Hate me. Curse me to the Wiccans that live across your street in that old house. Sorry; I just had too much to do in school, so I just decided to finish this chapter when I graduated. But then I went on this vacation which was fabulous might I say, and then I started to procrastinate... I'm sorry; I'm trailing. I'M BACK!

Be happy; be healthy :) (Cheerios commercial)

BTW, it kind of gets a little AU during the end. Oh, and sorry if the beginning a little boring.

June 1

"So we're supposed to travel across the country because the radio apparently told you that's the safest place in the country right now?" I asked skeptically. I rubbed the back of my neck; it had been aching up these past few weeks.

Justin tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to some unfamiliar beat. "Pretty much."

Max growled from the backseat. "Why can't we just stay with Harper? She literally asked you to stay with her and Zeke's family, and you guys turned her down. They're close enough for when mom and dad come back!"

Just to reassure him, I said, "I went over to their house. Nobody was there."

"You could've waited. They would've come back," he protested.

I sighed.

"What? It's true!" Max yelled.

Justin glanced through the rear-view mirror. "It's not going to safe in a couple of months."

Max shook his head. "This whole world's not safe. It's pathetic..." he grumbled.

Justin continued on with his explanation as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Texas is really hot, and it should be safe enough from all of the natural disasters that've been occuring."

I placed my feet ontop of the dash board and closed my eyes.

"Something happens, and I'm head over heels."

I groaned at the old 80's music.

Music.

The car stopped abruptly.

I bolted straight up in my seat - which was kind of uncomfortable since my feet were still propped up on the dash board. I stared at radio and cursed, "What the hell?"

"I never find out till I'm head over heels. Something happens, and I'm head over heels. Don't take my heart; don't break my heart; don't - don't throw it away."

Justin and I stared at each other in shock. I smiled and looked back towards Max.

"There's music, Max!" I screamed joyfully.

His head was turned towards the window. He grumbled, "There was some at camp also. Forgot to tell you guys I guess."

I ignored him and turned back to Justin. "Do we have any CD's?" I asked frantically.

We both began to search in every place we could look. "Why didn't we think of this sooner?" I asked rhetorically.

"Found one!" Justin yelled. But as soon as he said it, he groaned. "It's one of Mom's flamenco CD's. I'm definitely not dancing inside of this cramped car," he stated.

I laughed out loud. Wait. "Did I just laugh at your attempt of a lame joke?" I shook my head and smiled. "The world ending has really gotten to me."

"It was funny though, right?" he laughed. He put it in despite his comment.

I bit my lip and smiled.

"Since when are you guys getting along?" Max asked from the backseat. The sound of a guitar invaded the space.

I looked at Justin and shrugged. "I don't know. A few days after you left I guess." It was more of a question than an answer.

He rolled his eyes. "Try weeks."

"Whatever," I agreed. I grabbed and uncapped my water bottle.

"So, after I left, right?" Max asked scornfully.

I took a swig of the water. My throat made it difficult to swallow, so I choked a little. Probably because it was so warm in here. I shot a look at him. "Can we like not start this, Max? It's really irritating."

"So, I'm irritating?" he shot.

I glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "No, I said what you are starting is irritating. But to think about it, yeah, you kind of are irritating, too."

"You guys!" Justin yelled. His grip tightened on the wheel as we started to move again.

June 5

"Want me to drive?"

We had been in the car for four days straight so far; only stopping to fill up the tank with our convienent gas stored in the trunk. I don't know how it's possible, but we have at least 14 gallons stored in the trunk. We'd been hoping to find some gas stations still opened despite with the price might be.

Each time I'd asked to drive, he'd turned down the offer.

"No," he stated tensely. He gripped the steering wheel tighter every few minutes, then loosen, then tighten again.

"What's the matter?" I asked curiously. I fanned my face with my hand.

"It's nothing." He swallowed.

I rolled my head to my left shoulder, then to my right. I was pretty sure the aching was from sitting in the seat in the same position. I added, "Justin, I swear you're gonna get that carpet tunnel thing in your hands if you don't stop driving. You should either let me drive, or tell me what's making you so tense."

"It's carpel tunnel for your information." He shot me a look and then added, "Everything's fine though, Alex."

"By the way, where are we in the world so far? Please, please, please, don't say we're still in Ohio," I pleaded.

Justin pursed his lips. "According the legible big green signs, we're in Arkansas."

My jaw literally dropped. "That's, like, really close, right?" My voice jumped an octave.

He nodded.

"Why can't I drive?" Max asked from the back, totally oblivious to the change in subject. His voice seemed a little tinier to describe it.

I smiled and looked at Justin. "Yeah, why can't he drive?" It was a desperate plea with me agreeing with Max for his approval, but I wanted something to count at least.

Justin licked his lips. "The roads are slippery. Besides, all the ash makes the air all hazy."

I shrugged. "We can go slow. It's not like we're in a hurry or anything."

Justin gripped the steering wheel tighter again, turning his knuckles white. "Only for, like, 15 minutes, okay?" I could tell it was a really tough thing for him to do. He stopped the car and put it in park. "Alex, can you sit in the back? I want to be in passenger's seat just in case."

I could literally hear Max grind his teeth at the remark, but I agreed, and we all traded places.

I relished the feeling when I stretched out my legs across the whole backseat, listening to the calming flamenco.

