Thursday

by David Ridgway

  “But it was so high.”

  “I know. To be that high here, it must have crashed over the top of the Thames Barrier. I mean, did you see those containers floating in the water?”

  “Yes. Why hadn’t they sunk?”

  “I suppose they must be airtight, so when they are empty, they’ll have some buoyancy. I expect that they will float a bit like icebergs, with much of the bulk under water. If they get to the front of the wave, they will start to roll and then the damage they cause could be devastating because they’ll just mow down anything in front of them.”

  “But all those people…” Her voice broke off.

  “I know.” David glanced round. “Look! We can’t stay here and, anyway, there will be a lot of people out there who will need our help.”

  “What can we do? Two kids against all …” She paused. “Against all that.”

  “I don’t know, but if we don’t go and see, we won’t find out.”

  David turned to leave, with Jackie still snuggled into his chest. Finally, she pulled herself away and, hand in hand, they walked to the door. As they carefully went down the stairs in the darkened building, they could hear the hum of traffic over towards Covent Garden and the West End. However, as they came out of the building and looked towards the river and the embankment, there was complete darkness and a terrifying stillness. They emerged onto Riverside Terrace where, in the moonlight, they could see that the wave must have crashed over the Victoria Embankment wall, smashing the RNLI Lifeboat’s facility next to Waterloo Bridge.

  As he looked to his left, David saw that a boat had been washed half onto the road. Below them, almost under Waterloo Bridge, a bus had been hit and forced onto its side, before being washed further down the road. David ran down the steps and waded through the water to the bus to see whether there were any people trapped inside.

  “We’ve got to get the emergency door open.” He pulled at the back window, but the fitting was bent.

  “You’ll need a lever of some sort,” Jackie said helpfully.

  “Can you see if there’s anything lying about?”

  Jackie looked round and saw a broken metal fence next to the flooded pavement. It seemed that the bus had been washed into the fence that then swept further on towards the bridge. She pulled at an iron pole and, to her surprise, was able to extricate it quite easily.

  “Here! Will this help?”

  “Brilliant. Thanks.”

  David immediately noticed that one end of the pole was shaped like an old spear. He inserted the sharp end into the small space where the frame had buckled. He was able to push it in about an inch before he started to force open the window. With a reluctant screech and a sudden smashing of the toughened glass, the emergency window opened and David was able to push his head inside.

  “Is there anyone injured?” he shouted. He was rewarded with a moan a little way further inside.

  As he clambered inside, David realised that the right-hand side of the bus was now adjacent to the road surface and under the water. The left-hand side was above him. The passengers had been thrown across the bus and were now draped over the seats half in and half out of the water. The moaning got louder as he made his way over the right hand seats and inert bodies of men and women. He couldn’t ascertain their condition but, because they didn’t protest when he clambered over them, he presumed they were either unconscious or dead.

  Suddenly, over his shoulder, there was a light. After following him inside, Jackie opened her phone. In the bright beam, David saw an arm raised a few feet in front of him, with its hand slowly waving at him. It was an old man. Although he was in a sitting position with his back to the roof of the bus, his legs were trapped under the water by two other female passengers. One of the women was wedged between the seats. She had fallen head first from her seat on the left-hand side of the bus onto the old man. Her head was under the water and her coat and dress had fallen open, leaving her legs bare and draped over his shoulder. The other woman had fallen on top of her. The man was cradling the second lady’s head to him as best he could, but it was covered in blood and she wasn’t moving.

  “Thanks, lad.” The old man looked up at David. “Just to let you know, since the bus went over and stopped here, the water has slowly been rising. I think this one’s dead.” He touched the waist of woman draped on his chest and shoulders. “She hasn’t moved at all and her head is under the surface. This one’s still breathing, but she’s not moving at all.”

  “What about you, sir?”

  “I’m OK, I think, but I can’t move my legs because this one’s holding me down.” He indicated the lady on top of him.

  “Right. Any idea how many were on the bus?”

  “Not really. It wasn’t full. Well, quite empty really. No idea how many are down below.” Suddenly, David realised that he was on the top deck of the bus and that there would be more people on the lower deck.

  Jackie moved past him and slowly made her way to the front. She couldn’t see any more passengers and when she finally reached the stairway, she began to crawl downwards to the lower deck. This was rather difficult because the stairway was partly under water. As she emerged into the lower deck, she heard someone else moaning.

  “Where are you?” she called.

  “Over ’ere, luv.” Jackie shone her phone towards the rear.

  There were two men and a woman all in a huddle about halfway down. They all appeared to be OK, but none of them was moving.

  “Are you OK?” Jackie asked.

  “Not really, no,” one of the men replied. “My foot is caught under the seat and I think my leg is broken. This lady here is unconscious and this other bloke has got a wrenched shoulder or a broken arm or something.”

  “We’ve got another guy upstairs with a potential broken leg, but we have managed to open the emergency exit. And there’s another woman out cold,” Jackie informed them. “Do you know where the driver is?”

  “No idea, luv.”

