Kay, gotta say first: I cannot BELIEVE how many people like this! Thanks so much you guys! It seriously touches me that you all seem to enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. So thanks to ALL of you who reviewed and favorited. You have made my month.

I'm sorry for the wait on this one. This chapter was unbelievably uncooperative. *shakes fist*

Enjoy!

…

"Oh, move it already!" Jennifer Knight shouted at the cars in front of her. She sighed heavily and planted her forehead on the steering wheel. The traffic was backed up so much she could probably get out and walk back to the Palm Woods. "This is ridiculous."

She was about to take out her phone and call Kendall to tell him she would be late for dinner when the ground began to shake. Jennifer grasped the steering wheel watching in horror as the tremors grew more violent, rocking the cars in front of her before reaching her own car. She was thrown in her seat, the seatbelt catching her and bruising her collarbone painfully.

Earthquake? Here? The tremors continued to shake her car, but Jennifer only had one thought: what happened at the Palm Woods?

…

Katie had never been more scared in her life. She tugged on Kendall's free arm again, but her brother didn't move. His face had gone freakishly pale, almost ashen. The only way she could be sure he was alive was by his ragged breathing, and even then that wasn't reassuring. It sounded rattled and unnatural, uneven and dangerous.

Miraculously, she wasn't hurt. When Kendall had pushed her out of the way of the falling chunk of ceiling she'd hit her head against the wall, but she'd been otherwise unfazed. Stupid, stupid move. But that was Kendall, always doing stupid, protective things.

With nothing better to do, Katie stood on shaky legs and tried again to reach the door. The ceiling piece wasn't too big, but it was leaning right on the door, covering the wood and even parts of the wall next to it. Overhead was the fourth floor. Dust flew about in the room overhead and she could see the fourth floor's ceiling, which seemed more or less intact. She didn't think anyone had been in the room above them, because no one was talking or screaming in pain. But that didn't say much, considering neither was Kendall.

Katie ran a hand along the side of the slab, feeling the jagged edges dig into her skin. Parts of the plaster crumbled in her hand. She ground her teeth together. Why couldn't the rest of it do that? Maybe if she got something to ram it into the center of the slab of ceiling, she could break it apart and get help that way. Looking around the room, she spotted the lamp on the side table where the couch used to be. It was heavy-looking. Hopefully heavy enough to smash its way through a ceiling slab.

Getting over there was another thing. Katie winced, reaching down to rub her bleeding feet absentmindedly. Aside from the broken furniture and glass littered all over the floor, there were parts of the carpet that was just carpet—no structural floor to keep it up. She discovered that when she accidentally stepped on a spot where there was no floor, almost dropping onto the second story if she hadn't caught herself at the last minute.

Katie looked at Kendall and listened to his rattled breathing. If it meant getting him help, Katie would do anything. She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again, eyes fixed on her prize.

She carefully stepped in the places she knew to be safe, having tested them already. Her heels stung, but she ignored it. She stopped at the couch wedged against the window and turned, spotting the lamp a few feet away lying discarded on the ground. The shade had been ripped off, but she didn't need that. She needed the base.

Katie bit her lip and gingerly took a step forward. She tested the floor. It held. Sighing in relief, she moved her feet to that spot and repeated the process. In seconds, she was next to the lamp. Picking it up, Katie confirmed that its weight should work against the ceiling plaster. Maybe.

She was on her way back when the floor opened up and she dropped like a rock. Katie screamed, flailing as she let go of the lamp. White closed around her vision, blinding her and blanketing her in a world of opaque whiteness. Her scream cut off as she choked and coughed on the dust and plaster particles flying through the air.

The drop was over before she realized it. She hit the ground hard on her shoulder, and then dropped another foot as she rolled off of the table she had landed on. Pain and disorientation dominated her consciousness for a good thirty seconds before her sudden bout of vertigo ended. Finally feeling like she knew which way was up and which way was down, Katie climbed slowly to her feet, clutching at her head.

"Oh, my gosh," she whispered as she looked back up the hole in amazement. How was she not seriously injured? Other than the cuts that started bleeding again from the fall, Katie was shaken but unhurt. She looked around the new room she was in, not recognizing it. What was more, it was uninhabited and looked relatively intact.

Her eyes fell on the door. "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed. Katie carefully stepped her way to the door, unlocking it and flinging the door open. The hallway was in shambles, pictures strewn from the walls and dust and white plaster covering the carpeted floor.

She was closer to the stairs than the elevator, although it didn't really matter since using an elevator now would probably be a very bad idea. Katie placed a hand on the wall to guide her and made her way one step at a time to the door of the staircase. Small fires burned from fallen wall lamps, but she moved around them and finally made it to the door. Finally made it down the stairs. Finally made it out of the lobby.

Katie stopped and stared at the destruction before her.

…

Kendall woke slowly this time. Awareness came faster—mostly because of the pain on his chest. Shifting ever so slightly to prop himself on his elbows send spurts of fire in the form of pins and needled through his limbs. Kendall gasped and let his body go limp again, not ready to move.

This was going to drive him crazy, not being able to move from this position. His head was lying on something uncomfortable, too, but each time he turned his head a new wave of pain washed over him. How long was he going to have to stay here? Because if it were days before he was rescued, he would go insane.

His green eyes fixed on the ceiling, noting the giant gaping hole above his head. That must have been where the slab on his chest came from. He could see the light bulbs from the story's ceiling above him flickering on and off. That was going to drive him crazy, too. Kendall suddenly felt restless, an extreme desire to just move and get out of here overtaking his will. Panic gripped him and he started to thrash around from under the slab of ceiling, jolting pain through his body and ignoring it. He strained to push the ceiling off of his chest, screaming as if that would make it better. Tears of frustration leaked from his eyes, but he wiped them quickly with his torn sleeve and stopped pushing on the slab.

Pain hit him after he'd given up. Kendall clenched his teeth together and growled through them. The edges of his vision darkened suddenly like a sideline hit into the boards. He almost blacked out again, but Kendall shook his head slightly and took a breath. The breath was shallow, but it worked. The pain throbbed and then faded until it was a dull ache throughout his body.

Kendall opened his eyes tiredly. No way was he doing that again. At least now his left arm was free, so he now had two free hands to… to do what? Play rock, paper, scissors with Katie?

Katie.

Kendall suddenly realized that it was strangely quiet. Where was his sister? He tried to look around but moving in any way threatened to send him into spiraling unconsciousness again.

"Katie," he called. His voice was hoarse from screaming, but the word got out just the same. "Katie?"

No answer.

Kendall felt panic rising up in his chest again and swallowed it down. He couldn't see the door, but maybe she found a way out?

Or maybe she was more hurt than she'd let on and was now lying unconscious on the floor.

"Katie!" Kendall smacked his head against the floor in frustration, wishing he weren't stuck here under this slab, wishing he knew where his sister was and if she was okay, wishing that this earthquake had never happened and that everything would be back to normal. Kendall bit his lip hard and, for the first time in a long time, closed his eyes to pray.