Louder. Harder. Louder. Harder.

  Jackson slammed his eyes shut. He couldn’t watch. He had to get away. And now, through his swirl of panic, all he could think of was Mom and Dad and Uncle Solly.

  He started crawling across the street. He’d made it halfway across when …

  CRACK!

  A massive gash opened in the ground right in front of him.

  A fissure! Jackson had read about these giant splits in the earth. Never in his life did he think he would see one. He peered down into the blackness. How deep was it? And what was down there? He didn’t want to know. He just wanted to get away!

  He quickly spun around.

  CRACK!

  But another gash yawned open.

  CRACK!

  Jackson sat there, frozen in fear. A sickening stench huffed at him from the earth’s open jaws. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to imagine what was down there. But his mind flashed with nightmare pictures. Bubbling, burning lava. Shooting flames. The wide-open jaws of a flesh-eating beast.

  He felt the ground beneath him start to give way.

  No! No! No!

  But down Jackson went, screaming, into the darkness.

  Oooomph!

  Jackson landed on his side on soft, wet sand. The stench made him gag. But his backpack had broken his fall. There was no boiling lava. No flames. He was not inside the mouth of a slobbering beast.

  He was at the bottom of a narrow pit.

  It was very dark and everything was still shaking. But peering up, Jackson could see the street. He guessed he’d only fallen about six feet.

  Might as well be a hundred feet, Jackson thought. Because there was no way to get out. He stretched out his arms, feeling the jagged sides. If a fissure could open up, could it also slam shut? Could he be crushed?

  He had to get out of here! But how?

  He started to take off his backpack. Maybe he could signal with his flashlight. Or use his rope to somehow pull himself up.

  Except before he could get it off, freezing water started to seep up from the ground, soaking his boots. And then …

  Whooooooooosh!

  Jackson screamed as a blast of freezing water exploded underneath him, a spray so powerful it rocketed him up out of the pit. It was like being shot through the blowhole of a huge whale! The water knocked the air from his lungs. It gushed into his mouth and up his nose.

  And then, with a sickening crunch of his ankle, his body landed on the hard, wet street. Pain exploded from the tips of his toes to the top of his leg.

  He lay there, too dazed to think.

  It took him a long moment to realize that the roaring had stopped. The ground was still.

  Finally, the earthquake was over.

  Gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg, Jackson managed to sit himself up. He was on the side of the street. Hunks of icy snow mixed with giant rocks had been coughed up from under the ground.

  Towers of water blasted up from some of the cracks. The water was brown and smelled rotten, like an outhouse on a hot day. Jackson tried not to think of what was in the water that he’d swallowed.

  A man rushed by him carrying a crying little boy in his arms. A woman limped past. He didn’t see Leonor or Chris or Nora or Mary. Had they made it off the bridge in time? Were they safe?

  Jackson turned and stared in horror at the harbor, blinking in disbelief. Everything that had been there minutes before was gone. All the docks and buildings. All the people who hadn’t made it over the bridge in time.

  The Chena had broken free of its ropes and was drifting in the harbor. Except it wasn’t a harbor anymore. It was a swirling sea of wreckage. Everything that had been on the docks was now part of a wild whirlpool. Everything — and everyone.

  Panic tore at Jackson’s insides. Where were Mom and Dad and Uncle Solly? He had to find them, now! They were at the house they were building. But where was that? Jackson didn’t know, and even if he did, he couldn’t get there. His ankle was broken, he was sure. The pain was sickening. He could feel it swelling up inside his boot. There was no way he could walk, or even stand.

  A hopeless feeling came over Jackson. His mind started to swirl.

  Big, hot tears hung in the corners of Jackson’s eyes. He tried to brush them away. Be tough! he scolded himself.

  Get to work!

  But his panic only grew.

  Get to work.

  He said the words over and over to himself. But they just spun around in his mind like the wreckage churning in the harbor. Because what could he do? Mom and Dad had never prepared him for anything like this.

