Living at the End of the World

Chapter 2

"Whats going on?" Lori shouted over the loud wind that roared outside, still loud from inside. I sat on the floor in the back of the cabin, all seven kids cuddled up under blankets, and two others cuddled with their mother.

"It's just a bad storm. We'll be alright." I tried to reassure the kids, smiling as bright as I could manage. Ever since the earth was nearly destroyed, the storms that rage on have been really bad.

"It'll be over soon!" Megan, Carl's wife, smiled as well, running her fingers through her daughter's short locks.

I shifted Bridget a bit, so she sat more comfortably on my lap next to Okan. I chewed on my bottom lip, worrying about my friend June. She was in the main building when the storm hit, preparing dinner with some of the others. Most of the kids were crying, but I didn't try to stop them. I wanted to cry too.

The wind howled so loud, I could barely hear them anyway. I could hear crashes and what sounded like wood splintering, just barely above the wind.

I looked at all the kids, making sure they were all here. Okan and Bridget were on my lap; Lori was against my right side and Katy was on the left. Jake sat with Lacey on the other side of Katy, and Leo was cuddled up next to Lori. Franky, Carl and Megan's oldest, sat next to Leo holding his youngest sister Keara. The two siblings had been in here playing with the other kids, and Megan and I had been chatting.

There was a creak and a crash, and the storm found it's way inside the cabin through a giant hole. A tree had fallen, straight through the roof, destroying over half of the cabin. I cursed under my breath and wrapped my arms around as many kids as I could. And then the storm was over as fast as it had started.

We all sat still, the only way out blocked by the tree. I shifted Okan and Bridget to the floor and stood up on shaky legs. I licked my lips and stepped towards the tree carefully, looking up at the branches towering over my head. It looked like a pine tree, most of the needles having been blown off.

"Mommy?" Okan grabbed my hand, Bridget on my other side.

"Well, um... e-everyone alright?" I turned to look at Megan and the kids. The kids I considered mine stood up slowly, checking themselves and each other over.

"We're fine. Just... wet." Lacey shakily made her way to me, wiping rain and tears off her face. "M-maybe we should go to the main building..."

I shook my head. "We would if there was a way out. That tree has us pinned in."

Megan studied the tree as well, running her hands through her brown hair. She mumbled to herself before sighing deeply. "I'm sure the others will come to check on us."

I nodded and began to wring out the blankets we had previously been wrapped up in. The older kids helped, and after awhile we were all sitting again. Okan, Keara and Loretta were sitting to one side, playing amongst themselves while Lacey, Franky, Leo and Jake sat to the other side, talking. Bridget sat on my lap sucking her knuckles, a habit she developed when she's nervous, and Katy sat curled up against my side. Megan sat across from me, silently chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Why's it taking so long for the others to find us?" Katy ran her finger along my hand, and I closed my hand around hers.

"I don't know." We sat there for awhile, and the kids dropped off to sleep soon enough.

It seemed like ages before we finally heard shouts. "Alana! Megan! Are you out there?!"

I stood quickly, setting Bridget down and cupping my hands over my mouth. "We're here! In cabin two! We have kids, we're here!" The kids all started yelling too, except Bridget. Megan yelled too, our voices hopefully carrying over and to whoever was calling for us.

~sorry it's short... kinda got into a few of my othere stories.