year."
Everyone was being assisted in leaving the Mansion by Uncle Matthew and his staff members. Leah, Nathan, and I approached Uncle Matthew and asked whether we could assist him in any way. He informed us that Norris's west office building had an underground tunnel in the basement. Because the entire tunnel was encased with steel, it may be considered a safe area for everyone. He gave us instructions to lead every person to the tunnel and to save our own lives as well.
We immediately began escorting each person to the tunnel. Numerous rescue squads also showed up and got to work saving everyone who was in danger. However, the circumstances outside were dire. There were cracks in the roadways, houses and other buildings were on fire, and there were unexpected, strong lightning strikes everywhere. On top of everything else, there was also the cyclone. However, as soon as we and the rescue teams alerted and guided them, everyone on the island began to flee towards the tunnel.
After a few moments, Dad phoned me.
"Where are you, Revaan?"
"Nathan, Leah and I are on our way to the tunnel. But, where are you?"
"I am going to the tunnel with the rescue crew as well. I regret to inform you that our house is partially damaged, and our shop was completely destroyed by lightning strikes."
"Don't worry Dad! Our current priority is to save ourselves."
The majority of people had arrived at the tunnel. The tunnel is large enough to accommodate at least 500 passengers. Since there are at least 800 people living on the island, not everyone can be saved. All we could do was hope that the remaining folks would survive; there was nothing more we could do.
A rescue squad car stopped up next to us as we were heading towards the tunnel.
"Hey kids, why have you not arrived in the tunnel yet? The situation here is deteriorating. Hurry up! Get in our car."
As they said, we got into the car and headed toward the tunnel. We soon arrived at Norris's west office. Everyone rushed into the tunnel out of dread. One of the rescue officers reported that the cyclone was approaching the Norris's west office.
"Hey Kids! Are you OK?" Uncle Matthew, Mrs. Bennett (Leah's Mother), and Dad approached us with a concerned face.
"Yeah! Don't worry Dad."
A member of the rescue team reported that as a woman and her two kids were escaping in the direction of the tunnel, the cyclone was also pursuing them and moving in this direction.
As soon as I heard anything like that, I stupidly took the riskiest conceivable move without even thinking twice.
"Huh! Hey Leah! Where's Revaan?"
"What? He is standing right hereeee!"
"Wait! He was standing here just a moment ago. How on earth did he disappear?"
Another crew member came over. "Sir, another issue came up. A boy took one of the rescue cars that was waiting outside without anyone knowing."
"What?"
"A boy? Don't tell me that was Revaan."
Together with Dad, Uncle Matthew, and a few other members of the rescue crew, Nathan and Leah ran outdoors. They discovered that I was the one who took the car, as they had suspected. However, I took that action in order to save the woman and her two children. Even though I was aware that I might fail, I could not stop myself.
I drove as fast as I could toward them. When I eventually got to them, I told them to get in the car right away. The cyclone was closing in on us fast. I sped back towards the tunnel. However, the cyclone was getting closer to us than it had been.
Meanwhile, Leah, Nathan, and Dad were also yelling at me; they were not being mean, but rather encouraging, saying things like "You can do it, Revaan! Fast-Fast."
I was almost at the tunnel. I was driving as fast as I could, thinking that if I slowed down a bit, we would be done. The distance to the tunnel was down to about 8 or 10 meters. But then....
A lightning bolt struck right beside our car. The car was blown away, rolling as the strike hit it.
During the accident, I was aware that I had been injured and would shortly die. However, I had not felt any pain. My mother, father, and friends' faces flashed across my thoughts in those dying minutes. I regretted not being able to say goodbye properly. I closed my eyes a moment too soon, convinced that I was going to die the following second.
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