A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 175

Cassandra was the person Dylon least expected to see here. The situation had been so dangerous, with aftershocks seizing the location every other minute. It boggled him how Cassandra managed to drive up here despite the risk.

"I can't go back now. I need to find Maggie's uncle and his family!"

Cassandra said stubbornly.

Dylon looked at Maggie whose eyes were red and swollen. Her hand was being held by Cassandra tightly. He frowned slightly before answering, "Park the car at the town hall nearby and get on the ambulance with us!"

Dylon pointed at the vehicle he just got out of.

Cassandra smiled at him, grateful with his offer.

"Thank you so much, Dylon!" she exclaimed as she hurried over to the car and drove towards the town hall.

Once she was done, she and Maggie ran to the ambulance and rode with Dylon on the way to A City. Everything was in ruins. The roads were all destroyed, and buildings kept crumbling apart.

"My team was dispatched to the site near the home of Maggie's uncle. You two can come with us. But you must follow me closely,"

Dylon explained to Cassandra and Maggie. They had started to formulate a plan just to ensure all their safeties.

Maggie's uncle lived near the school, where he and his wife worked as teachers.

The house was crumbling and bound to fall any time soon. It was just a good thing that her uncle and his family weren't there. However, some necessities in the house were gone.

Cassandra noted that the towels and quilt were gone. "Your uncle must've come back to take them out somewhere else. Don't worry, Maggie. They probably went to an emergency shelter nearby,"

Cassandra reassured. Maggie's face softened upon hearing her manager's words.

"Thank you, Manager Qin. I'll go and search around in a bit. I saw some tents by the playground when we passed,"

Maggie said excitedly, trying to look for a few supplies before heading out herself. Cassandra followed suit.

The playground was crowded with people. Maggie searched around several times but failed to see her uncle and his family.

Cassandra, however, was determined to find him. She took Maggie to the broadcast station and asked the broadcaster to page Maggie's uncle for them over the loudspeaker.

It only took a few minutes until a middle-aged man peered out of one of the tents. Maggie immediately recognized him and ran towards the tent. The man smiled as she rushed over to him.

"Maggie! What are you doing here?"

The man's eyes were watering from happiness. He never would have expected for Maggie to appear in A City.

"Uncle!"

Maggie immediately ran into her uncle's arms and wailed. She was so happy to see him!

Cassandra stood aside and felt a lump in her throat. It was so precious to see this family reunion. She revelled in the comforting feeling of bringing the family together, trying to dispel the ache in her heart because she knew that this would never happen to her.

Neither her father, Vernon, nor her mother, Edith, was the type to hug her that way.

Maggie's voice rang her out of her thoughts. "Uncle, this is Manager Qin. She came with me all the way to A City to search for you!"

Maggie beamed at Cassandra gleefully.

Maggie's uncle was a stout old man who had a kind face and a gentle stature. He wore a pair of glasses to frame his face, which shifted downwards as he looked at Cassandra, holding his hand out to her. Cassandra immediately accepted it and shook hands with him.

"Manager Qin, thank you for going out of your way to bring Maggie here. Your journey must have been so dangerous. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!"

Maggie's uncle was well aware that it wasn't an easy task to accompany someone to such a dangerous place. It also was a rare sight to see a manager going at such great lengths for her subordinate.

In truth, Maggie's uncle had been just as worried about Maggie's well-being, especially when he lost contact with her. At least he could rest easy now, since they were all together.

"Uncle, has my dear cousin brother contacted you yet?"

Maggie asked, curious about whether her cousin brother had contacted his father to check about his safety.

"Hm? Who? I have no son like him!"

Maggie's uncle suddenly cursed in a cold and angry tone. The mere mention of his son's name made him immediately feel unpleasant.

Maggie bit her lower lip and held her tongue back. She didn't want to spoil such a good reunion.

"Come on, let's go. Your aunt and cousin sister are not far from here. I'm sure you'd want to see them, don't you?"

Maggie's uncle quickly took her arm and tugged at it. However, he stopped and turned to Cassandra, nearly forgetting her presence.

"Manager Qin, there's quite a shortage of food and water here at the evacuation center. We do have enough food with us, however. Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Maggie's uncle asked sincerely. However, Cassandra immediately shook her head and declined the offer.

"No, I do not wish to intrude on such a nice family reunion. Please, I insist. Maggie, just go and spend time with your family. I'll go to see if Dylon needs anything, or see if there's a search and rescue team that I can volunteer with."

Cassandra glanced over to the rescue teams not far away from them, who were strategically planning their entry into one of the abandoned buildings. Maggie smiled and thanked her once again, before turning to leave with her uncle.