  He dragged himself out of the icy puddle where he’d landed. Sucking in his breath and fighting tears, he crawled slowly off the street and into a building that was somehow still standing. He sat there, shivering, his soaked backpack next to him. A strange sound came out of his mouth. Not a scream. Not a sob. It was a weak, rasping cry.

  It reminded him of a sound he’d heard before. On the night of the cabin fire. The winter bear had made that sound.

  The winter bear.

  Now Jackson understood how that bear had felt when it let loose that horrible cry.

  Lost.

  Terrified.

  Totally alone.

  And then Jackson heard voices. Familiar voices, calling his name.

  “Jackson!”

  Leonor?

  “Jackson, where are you?”

  Chris?

  No. Jackson must be hearing things.

  But the voices got louder. Closer.

  “Jackson!”

  Mary? Nora?

  Jackson slid out from the doorway. His heart rose up at the sight of the four kids. They were just down the street, peering into buildings. Looking for something. Looking for … Jackson?

  “I’m right here!” he shouted.

  In a flash they were all around him, crouching down, hovering close. Jackson stared at their faces, which were streaked with dirt and tears. He knew he must look the same.

  “We were looking for you!” Leonor said in a ragged voice. Her hair was matted with dirt.

  “We saw you fall into that crack!” said Chris. Blood oozed from a deep cut on his cheek.

  “We were so scared …” Nora said.

  “We were praying you got out and you did!” said Mary.

  Jackson just stared at them, amazed.

  But his relief quickly faded when he saw the look of fear on Leonor’s face.

  “We have to get out of here,” she said breathlessly. “People are saying there’s going to be a tsunami.”

  Tsunamis — massive waves that often happened after earthquakes. Jackson looked around at the shattered ground, at the collapsed buildings. This was nothing compared to what a powerful tsunami could do. A tsunami could swallow up everything — and everyone — that was left in Valdez.

  “Come on,” Leonor said, holding out her hand.

  But Jackson shook his head.

  “I can’t walk,” he said. “My ankle’s broken.” He swallowed hard. “You should go.”

  Each person needed to take care of themselves … right?

  Chris turned around so that his back was to Jackson. He was ready to run away from here. Of course he is, Jackson thought.

  But he didn’t take off. He lowered himself down right in front of Jackson.

  “You can ride on my back,” he said.

  The next thing Jackson knew, Leonor and Mary had taken hold of his arms. They gently pulled him up. Nora held his back so he wouldn’t fall. Keeping his weight off his crushed ankle, Jackson managed to stand long enough to get himself up onto Chris’s back.

  “Hold on tight,” Leonor said, looping her arm around Jackson’s to help hold him up.

  As they headed away from the harbor, Jackson turned and saw his backpack lying on the ground.

  “Wait —” he started to say. But he stopped himself. There wasn’t time to go back.

  And besides, what he needed right now wasn’t in that backpack.

  He tightened his grip on Chris. He looked at Leonor. He felt Mary’s and Nora’s hands on his back.

  And together they ran for their lives.

  Jackson gripped his fishing pole, gave it a jiggle. Drops of sweat trickled down his back. It was very hot today — 50 degrees! He shouldn’t have worn his flannel shirt. But it was still a perfect summer day in the bush.

  Birds chattered from the trees. An eagle soared overhead. Jackson breathed in the familiar summer smells — pine, wildflowers, river water. He looked proudly at the bucket of fish he’d caught for dinner. And then he spotted something moving just across the river. A very large animal.

  A grizzly!

  Jackson’s whole body tensed … but then he relaxed.

  It was summer, he reminded himself. That bear had plenty of food. The river was wide and deep here, the water rushing fast. Grizzlies were good swimmers. But there was no reason for that bear to make a dangerous journey to cross.

