Survivor: San Francisco

[Maria Zier 0]

Darkness, fear, distant explosions, trembling earth, and the whimpering of frightened children were among the things Dr. Maria Zier was currently experiencing. Deep within a bunker below Starfleet Medical, the woman sat with a dozen or so children and a couple nurses from the pediatrics ward. Meters above, was the remains of the once grand collection of buildings, along with the city of San Francisco.

 

It was minutes after Starfleet received word from the missing USS Agincourt that Earth was under attack, and it took even less time for a good portion of her greatest cities to become ruins. There wasn’t time to react. Not enough time for a proper evacuation. Starfleet Medical scrambled as best it could to get as many patients as possible into the underground shelters, but it was quite clear that not everyone was going to be saved.

 

The lights flickered and sparked sporadically as Maria looked to the frightened children. Most were huddled together in little balls as the cried, some for their parents. The nurses did their best to soothe and comfort the children, but every time they would begin to calm themselves a rumble or loud noise would spook them again. One of the little girls stayed near Maria, Cally was her name. She had been a regular patient to Zier, and always trusted her. “Everything will be alright,” said the doctor as she wiped a tear from the girl’s face.

 

It seemed like hours had past, possibly longer. The sounds and rumbling had stopped, unfortunately so had the lights. The children had calmed as best they could in this situation. They had all accepted that it was going to stay dark for a while. Maria however, was not so calm. Her husband Alex, and three children Julie, Aidan, and Lisa, were in the city today. She needed to know they were ok, but to do so they needed to get out of this bunker. Was anyone left to help them?

 

It seemed just as Maria asked herself the question there was a tap at the door. A gruff voice pierced the structure of the door. “Anyone alive in there?” called out the voice.

 

“Yes! We have children in here!” yelled Maria, loud enough for whoever was on the other side to hear. “The manual release to the door is jammed!”

 

“One moment…” replied the voice. It was unclear what was happening, but large clanging sounds began to erupt from the door. Moments later the door began to give, slowly sliding open. On the other side stood a large beast of a man, along with two other figures. A light from one of the men scanned through the room before rising to meet the face of the larger man.

 

“Monster!” yelled one of the children before they all started screaming. But it wasn’t a monster, just a large Caitian male who had seen better days. The light then fixed onto Maria.

 

“It’s ok children. He’s a friendly monster. They are here to help.” Maria looked over the men. All were Starfleet officers wearing tattered gold uniforms. She had so many questions to ask, but the first was… “What happened?”

 

The Caitian looked down at the doctor and replied in a booming voice, louder than necessary. He probably had an ear injury. “We are unsure, other than we were attacked. We have no contact with the Starfleet, or anyone else for that matter.”

 

“We need to get outside,” said Maria as she was about to step past the officers to head for the exit. Her family was the only thing on her mind at the moment.

 

As she tried to move, the doctor was halted by one of the other men grabbing her shoulder. “Ma’am, most of the bunker tunnels are intact, save for a few cave-ins. We haven’t been able to get to the surface yet. It’s too dangerous at this point.”

 

Maria was set on arguing with the man before the Caitian interjected. “Ma’am, you are a doctor, correct? There were many that didn’t fair so well. We have a small triage unit set up by a few nurses we found. The wounded could really use your help right now.”

 

The blonde doctor looked up to the man, then the children. “We need to get them out of here first.”

 

“No ma’am. Right now, that room is the safest and most stable place for them to be,” replied the Caitian. He looked back at the nurses. “They can stay with the children, and one of my men will stay as well.”

 

Maria simply sighed. The man was right. She needed to set aside her personal feelings and focus on helping those that needed it. As she left with the Caitian and one of the other men, she simply said a little prayer to herself. ‘Please let my family be safe.’