For some strange reason, I'd been tired throughout the whole driving session. The next thing I knew, tires were screeching, and I was jerked out my sleeping state. I slammed against the passenger's seat and started to hear yelling.

"Justin, I'm sorry!"

"What did you hit?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry!"

"Are any of you hurt?" He looked back at me when Max shook his head.

I was about to answer yes, but suddenly my foot began to spasm and cramped up. I sucked in a deep breathe and clamped my hands tight around my foot. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I whispered over and over again, "No, no, no, no..."

Max whipped his head around and asked, "What happened? Oh, God, I did this didn't I?"

My heart was racing. My shirt was soaked in sweat.

Justin had a tensed look on his face but answered, "No, I don't think you did this, Max."

Max covered his face with his hands and started chanting again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

I turned my head away when Justin asked, "What else hurts, Alex?"

I looked at Justin and noticed his expression was still tensed. My neck is stiff; I can't really swallow without choking; I feel like it's 300 degrees. "Nothing." My voice cracked as I said, "It's just my foot." It was like my foot was trying twist and turn in directions it wasn't supposed to go.

He sighed. "Do you feel feverish? Stiff anywhere, like your stomach or neck? Is your heart pounding?"

I sighed, too. "Yes, I swear it's over 300 degrees; yes, in my neck; yes, and we just got into an accident, of course my heart's pounding, Justin." I tightened the grip on my foot.

I heard another I'm sorry from Max.

Justin turned back around. "Max, let me drive, if it even will. Sit with Alex in case she needs anything."

I rolled my eyes. The pain began to subside in my foot.

Justin and Max got out, but I wasn't offering up the other side of the car, so Max sat in shotgun.

When Justin tried to start it, it groaned but went through with starting.

For awhile, Justin sped through the empty roads as if there weren't any signs limiting going over 80 mph, until we entered this small town. Throughout one of the streets along the highway, a row of stores and other buildings were all lined up. It was strange, but Justin somehow found this big building with a bunch of different entrances.

Once I recognized what it was, I groaned loudly.

Justin slowly pressed on the brake. "What's wrong? What hurts?"

I covered my face with my hands, like Max had done earlier. "Why are we here, Justin?"

He sighed. "I think you have tetanus."

Tetanus. It sounded familiar, like I'd heard it before. "What's that?"

He placed his hand on the back of Max's headrest. "It's, like, the contamination of your nervous system. You can get painful muscle contractions, particularly in your jaw and neck muscles."

I placed my hand under my jaw when he said. Unusually, I understood what he said. Then a nervous thought traveled through my brain. "It's not... serious or anything. Right?"

He glanced in another direction for a moment and turned back around. "We should get inside in case it's crowded." There weren't any cars in sight.

He didn't answer my question, but I didn't know if I should ask it again.

We parked in a deserted lot, and we all got out. Justin grabbed below my elbow to help me walk.

"Justin? I think I can walk."

He almost protested, but didn't speak.

As we all walked, I realized how creepy this whole thing was. "It feels like zombies have invaded this whole place." The thought made me shudder even though I was burning up. It reminded me a bit of Silent Hill, with the hazy air and deserted environment.

When we walked through the front entrance, the strangest but familiar feeling tingeled my skin and insides. It was a cooling sensation. Goosebumps invaded all over my skin. Justin was the one who named the sensation.

"They have air-conditioning? They have electricity! How is this possible?" He then began to rant about some parts of the country, world even, having electricity.

I ignored him and looked around. It wasn't like what you saw in movies, or maybe it was just because of the moon, but this whole hospital was deserted. No ringing phones, no bawling people waiting for the news, no lullaby signaling the birth of a newborn baby. My zombie theory didn't sound so crazy right now.

I pulled on Justin's shirt. "Hey, what if, like, nobody's here. Not even a doctor or anything."

He rolled his eyes. "There's obviously not going to be electricity if nobody's here, Alex."

But suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something dart off down a hallway. "Justin," I whispered. "I just saw something over there." I pointed.

"Hey!" he called out. He started to follow in that direction. Max followed him.

I pulled on his shirt again. "Justin!" I whispered.

He turned around with an annoyed expression.

"What if it's, like, a (zombie) crazy person?" I asked skeptically. I felt really vulnerable right then.

"It's not an asylum, Alex." He paused. "Do you want to stay here then? Max and I'll follow him while you wait here," he offerred, even though he already knew my answer. That reminded me of an episode of Scooby Doo.

"No," I whispered to both Justin and myself.

"Let's go then." he grabbed my hand and we all ran down the hallway following the stranger.

I began to think we were going around in circles as Justin led me around, until he stopped abruptly, and I smacked right into him.

"Sorry," he whispered.

I noticed a door suddenly open in front of us, and two older people came strolling. Not old old, but mid-forties maybe. A man was wearing a white labcoat, and a woman was wearing a white blouse and some beige khakis. The man smiled and spoke, "Welcome to Sea Valley Hospital."

A boy suddenly my age came out also.

The man spoke again. "I'm doctor Greyback, my wife, and my son Mason."

I don't know their names! I'm sorry. Was this the worst thing your eyes had read? I'm so, so, so, sorry! Was this, like, so stupid, too? Gosh, I feel so bad for writing this crappy. I'm so sorry. Please, please, please forgive me.

Please review.