“Ugh…this is heavy.”

I was holding a piece of the ceiling that was about to fall on the woman’s head. It was so heavy.

“Oh my god…o-oh my god!” she exclaimed as she looked up and realized what I was doing.

“Hey…”

“Yes…oh my god…”

“Can you move?”

Seriously. I can’t leave until she does.

“O-oh! Okay!”

The woman finally came to her senses and moved out of the way so I could finally put down the piece of ceiling I had been holding.

“Ugh. My shoulder.”

When was the last time I’ve held something this heavy? My shoulders felt like they were about to fall off.

“A-are…are you okay?” the woman asked, her eyes wide with shock.

“Do I look okay?” I snapped, stretching out my shoulders. But seriously, if it hadn’t been for my powers, we would’ve definitely been dead by now.

“But…how did you…?” the woman continued to stare at me in awe.

“I don’t know. Come on. Let’s go.”

I grabbed her hand and began to run again, but then I stopped.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“Nayoung. Nayoung Kim. And you?”

“I’m Sian Lee. You don’t know who I am?”

“Um…”

It didn’t seem like she knew who I was. Wow, how is that possible? Has she been living under a rock?

“Wow.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy studying.”

“Okay.”

I took her hand again and began to run down the stairs. One level…then another…we went down another level only to find the rest of the way blocked by the rubble.

“Now what?”

“Hmm…”

I tried to think. Looking at the damage, it seemed rather dangerous to keep going.

“Let’s go back,” I said, eyeing the emergency exit door. Unfortunately, the door was bent.

Nayoung walked over and pulled it with both hands. It didn’t budge.

“It won’t open,” Nayoung said, giving up.

“Move,” I said. I took the handle by both hands and yanked it with all my strength.

Snap.

“Fuck.”

The handle had come off.

“You’re really good at cursing. Then again, you look like you can do everything.”

“Yeah, right.”

With that, I then began to kick the door.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The door gave way bit by bit until it finally opened. Nayoung’s jaw dropped at the sight.

“Sian…are you…a heavyweight athlete?”

“You ever seen a heavyweight champ this skinny?”

“Well no, but…”

“Let’s hurry.”

I took Nayoung’s hand and began to run again. There was rubble everywhere. And one of the rooms we passed seemed to have caught on fire.

“When did that fire start?”

Suddenly, as if it had been waiting for the right victim, the fire began to spread and head towards us.

“Kyaaah!”

Nayoung immediately clung to me. I couldn’t help but notice that she was flat. No curves at all whatsoever. Of course, now was not the time to be thinking of those things, but it’s not like it wasn’t obvious. But just then, we both heard a pounding noise coming from an elevator nearby.

“Huh?”

“I think someone is stuck inside the elevator.”

“Looks like it.”

I approached the elevator. Who would be stupid enough to get inside an elevator during an earthquake?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Tasukete kudasai! Jinsei ka shite! (Help me! There’s a person here!)”

“Soko ni daredesuka?! (Is anyone there?!”

“Soko ni darena ikandesu! (I’m sure there’s someone there!)”

Japanese. Which meant that I couldn’t understand a thing.

“What are they saying?”

“They’re shouting for help. What should we do? The door is shut tight!”

“Don’t worry.”

I began to punch the center of the elevator with my fist.

Pow!

The elevator doors eventually gave way, making a sizeable hole and the people inside began to scream.

“Aah! Aaaaaah!”

I wonder if shouting in panic is just universal. Anyways, I put my hand into the door and began to pull the doors open.

Screeeeeeech.

The Japanese began to scream at the sight of us. They held their hands up, screaming at us to help them. The elevator was stuck between floors, so it’d be impossible for them to come up by themselves. I reached down and began to help everyone up one by one.

“Come on! Let’s go! Move it!”

Four were out of the elevator and now just two left. A robust looking man and a tiny woman. I reached out for the woman first. Hey, ladies first, right? But the robust man pushed the woman outside and attempted to grab my hand. Hey! That’s cutting!

“Let go, you asshole!”

I tried to shake the guy off, but he held on with all his might and began shouting.

“Hayaku hikiage! (Hurry and lift me up!)”

My guess was he was asking me to save him first. So, I decided to comply. Might as well get this over quickly. But just then, the building shook again and the elevator moved down a bit more.

Crash!

I lost my grip on the guy’s hand and I reached out once more for the woman. Now every second was precious. But again! The guy pushed the woman aside to grab my hand, and I had no choice but to help him up. But once again, the guy lost his grip on my hand. So, I grabbed him by the scalp and pulled, tossing him onto the floor beside me.

Whee!

I immediately reached down again to help the woman and she grabbed onto my hand. Just then, the elevator began slipped down even more and everyone began to scream. I suddenly realized that I would lose my arm and I immediately let go and pulled my arm back. The elevator flew downwards but luckily, it stopped just two floors down.

“Phew…”

What a relief. If it had gone all the way down to the first floor at this speed, the woman would’ve surely died, but we could still save her. Just then, someone shouted from behind me.

“Oy! You Korean?”