Cassandra then headed to look for Dylon, who she found waiting in front of a ruined building.

The entire place was in shambles. What was once a tall building had been reduced to two floors. The first floor had sunken so far below that it caved into a basement. Cassandra noted that because of the storm and earthquake, the area was covered in a sludge of dirt and mud. It seemed that there was going to be a sinkhole sometime soon.

The glass windows were shattered everywhere. The scaffolding seemed to still be intact but only barely, which was why the search and rescue teams were under crucial time pressure.

The rescue team was using the thermal imaging to find missing persons underground. They were extremely focused and diligent with their work; a complete opposite from the frowns and worried expressions on their faces.

"Dylon, what's wrong? Are there people still trapped inside?"

Cassandra asked Dylon as she approached. He was worrying a pen in between his teeth.

"Yes. At first we thought that everyone was evacuated. It wasn't as crowded as the other areas since this was a pretty old building and there were only a few business centers inside. However one of the evacuees warned us that the building's security team was still trapped inside. We're trying to find a way to get to them now,"

Dylon explained ruefully. There was pain in his eyes, and it tugged at Cassandra's heart to see such an expression. The rescue teams hadn't rested since they arrived, because they were all too busy trying to rescue the others who were trapped.

Dylon stationed himself outside of the ruined building, so that if the rescue team managed to retrieve people, he would be able to immediately administer first-aid treatment.

"That means they've been stuck for a day already? The aftershocks happened yesterday!"

Cassandra exclaimed, growing anxious over the lives at stake. The rescue team was just about ready to go inside; and Dylon and Cassandra patiently waited by the sidelines.

"Yes. No one knows what's it like inside the building now. We're not even sure if the building's stable enough to do a rescue operation. But it's a risk we have to take. We can't just let the people die down there,"

Dylon shook his head and sighed. He was silently praying for everyone's safety.

"But wait, what if there'll be another collapse? It's so risky to bring them down there, it might hurt more people!"

Cassandra worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I know that. And everyone is aware of that as well. That's why we're all nervous. It's such a risky operation but there's not much else we can do."

Dylon stood there, looking at the remains of the building and frowned with his arms crossed against his chest.

Cassandra raised her head and looked at the ruins as well. There was something about the structure that seemed all too familiar.

Suddenly, it hit her.

"Dylon, I think I know the building!"

Cassandra gripped Dylon's arm and declared happily. There was delight in her voice and her eyes sparkled with elation.

"You know the building? How?"

Dylon was puzzled.

"I've studied the building in class. It's a structure built well over a hundred years ago in A City. A world-famous architect designed it! He designed it to make the main structure withstand the strongest possible earthquakes. If you look closely, the main frame of the building is still fixed!"

Cassandra pointed at the metal rods that protruded out of the building. Her face was flushed with excitement.

"So, you know how it's designed?"

Dylon asked, slowly catching up with Cassandra's gleeful insights. His hopes seemed to grow higher upon hearing her confident explanation.

"Yes! Yes I do! I was still studying in Rome then. My professor used it as an example during one of his lectures. His grandfather designed it himself!"

Cassandra clapped her hands and shoved Dylon away from sheer zest as she revelled in her memories.

"Could you go talk to the team! Let me go with them. I can lead them to the security office safely,"

Cassandra said, not really waiting for Dylon's response as she started to walk towards the men. Dylon, however, caught her wrist with his hand and tugged at her hand to make her stay.

"No. You are not going inside. It's too dangerous!"

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him, bewildered. She was their best chance to get in and out safely, and Dylon didn't want to risk it.

"Time is of the essence, Dylon! The longer we wait out here, the more dangerous it'll be inside. I need to go with them! I swear I know this building. It will not collapse. I trust the architect and the construction quality!"

Cassandra asserted. She was confident enough that she could make or break the mission, but it was the quickest way to get the rescue team to the trapped security personnel at the quickest time possible.

"No. I can't risk that. I'll call the rescuers instead and just so you can explain the building layout to them. I cannot authorize you to go in there,"

Dylon sent a doctor nearby to call some of the rescuers. Two of the rescuers quickly ran towards Cassandra and Dylon.

"You don't understand. It's a complex building that is difficult to maneuver and explain. Just let me go inside! The situation may be more complex because of the tremendous shock. They wouldn't know it. Like I said, the longer we stay out here arguing about this, the more dangerous it'll become, Dylon!"

Cassandra was slowly getting angrier as Dylon kept turning her down. He looked at her once, and back at the building. When he was being hesitant, he and Cassandra heard a man's voice.

"I will go with her!"