  “Right!” Jackie said. “Look, I’ve got to check if he’s still alive, because the water is still rising and his cab will be under the surface.”

  “That’s OK. We’re not going anywhere!”

  Jackie made her way back past the luggage area and the stairs to the cab, clambering over safety glass. The driver was still sitting in his seat holding the steering wheel, but now, of course, he was on his side with his head resting on the window of the driver’s door at a most peculiar angle. His neck appeared to be broken. As his head was under the surface, he would have drowned anyway. Jackie quickly looked away. She stood up on the inside cab safety window to see if could reach the door of the bus. She could only just touch it but was unable to exert any pressure to try and open it. She turned back to the three passengers.

  “Are there any other passengers?” she asked.

  “Dunno, luv!” the man replied. “I think there might be a couple of kids at the back. I was asleep when the bus went over and can’t remember if they had got off.”

  “I’ll have to have a look.”

  Jackie started making her way to the back of the bus, clambering over the seats. She passed three more male bodies, each one not moving, with their faces under the surface. Right at the back, on its left-hand side, the bus had received a severe blow. She could see that the windows above her were completely shattered. And there, in the corner, sitting quietly and clinging to each other, were two young people. Their eyes were wide open, as they watched Jackie slowly make her way towards them.

  “Hi. Are you two OK?”

  The boy slowly shook his head from side to side. The girl just clung to him more tightly. “Are either of you injured?” Again, the boy just shook his head.

  “Well if you can move, I could really use some help.” Jackie pointed upwards to the broken window. “I need to get up there, so that we can all climb out.” She turned back to the front and shouted, “David, can you hear me?”

  “Yes!” a disembodied voice replied.

  �
�I’ve got a broken window down here. It’s completely shattered and if I can get the people to move, we should be able to climb out quite easily. I’ve not assessed their injuries yet. You might have a broken window up there as well.”

  “Yeah. You’re right. I can see it. Towards the back.”

  “I’ve got five people still alive down here that we need to get out.”

  “Right! It’s the same up here. Second window along from the back. Hadn’t noticed before. I’m coming to you. Won’t be long.”

  David explained to the old man what he was about to do. He then returned to the emergency exit and clambered out. He noticed that the water had risen by perhaps a couple of inches. Now, using the opened emergency exit for footholds, he clambered up the outside of the bus until he was standing on its left-hand side. He could see a deep gouge from the roof to rear wheel, breaking both the ground floor and upper floor windows. It looked as though something had been washed out of the river and over the wall before hitting the bus a glancing blow, sufficient to knock it over onto its side.

  Looking through the upper window, he could see Jackie’s light inside.

  “Jackie?” David knelt down on the side of the bus.

  “I’m here!” she replied.

  “Whatever else we do, we’ve got to get these people out. It won’t be easy because they will have injuries that we can’t assess. Do you have any uninjured people who can help?”

  “There’s a couple of young teenagers, but they appear to be badly traumatised.”

  “We really could do with their help. Are they nearby?” Jackie turned her phone and shone the light into the corner, where the girl was still clinging tightly to the boy.

  “Can you give us a hand?” David asked him direct. The boy slowly nodded his head up and down. "Good. Just hang on there. I’ll get back to you in a sec.

  “Jackie, I’ve got two others alive on the top deck. One is an old guy and he seems to have a badly injured leg. The other is a woman and she’s completely unconscious. I can’t move the old guy until the unconscious woman has been moved. She’s lying on top of another woman who appears to be dead and they’re both pinning the old man down. What’s your situation?”

  “I have two men and a woman. She’s unconscious and both men have injuries. A broken leg and a wrenched shoulder. The two kids appear to be OK physically.”

  “Right. I suggest we deal with mine first. We should be able to extricate them through the emergency window. Can you get out of your broken window onto the side of the bus?”

  “Yes, I think so. I can use the seat to climb up.”

  And with that hopeful comment, she turned to the man who simply nodded and waved at her to get on with the plan. She then turned to the boy, who was whispering to his girlfriend. She was vigorously shaking her head and holding him in a vice like grip. Gently he prised open her fingers and slowly pulled away from her. She started to cry, quietly at first and then louder and louder, until her wailing was reverberating through the stricken bus. Suddenly, he slapped her across the face and the wailing abruptly stopped. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He turned and followed Jackie, climbing up the seat and out of the bus. He crawled to the upper deck broken window and looked inside. He could see Jackie and David struggling to move the body of the unconscious woman off the old man.

  He dropped into the upper deck and went to help them. David gently lifted the shoulders of the unconscious woman and Jackie lifted her legs. Carefully and with the help of the teenage boy, they manoeuvred her across the seats to the emergency window at the back. David indicated that the lad should get out first, to ensure that the lady, when she came through the window, wouldn’t be dropped or left with her face below the surface of the water. Slowly, but surely, the woman’s body was pushed feet first through the window. The lad took the weight of the woman, but had to let her down into the water, because she was too heavy for him to hold. Quickly, David climbed out of the bus and picked up the body. He carried her up the steps, until he was well above the water line.