It was the man who had cut in line to save himself. If he had just allowed me to do my job, both he and the woman would’ve been safe by now.

“So what? You Japanese?” I spat out. His Korean was heavily accented. He was definitely Japanese.

“Huh? You fucking Korean! Look at my shirt! It’s all ripped! Do you know how expensive this was?”

Wow. Are. You. Serious? I saved his life and he wanted to complain about his shirt? I almost dropped a kick on his head, but I refrained. Now was not the time.

“Fuck off.”

“What?!” he shouted. I gave him the finger before jumping down the elevator shaft. Everyone gasped.

“Sian!” Nayoung shouted, but I was already on top of the elevator and looked around. One of the walls was bent, holding up the elevator. Well, at least there was no danger of it falling any further. I knocked on the elevator roof.

Tap tap.

“Tasukete kudasai! (Please help me!)”

The Japanese woman began to shout from the inside.

“Just a minute, okay?” I shouted. Then, I began to pound the elevator roof in with my fist.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

A small dent began to form.

“Ugh…”

Wow, this hurt. I ripped a part of my shirt off to wrap around my hand, then continued to pound on the roof.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom! Pow!

Finally, a piece of metal gave way and made a hole in the roof. Using more of my strength, I kicked down the sides until I finally made a hole big enough for a person to climb through. I looked down and saw the woman. She was crying her eyes out, trembling violently.

“Give me your hand,” I said, reaching down. I grabbed hold of her, pulling her up and onto my back.

“I’m going up. Hold onto me, okay…or you’re dead meat.”

The woman nodded, tightening her grip around my neck. Not sure if she actually understood me or not but it didn’t matter.

Suddenly, she asked, “Spider…man?”

“What the hell?”

With the woman on my back, I began to climb.

***

“Hnnng!”

I pushed the woman upwards once I reached the door. Nayoung pulled the woman further up to safety and I climbed up after her. And that’s when the pain in my fist finally hit me. It really hurt. That elevator was strong, but where was everyone else? I only saw Nayoung.

“Where did everyone go?”

“They followed that man with the ripped shirt. Apparently, he’s the owner of this hotel. He said he knew a shortcut.”

“Yeah? Then why did he leave by himself? What about me?” I said, my voice becoming angrier by the second. Seriously. I saved his life and this is how he repays me?

“But why didn’t you go?” I asked Nayoung. I mean, I wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. Instinct to survive and all. The hotel owner certainly had one.

“I wanted to stay with you. You saved my life.”

“Huh. Wouldn’t have pegged you as the loyal type,” I said with a smile. With a face like that, I would’ve labeled her as a flake a long time ago.

“Why not?” Nayoung snapped.

“You just seem like a flake,” I answered honestly. Nayoung sputtered in disbelief.

“So where did they go?”

“That way,” Nayoung said, pointing in a certain direction. We all hurried in the same direction.

***

We were running down the stairs when suddenly, we heard more screams.

“Kyaaaah!”

Rush!!!

This was definitely the sound of something exploding. It was coming from the floor directly beneath us.

“Hang on,” I said.

Nayoung and the woman immediately obeyed. Oh, yeah, the Japanese woman’s name was Ako. Just Ako-san.

“I’ll go first to see what happened. You two follow me, but not too close.”

Nayoung and Ako nodded. I headed down the stairs to see what was going on. I looked around the corner and…

“Aaaah!”

Wow, that actually scared me. A man with a metal piece pierced through his chest had almost run into me.

“What the fuck?”

“S-save me! Please! Help me! They’re dead…they…they’re all dead!”

He grabbed me by the arm, shouting desperately. Wait. This was the same guy who had shouted at me earlier. But was he not aware of the pipe in his chest? Or did he just not care at the moment? Of course, there was no way I could save him. With an injury like that…how could I save him? Even if a doctor were here, they wouldn’t be able to do anything for him.

“Your…your chest…”

At those words, the man looked down at his chest and saw the pipe. He looked up at me again. Suddenly, his hands slipped off my arm and he collapsed. And just like that, he was dead.

“Oh no…”

I had to admit, the sight was hitting me hard. I’ve seen a lot of men die in my old life, but this was the first time seeing someone die in this life. I could immediately feel the emotions building up inside of me.

Just then, the earthquake hit the building again and the walls began to shake.

Crash!

The ceiling collapsed and the wall began to give way. Nayoung and Ako-san were by my side immediately, both of them shaking in fear.

“It can’t be helped.”

We’d have to jump. We had no other choice. We’d just have to run for it without looking back.

“Huuuuu….” I took a deep breath, shaking out my arms.

“Nayoung. Come here. Ako-san, climb onto my back.”

Nayoung looked at me in fear. “What are you…”

“Come on! Hurry!”

I quickly picked Nayoung up and she immediately wrapped her arms around my neck. Ako-san climbed onto my back.

“Hold tight, okay? What you’re about to see next is going to be shocking, but you can’t let go, okay?”

At that, they both immediately tightened their grip. I took a deep breath and began to take a step back. It’s been a while. I hope this works.

“Yaaaaah!”

With a shout, I burst forward.