Thursday, 24th of May

Zack wandered the streets of Boston alone. The city was fairly quiet; it was just him and a couple of other people wandering the streets, looking dazed and confused. Half of upper Boston was gone and Zack knew that a majority of North End, Logan International Airport and all the islands in the harbour were gone as he could see it from the hotel. It scared Zack that the tides seemed to come closer towards the Tipton, but he let the thought pass. He didn't need any more worry.

Zack looked up at the sky. It wasn't a full moon, but it was still extremely big, and it wasn't as washed out as it usually was on a normal day. But the days weren't normal anymore. He looked around the streets and saw that each shop was closed and boarded up with wood, just like on the street of his bus stop. He reached Burger King and noticed that even that was closed.

"Even when the world was ending, I always expected Burger King to be open." Zack said disappointed. Zack sighed and decided to head home, as there was nothing for him to do, and Zack knew it was going to be like that for a very long time

"Zachary Martin, where the hell have you been?" Carey demanded as Zack walked through the door

"I was out"

"Out where exactly? School finished two hours ago! You know you're supposed to come straight home!

"Why?"

"It's unsafe outside by yourself! Someone could have hurt you!"

"Mom, please, I just needed to clear my head. I'm here and alive, that's all that matters" Zack put his bag next to his mattress and lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling.

Carey walked to Zack and sat next to him on his matress "Honey, I know this is hard, but I need to know where you are. With communication down, I can't keep track of where you and your brother are."

Zack looked at Carey "Mom, will the shops re open again and delivery of food and supplies continue? Just because the moon is closer to Earth, that doesn't mean the crops will stop growing, right?"

"Carey took a deep breath and gave Zack a forced smile "Yeah, the food deliveres will start up soon enough, the crops won't stop growing because the moon is closer." Carey got up and walked to the kitchen, with a knot of guilt in her stomach as she knew she gave his son false hope.

Friday, 25th of May

Zack restlessly slept. The image of the man being shot in front of him nearly a week ago kept entering his head. Zack was in the empty lobby, like it had been untouched by the looters. The man that was shot was standing in front of him, blood all over his body, and his pupils diluted. It was like something out of a horror movie, only Zack wasn't scared. He felt numb without feeling.

The man gave Zack a wicked smile. "Someone close to you is going to die Zachary."

Zack shook his head. "Not true. We live in a hotel, we have plenty of supplies, food and to top it off, we have power"

The dead man laughed "You think that the power will last, you ignorant adolescent? That generator will give out eventually, along with the city power. Even that's starting to cut in and out."

"I'm not listening to you" Zack said calmly "you're not real, just a ghost."

"Maybe I'm not a ghost. Maybe I'm just you're hell and you're trying to push it as far away as possible, or perhaps you're already in hell. However, it will catch up with you in a while, Zachary"

The man then turned away from Zack and started to walk off. "If I were you Zachary, I'd keep an eye on the one who shares your blood. He will soon realise just how doomed you all are. Soon, he won't be able to resist me."

The man faded and Zack bolted upright in his sleep, sweat dripping off his body. He looked around the suite and at his peacefully sleeping mother and couldn't help wonder if they were as safe as they thought they were. He looked at the clock on the coffee table, it was 5am. Zack decided there was no point in going back to sleep and decided to get up. He walked over to the fridge and checked up on supplies. They were now using long life milk which wasn't as good as real milk, but it was milk and Zack wasn't complaining. They were set on long life milk for a very long time as Cody had bought enough to last them for a year, or until milk was supplied again. Everything else in the fridge was pretty much normal, apart from the fact they had no proper milk and no fresh vegetables.

Zack quietly snuck out of his suite and walked to the elevator to go down to the lobby. Once he got down there he looked around and realised he was alone. The lobby was dimly lit and the cardboard and timber were still on the front entrance, preventing any future looters that wanted to try and get supplies. The lobby was still a mess from when the looters had broken in, but Moseby and the employees that were left had done a good job so far trying to get it back to the way it used to look.

"Zack?"

Zack turned around to see Maddie standing behind him. He gave her a half hearted smile

"What are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep, too much on my mind." Zack sighed. "What are you doing here so early?"