  “Do you think your girlfriend could get out and help look after the passengers as we get them out?” David looked at the young lad.

  “I will ask.” He turned and climbed up onto the side of the bus and dropped through the lower deck window. Soon they both emerged and the boy smiled at David and nodded his head.

  “Good. We’ll concentrate on the old man now.” He turned to go back through the emergency exit, where Jackie was waiting with the old man. He was still pinned down by the dead woman. When the bus toppled over, she had landed head first onto the window next to the man, knocking herself completely unconscious. As the bus settled on its right side, her head remained below the surface of the water and she quickly drowned. David and Jackie pulled at her, but she was stuck fast. In the gloom, it was the teenage boy who noticed that her coat was caught fast and that no amount of tugging and pulling was going to shift her. He realised that, if her coat could be taken off, then it would free the body and make the task much easier. He tapped David on the arm.

  “Take coat off,” he said in broken English. “It…solid.”

  “God, yes! You’re right.” Immediately, David understood.

  They eased first one arm and then the next out of the sleeves of the coat. The three of them were then able to lift the body of the woman off the old man. They placed her with some dignity in the next-door seat space.

  “David, his leg is caught under his seat. I think it might be broken.”

  “Yes, I thought so too.” The old man looked up.

  “Have you got her out OK?” he asked.

  “Yes, she’s fine. But we’re going to concentrate on you now.”

  “Listen!” The old man caught David’s sleeve. “I know my leg’s fucked. Just get on and do what you’ve got to do.”

  “It’s going to hurt like hell.”

  “Can’t be helped, can it?”

  “We’re going to try to move your foot out first. It’s under water, so I expect it’ll be pretty numb because of the cold,” David said hopefully.

  He reached under the surface until he could feel the ankle and foot. It’s not so much the leg as the ankle, he thought. “Jackie, can you try to bend his knee as I pull the ankle free?”

  “OK.” She leant over the man and took a firm grip on his knee.

  “Ready?” asked David.

  “Ready!” she replied.

  She pulled the knee up, trying to make it bend, as David eased the foot free. Suddenly the knee bent completely and she fell onto the old man. He chuckled his thanks. As with the previous passenger, they now had to make their way over the seats to the rear of the bus with him, trying not to cause any further injury to his ankle. Again, the young lad got out first and slowly they eased the old man, feet first, through the window. As soon as he was out, David and the young lad took him up the steps and sat him down next to the unconscious woman. The young girl was sitting on the step with the woman’s head in her lap.

  The old man looked at the girl. “Where are you from, love?”

  “We… from… Bulgaria,” haltingly, she replied.

  “You’re not very old, are you?”

  “I… Sixteen,” she said. “My brother… Eighteen,” she added.

  Back in the bus, David and Jackie found it more difficult to extricate the passengers on the lower deck. It was going to be necessary to lift them up through the broken window. Both of the men, despite their injuries, said they would do what they could to help, but the woman was still unconscious. David considered the problem and decided that the only way would be for him to lift the woman’s body. Fortunately, she was slightly built.

  Crouching down, he pulled her arms up and over his shoulders. He then pushed upwards with his knees until he was standing with the woman next to him, supported by Jackie and the lad. David now bent forward, keeping her arms in front of him and allowing the woman’s body to be draped over his shoulder. He bent his free arm as far back as he could, until he could hold h
er round her thighs. He could now manoeuvre her body onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift.

  Jackie and the lad, seeing that the woman was now secure, climbed up the seats and through the broken window. The man with the wrenched shoulder stood up. He was obviously in a lot of pain, but he was able to support David as he started to climb up the seat towards the broken window. Jackie and the young Bulgarian boy were lying spread eagled on the side of the bus and on either side of the window. Slowly David climbed higher until they were able to get a grip on her clothes. As he felt the woman’s weight lessen, David was able to climb faster and, pushing upwards from below, the three of them were finally able to get the woman through the gap, until her body was lying on the side of the bus.

  “That was hard,” David muttered. He could feel his thighs shaking with the effort.

  “Are you OK?”

  “Will be in a sec.” He panted his reply, before climbing up next to them. “Right, we’ve now got to get off the bus and then up the steps. Think it might be best if I get down first and then you can lower her down to me.”

  Together, Jackie and the teenage boy pulled the woman to the edge of the bus. David looked up at them. “Can you let her come down legs first but keep holding her arms until I’ve got her safe?”

  “OK.”

  Jackie pulled the lady closer to the edge and then rolled her body onto her front, before pushing her so that her legs extended out over the back of the bus. As they pushed, the lady’s legs slowly began to bend at the hips, until her knees hit the back of the bus. They pushed some more and then took a firm grip of the lady’s arms, as her body inch by inch disappeared over the side.

  Down below, David reached up to locate her feet and then her legs and thighs. He took a firm grip of her waist as Jackie called that they were now holding her only by the hands and would have to let do.

  “Let her go now!” David braced himself for the weight and all of a sudden, the woman was down, in his arms. He carried her dead weight to the steps and laid her down next to the other passengers.