17 State of Calamity

Almost immediately, the sound of fire engines were heard from almost all direction. An explosion had occurred, causing fire and turning the night sky into orange. Some people were suddenly running on the street, spreading the new of the latest tragedy.

"Where's the fire coming from?" Jamie's mother asked a passerby.

"They say it is from the Wang's Enterprises!"

"Oh no! There's too much paint and flammable materials in the hardware store, " Tonton's mother joined in the talk.

"It would be very dangerous if another explosion happens."

After the sentence was finished, another loud explosion reverberated through the busy night. It was too deafening that some people dropped to the ground.

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"Oh goodness, the fire will get bigger!"

"Will the fire reach our place?" Tonton inquired worriedly.

"I hope not, son," his mother replied. "The store is still far from here."

While the sirens of fire engine got louder, more people ran to the streets. Some even advised everyone they saw to pack their things and head to safer place like the evacuation center.

"Let's get inside now," Jamie's mother said.

Immediately, Jamie went inside their house with his mother and watched the evening news while waiting for his older sister and father. They had not been home yet.

Three trucks instantly came to Wang's Enterprises to kill the fire. Thankfully, the store was far from the residential neighborhood and so everybody in the surrounding area was safe. Except for the store, no other buildings were destroyed by the fire.

Jamie's mother sighed a relief after hearing the news, more so when his husband and daughter arrived.

"What has happened?" she asked. "What took you so long?"

"The traffic was really bad. People were crowding the streets."

"It was fortunate that I saw father on the way," the daughter interjected. "It's scarry to be going home alone this time."

"Yes, it is," Mrs. de Jesus said. "A lot of bad things had happened tonight."

The family gathered around the televesion set and watched the news. The same thing was also happening in Tonton's house. They were about to eat their dinner when the national news was interrupted by the local channel.

" Hey, mom, "Tonton called out his mother as she was finishing setting the table." I think there's an important news from the mayor's office. "

She hurried into the living room and settled next to her husband in the sofa while Tonton sprawled on the floor.

The mayor's speech was short and direct. After giving a greeting, he enumerated the events of the night like the fallen meteor, the earthquake, and fire. There was still no concrete explanations of why the meteor sudddenly showed up and fell on Subangdaku. Scientists had yet to visit to the crash site. He advised everyone not to go near the possible site for safety reasons.

As to damages, there were still no estimates. Though there were no casualties, the earthquake and the consequent fire had caused destruction of several infrastructure that had to be accounted yet. In the end, he urged everyone to stay in their homes and be vigilant of any post-tragedy events.

In order to recover from the trauma and to repair whatever needed to be rehabilitated, he ordered that the following day be declared as a local holiday in the town. Classes were suspended, as well as all works in the government, except for some offices like his. Telephones were open to receive calls from the citizens.

After his speech, regular programming in the TV resumed. Tonton sighed a relief. The next day was Friday which meant that it will be a long weekend. He secretly smiled, happy that he would have around three days to spend with his friends.

"It's a good thing that Mayor declared a state of calamity for our town," Mr. Tagalogon commented. "Help should really come in fast."

"Don't you think we should get more supplies once we do our groceries this weekend?" his wife asked.

"I think that's a good idea."

Tonton simply listened to their conversation. He was tempted to bat in and share to them his dreams. However, he could not see the point of doing that so he just finished his food.

Meanwhile, Kiko was finally done washing their dishes when the mayor ended his speech. He was curious about some points in his speech and so he asked his older brother about them.

"Will a bigger team of scientists come arround this time?" he asked Jackson was drying the plates with a towel.

"I think so," his brother replied. "This is a much stronger impact. The meteor looks big based on the intensity of its light. Supposedly, there should be a stronger earthquake and more properties damaged. Mysteriously, the meteor was reduced into very small pieces before reaching the ground. "

" Is that odd? "

" Yes, it is. Tiny pieces of meteors could not produce that much light, including the earthquake. If they had been reduced to dust, they would be negligible. If they had been the size of an apple, and moves with a great speed, the impact would be very, very disastrous."

Kiko and Jackson continued their discussion of the unexplainable science behind the collision. They were in that state when the first of the vehicles of the team of scientists arrived in Subangdaku. Bogart was one of the first few people who noticed their arrival. He was in their frontyard when he was distracted. The team brought three vans and the loud screeching of wheels seemed to announce their arrival.

"Mother!" Bogart called. "Look, some vehicles are coming."

"Who could they be?" Mrs. Pescador asked. "Are they the media? We should dressed up just in case they will include us in their footage."

"Mother, they're probably not media men. They must be the scientists the mayor said were coming."

Before she could answer, the vehicles turned around. Instead of going to the village, the vehicles moved to the direction going to the grassland. They were moving farther instead of nearer.

The mother and child continued watching until the dark grasslands swallowed the cars. Bogart might look jolly, but in his heart, he was afraid of some undesirable things that could happen in the district.