The rescue team reached the old school.
The building was damaged, its windows shattered, and the playground covered in mud and water.
The rescuers entered carefully and began searching the rooms.
They found no one on the ground floor.
On the first floor, they discovered a group of people sheltering inside a large room.
There were children, women, and an injured man.
But Sophia wasn’t among them.
Daniel approached one of the teachers.
“Have you seen a twelve-year-old girl wearing a blue jacket?”
The teacher thought for a moment.
“Yes. I remember her. She was with a group of children near the storage room, but I haven’t seen her since part of the hallway collapsed.”
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
“Where’s the storage room?”
The teacher pointed toward the end of the hallway.
Daniel and a firefighter moved in that direction.
Chunks of drywall and broken wood blocked part of the passage.
They called out:
“Sophia! Can you hear us?”
There was no answer.
They called again.
Then they heard a faint voice.
“I’m here!”
Daniel stopped.
“Sophia, don’t move! We’re coming to get you!”
The rescuers began carefully removing the debris.
Minutes passed, each one feeling longer than the last.
Finally, they opened a narrow passage.
Sophia was sitting inside a small room. Her leg was injured, but she was conscious.
Daniel approached her.
“Hey, Sophia. My name is Daniel. We’re going to get you out of here.”
She looked at him with terrified eyes.
“Did you find my sister?”
Daniel smiled.
“Yes. Emma is safe. She’s waiting for you.”
Sophia covered her face with her hands and began to cry.
She wasn’t crying because of the pain.
She was crying because she had finally heard the one thing she needed more than anything else.
The rescue team carefully carried her out.
When she reached the ambulance, she asked to speak to her sister.
Daniel handed her a phone.
“Sophia?”
“Emma!”
Neither girl could finish a sentence.
They were crying and laughing at the same time.
At the shelter, their father stood near the entrance, listening to their voices through the phone.
When the call ended, he sat on the floor and buried his face in his hands.
For the first time since the disaster began, he no longer had to imagine the worst.
His daughters had found their way back to each other.
Chapter Thirteen: The Truth That Emerged After the Storm
HE HAD ONE NIGHT TO SAVE EVERYONE HE LOVED… 💔