  Still, Jackson backed away slowly. He kept his eyes on the bear as he crouched down behind a bush. He sucked in his breath as a flash of pain shot through his ankle. It had mostly healed, thanks to two surgeries in the hospital in Anchorage. But it still ached sometimes.

  Jackson watched the bear through the bushes. It was small but looked healthy. Its light-brown fur was thick and glossy. Jackson’s mouth dropped open when he noticed that part of the grizzly’s ear was missing.

  A chill ran up his spine.

  Could it be?

  The bear turned, and Jackson saw a patch of bare flesh on its back. The skin looked scarred, like it had been burned.

  His eyes widened and his heart sped up. It’s you, Jackson thought.

  The winter bear.

  Jackson watched in awe as the bear drank from the river. It lifted its big head and looked around. It was enjoying this bright day just like Jackson was. And then it turned and trotted off into the woods.

  Jackson barely noticed the tears rolling down his cheeks. That bear had been through so much. But here it was, strong and healthy.

  Just like Jackson.

  He’d made it through the most powerful earthquake in United States history. The quake had wrecked parts of downtown Anchorage and towns and villages across Alaska. Monster tsunamis smashed into Kodiak, Seward, and Whittier. The worst was in the small village of Chenega. A wall of water more than 70 feet high practically wiped the village off the earth.

  Luckily, the waves that hit Valdez after the quake were just a few feet high. They flooded the downtown, but by then the worst was over. And Jackson and the other kids were safe in Miss Lawrence’s car. She’d spotted them as they hurried up Alaska Avenue. She’d driven them out of town, zigzagging around fissures and fallen telephone poles, stopping to pick up other dazed and bloody people.

  They wound up at a campsite about six miles from town. Dozens of other people from Valdez had fled to that spot, too. People were terrified that other waves would strike. Or aftershocks — strong jolts that could destroy the buildings already weakened by the first quake.

  Jackson’s chest got tight as he thought about that long night.

  He walked back to the river and splashed his face with the cold river water. But more memories came flooding back. The earsplitting roar of the quake that rang in his ears for days. The desperate voices of people calling out for their children, their parents, their friends. The angry glow of the fires that erupted in Valdez when giant oil tanks exploded. Worst of all was the terror of thinking he might never see Mom or Dad or Uncle Solly again.

  One by one, the kids’ families had all appeared at the campsite. But by ten o’clock that night, Jackson was still waiting in Miss Lawrence’s car. She never left his side, never let go of his hand.

  And then finally, there they were, three faces peering through the window of Miss Lawrence’s car. Next thing Jackson knew, he was in Mom’s arms, with Dad and Uncle Solly huddled close. They explained how Uncle Solly’s car had been crushed by a tree. They’d walked for hours looking for Jackson.

  “We would have walked forever to find you,” Mom had said.

  Jackson stepped back from the river and wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt. He took a deep breath and wiped away another round of tears. No use trying to hold them back. Lately, Jackson had realized that even tough people cried sometimes. Even tough people had nightmares and wanted their moms to stay with them until they fell back to sleep. Even tough people froze in panic when a rumble of thunder reminded them of an earthquake. Even tough people needed a friend to carry them when they were too hurt to walk on their own.

  Jackson stood there until the swirl of memories faded away. Then he started to pack up his fishing gear. It was getting late. Mom and Dad would be expecting him. Wait until they heard about the winter bear!

  They didn’t blame the bear for what happened to the cabin. Neither did Jackson. Not anymore. He understood that the creature had just been looking for food. Mom and Dad would be happy to know the bear was healthy and strong. It meant the bear wouldn’t go looking for food at people’s cabins again.

  Not that Jackson or Mom or Dad would ever have to worry about a cabin. Because they weren’t rebuilding theirs. They were leaving the bush — for good. They’d decided together that they belonged in Valdez. With Uncle Solly. With their friends. This trip to the bush was just a visit. They’d come for only two weeks. Tomorrow they were heading back to Valdez.

