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Chapter 9

A/N I just updated chapter six (specifically paragraph 8) with an important detail, so I recommend you go back and check that out before you read this. Thanks!

Slowly, Kylie shook her head. "Gabe, he's..." she trailed off. "And Mika, he's... not looking too good. He only has a few more days."

I shut my eyes, attempting to hold back tears. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the doctor motion towards the door. As they walked solemnly out the door, I stuck my head in my pillow, letting the tears flow freely. I thought back to how it all started, the painful memory filling my mind.

***

I was back in our old house, in the basement. It was the day the first bombs hit, around a year ago.

Mika and I were playing with plastic swords in front of our TV. Behind us, Kylie sat on a couch with her laptop, presumably looking at clothes. Our parents were out shopping.

A loud beep sounded from her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and stared at it. "It says to turn on the news," she said, puzzled.

"Who's it from?" Mika asked.

"Restricted number," she replied.

I grabbed the remote from the coffee table in front of Kylie and flicked on the TV, turning to the news.

On-screen, a balding man with glasses was speaking in an urgent tone. "The war has been brought to Toronto. Several German bombs are excpected to be dropped in the next several hours. Take shelter in your basements and hope that you only get hit with a shock wave. I repeat-" suddenly, the TV shut off along with the lights.

"The power's out," Mika stated.

"I thought that the war was just between Germany and the U.S.," Kylie remarked.

The whole time, I just stared at the ground. "Our parents are out there," I said finally.

Kylie pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number then holding it up to her ear. "No answer from Mom," she said. She called again. "Or Dad."

Mika pulled out his own phone as his ringtone sounded from his pocket. His face turned white and he gripped the phone tightly. I decided not to press him for details.

My head snapped up as I heard someone upstairs, knocking on the door. "Should we answer it?" I asked.

Both of them shook their heads, their expressions turning fearful as the sound of broken glass hitting the floor was heard upstairs. Heavy footsteps tramped across the floor upstairs, stopping at the top of the basement stairs. No one dared to look who it was.

"Hello?" a voice called down. "It's Mark."

Everyone's face relaxed. "We're down here," I called down.

He walked down the stairs and my face fell again as I saw the expression on his face. "Your parents died in the first blast. They called my right before it hit. I heard every second of it." he stopped for a moment, then went on. "We need to get to my place, now."

Tears stung my face, rolling down my cheek. I nodded. "Sould we take anything?" I asked.

He nodded. "Anything non-perishable. And lots of bottled water. All the water will be poisoned."

We all trodded upstairs, and spent the next half hout gathering everything in to backpacks and loading them in to Mark's truck.

When we were finished, we all climbed in to the back of Mark's truck.

I looked at the house for a final time, knowing this would be the last time I saw it.

Mark's house was an hour away, and on the way he explained his plan. "I've turned my basement is a sort of bomb shelter. If we get hit by the full force of a bomb, we're dead. Period. But if we get hit by an aftershock, the house will probably fall down but we will be safe. Probably. I hope.

"We can't live in there forever, though. We're going to run out of food eventually," Mika pointed out.

"I know, but its not like the entire world is gonna get bombed. This war should only be between us, the U.S., and Germany. In fact, I'm surprised we even got pulled in to it." Mark assured him. "We'll wait until the initial radiation wears off and then start our lives again somehwere else."

Unfortunately, our lives were not that easy. Within a week of eating canned beans and soup, Mark started getting reports of other countries that were joining the war. After a month, almost the entire world was in little territorial dispute between Germany and the U.S. Nuclear bombs were falling left and right, and we knew that we had to make a new plan. Mark had found a radiation mask and started going out to explore. He eventually came across this community that we were living in now.

Mark had saved our lives, and now he had died because I couldn't save his.