Soon after the initial jolt of the earthquake, Uma feels moisture seeping into the carpet. As the group progresses through the hours, the water level continues to rise. Soon it is not enough to sit in chairs, and the members huddle together on tabletops. Near the end of the book, water has reached the height of the tables, and soon they will be forced to sit with chairs on top of the tables. While the water level is a constant threat to the survival of the group, it also forces them into close proximity, a physical closeness which is soon by the emergence of a feeling of solidarity through the storytelling.

Cameron’s inhaler allows him to breathe; it is, for him, a lifeline. When the earthquake hits, he has five doses left in his inhaler and he thinks, ruefully, of a full inhaler waiting at his home. Each time he doses himself with the medication, he is essentially one step closer to running out of life. These doses coincide with the situation spiraling out of control in the basement of the Consulate—passageways being blocked, water rising, the ceiling collapsing. At the end of the story,