Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The shaking ground is now just a low rumbling. There are sirens of sorts going off and the sparks from the lights in the room havecaused a small fire. Cameron springs off of the floor and beginsputting it out. Once it is out, he turns and looks at us.

"Are you guys okay?" he asks in a hushed tone. We all just look at him wide-eyed and nod. "Okay. You stay here. I'm gonna check out the area.But let me get you something before I leave." he heads to his room while we remain huddled on the floor holding each other. He comes back with a handgun in his belt rifles in either hand."Elliesetta."

"Yes?" she answers as she stands. He hands her one of the shotgun rifles he brought out.

"I'm leaving this with you. It's loaded and ready to go. If anybody that you don't know comes through that door, I want you to use this. First threaten.But if they have a weapon on them -" he grits his teeth and looks her in the eye. She shudders.

"Okay." she says quietly. He puts his hand on her cheek and leans in.

"You got this." he whispers. She presses his hand closer just as he is moving away.

"Take care of each other. Don't let anyone out of your sight." he says as he jogs out the door.

We sit there and quietly begin to cry as each of us wonders what is going on. Is it another bombing? Could it just be an earthquake that made a late bomb go off? Was it a crash of some sort? Is Timothy okay? So many thoughts. So many possibilities. We each are saying silent prayers in our heads and hoping for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~

After about two hours, Cameron finally comes through the door, but with Timothy following behind. I look at them both and am glad that they are alive. Elliesetta runs up to Cameron and gives him a hug.

"Are you okay?What was it? Was anyone hurt?" she asks all at once. He puts his hands on her arms.

"How about we all sit down and talk." he says. They head over to the dining table.

"Are you okay?" Timothy asks me as he lightly touches my arm. "You're shaking." I haven't been able to stop shaking since the explosion happened. I nod and we both walk over to the table where Cameron is glaring at him. Timothy pulls out a chair for me. I sit down and kick Cameron in the shin as I take my place. He jumps and looks down at the table.Timothy sits down beside me and Abigail sits between him and Elliesetta.

"Okay,"Cameron begins, "what we heard was an explosion. It wasn't a bomb,thank goodness, although it was a plane. We don't know whose it is yet, and until we know whose it is and what it's for, I don't want you ladies leaving this apartment building. I don't want any thugs taking advantage of you or anything from that plane to hurt you." he looks at us to make sure we all understand. We nod in understanding and agreement. Then he looks at Timothy and motions for him to say something.

"Like he said,it was a plane crash. So my teams and I will be scouting it out. From what Cameron and I saw, we don't believe there are any survivors from the plane. And," he pauses and looks at Cameron for consent. He nods. "And unfortunately, the building down the block is no longer there. There are no survivors. So now our population here is down to about 850 to 900 or so."

Abigail gasps in disbelief. Elliesetta scoots closer to her and puts her arm around her. Timothy looks at all of us then covers his eyes with his hands as he leans his elbows against the table. We all sit there, shocked to know of even more deaths. It is unreal. Each of us had a few friends in that building. Now, we won't see them again in this life. No more hanging out. No more seeing their smiles or waves in the market. No more embraces from them. We sit in silence and take in the feeling of just having each other.