*Apocalypse Now* (Criss Angel & Klayton Scott Story)

*2*(Criss's P.O.V.)

I stayed in the state of shock until I heard my boys calling to me...I shut the door and ran back down to be with my boys...they asked me where I went...I couldn't believe Serenity was gone...my son's future home and our livelihood was no more...I held my boys close to me, being so thankful, that I still had them...and that I was still there to take care of them. After a lot of thinking...I knew we couldn't stay in the shelter for we wouldn't have enough supplies or food to live on...so with great contemplation, I loaded all the supplies I could gather into the Hummer...then loaded my boys and started the ignition.

As soon as I pulled out of the shelter's driveway...and into the sunshine...me and my boys looked around...it wasn't just Serenity that was gone...Las Vegas was nothing but a desolate wasteland...as if Vegas had never been there!! Johnny and Kiefer both looked at me and asked where town go...I stopped the Hummer and tried to let everything that I was seeing sink in...and all I could say was I didn't know. I never stopped driving until I came up to an actual building that was still standing...I got closer and realized it was, in fact, a Pump Mart Gas station. I looked down at the gas gauge and decided to check the station out, and maybe get a full tank of free gas. And maybe even get some supplies and food in the store if it hadn't been ransacked already by someone else...if there was anyone else alive.

I got out and filled the tank, and as I went into the store, I grabbed everything I could and stuffed it into the duffle bag I was carrying with me...food, drinks, snacks, and medical supplies...I walked out and noticed 4 men hovering around my Hummer...but I had it locked and had the keys in my hand....I felt trouble so I dropped the bag behind the gas machines and asked them if they knew what happened...they acted generous at first and told me that it was done by several explosions...like atomic bombs...then nothing but a deep silence...I told them if thy knew of any safe place to stay...that's when they pulled out guns and pointed them right at my head...and said enough of the yuppie bullshit and hand them my keys...I raised my hands and begged them not to shoot...that I would be more than happy to give them the keys and my car...if they'd let me have my two boys in the back seat.

One of the guys looked in and sure enough, they saw the kids...the man furthest away from me told me to get them...I unlocked the back door and told them to come to me...I had both of them in my arms and all they had were their matching stuffed rabbits from my BeLIEve store...I tossed the keys to the man that let me get my kids...one of the men still held his gun to my head, wanting to kill me...but the others told him to leave it alone, and get in the damn vehicle. I begged them one more time not to take me away from my kids...and one of the other men came up behind me and that was lights out for me...

A few hours later I slowly wake up, to Johnny and Kiefer sitting next to me, crying and begging me to wake up...I clumsily leaned up on my elbows and collected my thoughts...then I immediately checked my boys to see if they were alright...then I held them closely and told them I was alright. But I quickly noticed that it was getting dark, and becoming quite cold...little Johnny's teeth were beginning to chatter. I finally managed to stand up and removed my jacket and put it around my boys as I picked them both up and carried them into the gas station, and sat them down, then remembered hiding the duffle bag before getting knocked out...I ran outside and grabbed it, then came back in and handed Kiefer and Johnny a hoagie sandwich to share. Then I looked around trying to see if there were any coats or blankets of some kind to wrap them up in...but there was nothing...so I just leaned up against the wall and told them to snuggle up with me, to stay as warm as possible.

I couldn't sleep at all, so I just thought about how I was going to keep me and my boys safe and alive...then I thought of my mom and brother's and wondered if it was like this everywhere, and if my family was even alive...the cold finally got to me and I drifted off into a deep sleep. The next day I woke up to both of my boy's gone...I jumped up very quickly only to fall right back down, due to my head injury from those bastards that took my vehicle. But I hollered for my kids...but was a little relieved when I heard them giggling in the back of the gas station...I got up again and hobbled out the back door, to see my two boys playing with a huge rottweiler that was chained to a semi, with a log chain...he was a little bit undernourished, but otherwise in good looking condition. I went up to the pooch and let him give me a sniff...he eagerly wagged his stub tail and whined with delight to see people.

I removed the chain off of him, and told Johnny and Kiefer that it was time to make tracks...for it was way too cold to stay there another night...but both my boys didn't move an inch until I said the dog could come too. I told them both that we could keep the dog, but we had to keep moving until we find a safer place to stay. Johnny and Kiefer scampered on each side of the dog and kept asking me what we could name him...so just so they would stop asking me about it...I told them both his name was Houdini. Then I gave an inside chuckle as they both were making up a song about their new companion.