Raven's Flight

Chapter 4: Part 2 - Ava

"Are you ready, Ava?" My uncle draws my attention away from the television where a view of the beach is shown.

I chew on the ends of my fingernails. "Yes?"

He's at eyelevel with one of the GI drones, typing something into a tablet. "It's supposed to hit in less than two minutes. I need your mind completely focused on helping me use these drones to search for anyone who doesn't make it to high enough ground."

"Right." I drop my hand from my mouth and pick up a tablet on the table from where he is. "I'm here." I need to get a hold of Lee. I have to make sure he's evacuating. My family. I still haven't heard from them. They could be stuck on the road, packed in by hundreds of cars in front and behind them, all with passengers attempting to make it to safety.

What if I lose almost every single person I care about in one day and that day is today?

"Ava!"

"Yes?"

Uncle Marcus leans over the table, his hands outstretched in my direction.

I look down, and in my hands are one of the drones, which is about to slip through my loose grip and crash to the bamboo flooring. I widen my eyes and shove the drone back onto the table. "Sorry."

"Focus, Ava. I need you to focus."

His eyes drift from my face to something behind my shoulder. I turn my head and see the TV screen displaying an underwater view that was not there minutes ago.

I inhale shakily. "It—"

"The tsunami is here."

My head nods rhythmically. "I. . . I need to make a phone call. Go ahead outside. I'll only be a minute." I dial Lee's number and hold my phone to my ear.

Uncle Marcus has a look of total understanding and zero judgment in his eyes. "Hurry."

"I will."

He picks up one of the drones and carries it out of the room. We're taking all of the GI ones (should you say we're taking all the Ravens?) outside for their ability to locate body heat without having to be piloted as well as being able to then rescue people. We've spent all our time since the tsunami warning went out preprograming them for this task.

"Ava?" Lee's voice asks.

"Please tell me you've evacuated. Please."

"You're going to kill me. . ."

My heart sinks. "Don't say that."

"Someone needed to stay behind."

I grip my phone. "Lee Wilkins, how could you?"

"We couldn't evacuate the animals on board in time. Someone has to make sure they're all right."

I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. "Get off that outpost and get somewhere not surrounded by water."

"Most of the world is."

"Lee," I plead.

"I'm sorry, Ava, but I trust this outpost."

"Do you really?"

He hesitates. "I trust it to make it through a storm." But not a tsunami.

"How many animals are on board?"

Uncle Marcus comes in and grabs another drone.

"One hundred and thirty-six of various sizes."

"And you're the only one who stayed?"

He replies in the affirmative.

I rub my forehead. He can't possibly handle this by himself. "Okay, get somewhere safe and after the tsunami has passed, use the drones to help you with the animals."

"How?"

"The drones can search for body heat."

"They're nowhere near me."

This is going horribly wrong.

"Ava," my uncle yells for me.

"The tsunami has already hit here. I need to find any survivors who are trapped. I'll program the drones for you. Stay safe." I end the call and pick up a tablet before running outside. I program the drones to search for body heat of any life forms that appear to be injured or trapped. The drones will then help them.

"There you are." Uncle Marcus monitors multiple tablets. "Two of the drones have already been able to get three to safety."

Somehow this is going to work. I have to keep telling myself that.

On the screen of my tablet, I study the various video feeds from the drones. One screen starts flashing red meaning it has locked onto a heat signal. The drone flies over the submerged streets of Ledder and stops over the roof of a building. I don't know what the building is. The drone cuts through a door and flies down a staircase, switching to night vision mode. The speakers on the drone pick up someone yelling for help. The drone enters a small room with filing cabinets and desks. The drone's propellers stir up water below it. The body scanner picks up a red blob from behind one of the cabinets that's turned on its side. Flying closer, it reveals a man trapped under the cabinet. He reaches out an arm for help.

I type commands into the tablet, and the drone braces itself against the cabinet as leverage, giving the man an opportunity to slip out.

Knowing the drone will get the man to safety, I turn my focus on another screen of a drone that is in the process of lifting a little boy to shelter.

At any moment now my family is going to pull into this driveway.

Any moment now.

On another screen, two drones work together to free a woman and a child from her car that water rushes inside of. They cut holes in the windows and pull the two out.

They'll be here. They're fine.

"Uncle Marcus, have you heard anything?"

"You've got to be more specific, Ava."

"My mom. My dad."

He stops tapping his fingers against his screen. "Just give it more time. Give them a little more time."