"My family and I are bunking here for a while before we decide what we're doing." Maddie said. "We're on the second floor. It's small, but it will do us."

"Oh, okay." Zack responded. They stood in an awkward silence before Zack finally spoke.

"My girlfriend has turned to faith and religion and believing that God will fix everything in his own time. She thinks its wonderful what 'He' is doing."

Maddie raised her eyebrows "Really? Max has turned to religion? That is the last girl I would have thought that would turn to faith"

"Yeah, I know. I seriously can't take anymore of her 'God is great' and 'God is mighty'." Zack sat down and hung his head in his hands "What am I supposed to do? Last week I told her that I loved her and I would never leave her alone again, now I can't stand her."

Maddie sat down next to Zack and put her hand on his shoulder "Zack, to be honest, girl troubles are the least of your problems. Right now, it's about family." Maddie took a deep breath and sighed "Look, I don't know if you know this, but Carey and Cody are taking this Moon event quite hard. They need someone strong right now, and you are the strongest guy I know. Zack, you need to be there for them. Forget about Max, all she will probably do now is annoy the hell out of you, like you and Cody annoy the hell out of Mr. Moseby. Right now, its family, looking out for one another."

Zack took his head out of his hands "But you're not my family, and I care about you"

Maddie smiled "Everyone in this hotel is family. We all have each other's backs." Maddie hugged Zack "But if you really want to solve the Max issue, just talk to her, understand why she has turned to faith and if she still annoys you, break up with her." Maddie got up and walked to the stairs and went up.

Zack put his head back in his hands and sighed "It would be easier is I didn't have sex with her."

Cody walked into his third study hall that day and spotted Gwen sitting by herself on an empty table in the back of the classroom. Cody walked towards her and sat down.

"Oh, Cody, just the person I wanted to see!" Gwen said as she looked up at Cody

"You know it is very rare that a girl says that to me." Cody smiled

Gwen smiled "Well, I find that hard to believe. Anyway, I need to ask you a favour."

"Sure, what's up?"

"My parents still haven't returned, and I'm running low on food. The only food I'm getting now is from the cafeteria and it's just stale bread."

Cody swallowed down hard as he felt guilty that his mom packed him can of vegetables everyday that week with a bar of chocolate from the candy counter. "Do you want me to bring you some food? It will be okay, I live in a hotel and we have plenty of food. I'm sure I can pull some strings."

Gwen gave a slight smile. "That would be great." She got up and hugged Cody "You know, I am so glad I have a friend in this time of need"

"Well, it is the least I can do." Cody said happily as she gave him one last smile and walked off.

Cody sat back down and pulled out his books and started on that night's homework. He looked up at the class room door and couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if Zack never came back last Friday when he and Max escaped the janitor's closet, or if Carey and Zack were killed when the looters broke in to the Tipton the morning after. Of if he didn't panic and spend all of his savings on all the food and supplies. He knew they wouldn't last long. Cody packed up his books and put them in his bag and ran after Gwen.

Cody spotted her at her locker and ran up to her. "You know how I said that it was the least I could do, giving you food?"

"Yeah" Gwen responded confused

"Well, how about I do the best I can do, if that makes sense" Cody said

"And what would that be, exactly?"

"Well, all I know is that there are over 24 floors that are unoccupied in the Tipton"

"Why are you telling me this?" Gwen asked suspiciously

"I'm telling you this because I think you should move in to the Tipton until your parents come back. So you have an endless amount of food and reliable electricity that dosen't cut in and out like the Boston main power." Cody smiled

"Cody, are you sure? Won't the manager get mad?"

"Who said the manager had to know?"

Gwen smiled and hugged Cody "Thank you so much Cody!"

Cody smiled and hugged her back. "Now I just need to get you a key card, a good food supply and make sure no one sees you." He thought to himself. "This should be fun"

A/N: Well, I don't want to give too much away, but, this is where Cody's slow downfall begins...

From here, it will be 3 or 4 days in a chapter wich will be eaither be 1 or 2 weeks (in the chapter) Wow, that makes no sense but you guys are smart, you know what I mean!

Review fellow friends, I like hearing what YOU have to say! (unlike the US government who is taking away the internet as we know it. Hmnn, that sounds familier :P)