  The waterfront was gone. Parts of the town were still badly damaged. And a lot of people had left for good. Like Nora, who was living in Juneau now. She wrote letters to Jackson every week. And Mary, who had moved with her family to Seattle. Jackson missed both of them.

  But Leonor’s and Chris’s families had stayed. Miss Lawrence, too. Uncle Solly, of course, and plenty of others. They were all working together to rebuild the town. But not in the same place.

  In the weeks after the earthquake, scientists came to Valdez. They discovered why all that land along the coast had crumbled away. It turned out it wasn’t really land. It was a mix of sand and water. When the shaking started, it melted away into the sea. The town’s new spot was four miles up the coast, where the ground was solid rock.

  “Valdez will rise up again,” Uncle Solly had said with his usual pride. “And it will be even better than before.”

  Jackson picked up his rod and his bucket of fish. He gazed out over the river into the forest. He thought of all the lessons he’d learned growing up here. Most of all, he’d learned how to take care of himself.

  But the earthquake had taught Jackson another lesson — that he needed other people, too. He didn’t want to be like a grizzly, a fierce creature living alone. He wanted to be like a wolf, part of a pack.

  Jackson took one last look around and started back toward the campsite. He loved this wild and beautiful land, and he’d miss living here. But he’d be back to visit, he knew.

  And next time, maybe he’d bring his friends.

  Hello, dear I Survived readers!

  When I was your age, a close friend of mine moved to Anchorage, Alaska. I remember going to my school library and looking for it on a big map of the United States. It took me a few minutes to spot it, a huge state far away from all the others, between Canada and the Pacific Ocean. I remember how my heart sank. I’d never see my friend again, I was sure. There was no way I could ever visit Alaska. My friend might as well be moving to the moon!

  It turned out I did see my friend again — she moved back to Connecticut two years later. But my fascination with the faraway, frozen land of Alaska stayed with me.

  And finally, here I am!

  As I write this, I’m sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Valdez, Alaska. It’s 10:30 at night, but it’s still light outside. This time of year — it’s early June — the sun doesn’t set until nearly midnight. Just a few hours later, the sun will rise again.

  My husband, David, came with me and we didn’t need a rocket ship to get here — just two airplanes and a car. The plane rides took an entire day, and then it was a six-hour drive from Anchorage to Valdez.

  What a journey! David and I kept pulling to the side of the road to stare at the mountains, which looked like they were painted onto the sky. There are mountains all over Alaska — more than in any other state. The highest is Denali, which is more than twenty thousand feet tall.

  Rivers are everywhere, too — wide, rushing rivers fed by the melted snow that gushes down from those mountains.

  Beautiful mountains and a river on our drive from Anchorage to Valdez.

  We dipped our fingers into the freezing water and scooped up gleaming stones that line the riverbeds. Farther down the highway we spotted what looked like a tall frozen river made of jagged blocks of ice. It was a glacier, I knew, one of many in Alaska. This one, the Matanuska Glacier, is twenty-seven miles long. Reading the plaques along the roadside (I love roadside plaques!), I learned more about glaciers — that they once covered much of North America, and that this one was more than 20,000 years old.

  The Matanuska Glacier, seen here in the middle of the photo, is 27 miles long and more than 20,000 years old.

  More wonders awaited us — fields of wildflowers and crashing waterfalls. We spotted our first moose, nibbling grass at the side of the road. And then, just up ahead, a grizzly!

  “Stop!” I ordered David. He stopped …

  … Turned out the grizzly was another moose. Oops!

  Finally, we reached Valdez. Ringed by the towering Chugach Mountains and perched on the edge of a massive bay called Prince William Sound, Valdez deserves its reputation as the prettiest town in Alaska. It also has some delicious restaurants, a cozy coffee shop, and a health-food market called A Rogue’s Garden with blueberry cobbler bars I will be dreaming about for years. And the library is a gem. Thanks to librarian Molly Walker, I got to spend an evening with a big crowd of Valdez kids and their parents.