Phew! Sorry, guys. I don't have much of an excuse except that I was extrememly busy (NHS, my birthday was on Tuesday of last week, I have babysit, Yearbook, Softball, Student Council...). So sorry! But it's up now!

OH. MY. GOD(sh). I canNOT believe how many reviews I have! :O Thank you guys SO, SO much! :D

July 29

"They should've been here already," I whined. I crossed my arms and started to tap my foot on the ground.

We'd been at the church for the past forty minutes. Even though nobody really lived over here, the church was packed. There were sleeping bags covering the pews and on the floor, empty wrappers and cartons of food and water, dirty clothes scattered around (which I didn't really consider very saint-like). The church was lit up with only the candles surrounding the perimeter. Nearly every pew was filled with people praying. Justin and I thought it'd be best to stay outside and wait with the rest of the few families.

"Calm down. They're only five minutes late, Alex," Justin stated.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't get how you're not freaking out. You're the one who went all ballistic with him leaving."

He turned towards me and gave me a sly smile. "Would you prefer it if I was still freaking out?"

I sneered at him.

"The only thing I'm worried about is leaving the subshop by itself. We still get people trying to break in."

"Well, we've been fine the past few weeks, haven't we?" I asked. I only remember the incident from like last month.

Justin fidgeted with the hem of his v-neck. "There've been a few more."

I squinted at him. "A few more? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you. It's not a big deal, Alex."

"Not a big deal? Justin -"

"Can we drop the subject? I shouldn't of brought it up," Justin stated.

I glared at my shoes. Water was slowly gliding across the pavement.

The roads were flooded with water about eight inches high, but it wasn't as bad as other parts of New York. Cars were able to slowly drive through it slowly enough without causing too much damage, but not many cars were even on the roads due to there being no gas for about 100 miles.

I still hadn't gotten used to the whole air being blended in with ashes. I could taste it in my mouth, and it wasn't pleasant. It made the whole world even more depressing. Apparently, Nevada had been totally volcanoized, and 3/4 of Arizona was also. Yosemite had blown up or something like that. A bunch of other states were being melted as we speak.

Suddenly, a new whoosh of water came rushing towards us, and the bus came into view.

I grabbed Justin's arm and squeezed tight in anticipation.

The bus came to a stop across the street from us, and the campers followed out of the door within the next few seconds. There were only a couple of them to get off.

My grip went tighter.

When Max walked off the bus steps, tears formed at the edge of my eyes for some odd reason. I blinked them away and yelled his name.

He trudged through the water over to us with a huge smile on his face.

Justin pulled out of m grip, and I noticed I was holding on so tight, I had left white finger marks. He didn't say anything about it.

I flexed my fingers and gave Max a big hug when he was close enough to us.

"Alex," he started. "You're suffocating me," he choked.

I let go and smiled.

I let Justin hug Max.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt? What happened?" I asked.

Justin and Max both looked at me strangely.

"What?" I snapped. I rolled my eyes again. "Oh, whatever. Let's go! We have a surprise for you!"

Max's eyes lit up. "Really?"

I smiled.

"How was the food?" I asked. He looked a lot more fuller than he had been the last time we'd seen him.

"It was awesome! I definitely want a pet chicken when all of this is over," Max stated obliviously.

Justin and I traded glances.

"Or a farm; that'd do. Yeah, a farm. I wonder if we could turn the subshop into a farm..." Max trailed off.

We rounded the corner to Waverly Place.

"You're so going to love us forever with what we did for you, Max. We didn't have ice-cream, since, you know, no electricity and we didn't buy it, but -"

I stopped dead in my tracks. There was glass strewn across the ground coming from the subshop.

"What's going on?" Max asked.

Justin and I didn't pay any attention to him.

Glass cracked under my feet as I walked closer to the shop.

"Stay here with Max," Justin ordered. "They might still be in there."

"I'm coming with you," I stated quietly.

He looked into my eyes, "You're staying here."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I figured it was no use. "Be careful."

He tried to smile reassuringly, but it looked like a grimace."Don't worry." He walked into the subshop.

"What if the guy's still in there?" Max asked.

"I don't know," I mumbled.

A minute passed by, but it felt a lot longer. I kept on replaying visions of what could happen in there with Justin. I needed to go up there no matter what he had said.

"Is Justin gonna be okay?" Max asked.

"I'm gonna go find out." I walked across the glass and entered the subshop.

Max yelled. "But Justin said -"

"I don't care what Justin said!" I looked back at him. "Stay here or go get help. Just don't come inside, okay, Maxie?" I tried to sound rational, but my voice was shaking. I turned back around and headed up the stairs.

We were going to surprise Max with decorations and food. The whole living room had been covered with streamers and Welcome Home signs. Justin and I had brought out strawberries he had began to grow outside on the terrace; they were very miniature, but that just made them more fun. We brought out Oreos, some gummy vitamins, and chips. It wasn't much, but it was a feast to compared to what we'd been eating. And even though basically the celebration wasn't that big of a deal, it was one event that didn't induce depression or mass suicide worldwide.

But now, as I entered the living room, everything was destroyed. I mean everything. All of the streamers had been ripped up. The T.V. was gone as if someone in the world had electricity. The couch was in an odd position close to the door. The strawberries, Oreos, vitamins, and chips were all thrown across the room in an ugly mess even though it looked like some of it had been taken.

I walked into the kitchen and covered my mouth. Nothing was there. All the cabinets had been ransacked. The fridge has been emptied. Nothing was there. We had no food.

I didn't start to cry. I kind of did a little bit, but I just wiped them away and walked upstairs to find Justin.

He must've heard me walk into his room, because he said tensely, "Well, whoever broke in was stupid enough to just grab the food. He didn't take anything else besides that." He turned around and stated angrily, "I thought I told you to stay outside."

I fidgeted with my hands. "I thought you knew me better than that." I looked up at him and smiled shyly.

"What happened?" Max stood in the doorway of Justin's room.

It seemed kind of obvious to me. "We got robbed."

"So what're we gonna do?" he asked.

I was wondering that also. I turned to Justin. "Do we have to...?" I trailed off.

"There's no point in staying here anymore," he stated.

Max clenched his hands into fists. "What are you saying?"

I sighed. "We have to leave."

He glared at us. "We're leaving? What about mom and dad? What happens if they show up and we're not there?" He was asking the same questions I did. Now I knew how illogical they were, but I couldn't blame him for asking.

Justin said, "It's a risk we'll have to take. We don't have any food, so we're bound to... go hungry." Starve. "Plus, New York's gonna turn into hell during winter, so it'd be best if we leave."

"Fine," Max started. "You guys can leave, but I'm staying here."

I looked at him with pity. "Max, we're not leaving you. But we're not staying here either."

He turned to me and glared. "Since when are you okay with leaving? You want to leave mom and dad when they come back? That's sick, Alex," he spat at me.

"Max, please don't get angry. I'm not jumping in joy over leaving. I don't want to leave at all. But what's the other option? No, I don't want them to be freaking out or to be worried if they come back, but -"

"If," he stated. "So you think they're dead now?" It wasn't much of a question.

His words stung. "Take that back! Why would you even say that?" I realized what Max had just said was what I kind of told Justin. It was worse, but I knew how I had made Justin feel.

"I'd say it because it's true." He glanced at both me and Justin. "Nice surprise. Thanks." He left.

Ooooooooh... Yeah.

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Do you any of you like the Breaking Benjamin? Cuz, I do too :)