"The atomic waste is all gone! It's safe to go back to your homes." The radio blasts. If your home is still here, I thought. I don't really want to leave, I don't want to see what happened to my parents... But I have to leave, or else I'll go insane and starve. I gulp, gaining some courage. I walk to the ladder and climb up it. I see a trail of blood on the pavement. Half of my house was destroyed. Blasted soldiers! My fists clench together, but release quickly. I walk into the grass, into the front yard. It's now daytime, so it's easier to see everything. I had to spend the night in the safe hold, due to atomic waste being in the air. There's not a trace of a body (minus the blood), but it doesn't mean that my parents are still alive. I look across the street and see a sad Katelyn crossing it. "Katelyn... Katelyn!" I call out, running over to her. "What's wrong?" I ask. "My father.. H-He died." She shudders, years threatening to fall from her eyes. "So did mine... It's going to be ok." I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Katelyn engulfs me in a hug and starts crying on my shoulder. I rub small circles into her back in attempt to soothe her and calm her down. She sniffles, then leaves my grasp. "Let's go get our friends... Ok?" I smile at her. Katelyn nods, rubbing her nose. Her and I start walking to where our friends houses used to be.

50 Minutes Later

"Laurance, Cadenza, Garroth, Vylad, Zane and Travis... Katelyn and I called you here for a meeting. As we've been told, your parents have recently... Passed, and I have a solution." I greet. "How're we going to solve something that can't be solved?" Cadenza asks. I glance at Katelyn, smirking. Katelyn
smirks at me, then looks back at the crowd of kids in front of us. "By surviving." Katelyn says. The crowd's eyes widen. "H-How?" Travis questions. "That part... We haven't really figured out yet. But we're all either 11 or 12, and we'll be able to do this!" I exclaim, "But I'm 9..." Vylad reminds sheepishly. I walk over to him, kneeling down to his level (He's also sitting down), "You're the strongest 9 year old I know." I smile. Vylad returns the gesture, then I stand up at full height. I walk back over to Katelyn. "Whenever there is a bomb fall, we'll stay at Aphmau's safe hold. She has the most food in it and the biggest amount of resources. When we split up, I want you all to go to your safe holds and get supplies, then take it to Aphmau's." Katelyn commands. An officer shines his flashlight down the alleyway we're in. We're not supposed to be in alleyways. "Hey! Who's there?" The mans voice booms. "Kids! Hey!" The officer yells. "Run!" I exclaim. The group and I start running. The officer gains speed, "Faster!" Katelyn calls out. The group picks up their pace, "I'll hold him off." Laurance offers. "We can't have you do that." I state. Laurance stops running, but I have too much speed to stop in time to pull him back with us. I continue to run, wishing him the best of luck.

LAURANCE

I know everyone has too much speed to stop me, so I slow down and eventually stop running. The cop catches up and places handcuffs on my wrists. "Where're your parents?" He growls. I muster a fake sniffle, "D-Dead. My father died last night during the bombs and my mother abandoned us a while ago." Even know it might've been a fake sniffle, the information was true. The handcuffs suddenly leave my wrists. "I understand. Did the same thing happen to your friends?" He asks. I nod. "At least our parents dying, yes." I add. The officer has a look of sympathy draining in his eyes. "I'm sorry, lad. Come on, lets get you back to them. Do you have any idea on where'd they be?" He leads me thru the rest of the alleyway, some footprints from my friends being left behind. "I have an idea on where." I lead the officer to my house, where I see Garroth helping Cadenza get some supplies from the tin structure. "I got it from here, Officer... Thanks." I thank him. "Are you sure?" He seems uneasy leaving me and a bunch of kids alone. "Positive!" Cadenza yells from a few feet away. I nod, agreeing with her. The officer tips his hat then walks off. I take a breath of relief, then help Garroth and Cadenza.

APHMAU

Once everyone gets to my safe hold, we stock all the supplies in their chosen places. "And, we're done!" I wipe a bit of sweat from my forehead. The kids cheer. "We won't be staying here, tho. We need to save all the supplies for when there's a bomb. Nobody knows how long atomic waste will last, yesterday we got lucky that it cleared up in a couple hours. Do not use this until it's absolutely necessary." I command. Everyone nods, "Where're we going to sleep?" Asks Travis. "Here until the journey." I state. "What journey?" Zane asks. "You guys don't have to come, but I'm planning on leaving the UK." I inform. Gasps range thru the crowd. Not even Katelyn knew about this, and she's the co-creator in this whole scheme. Travis steps from the crowd of kids, "I'm coming." He states. Garroth's next, "Count me in." He says, a smile plastered on his face. After that it's Laurance, Cadenza, Vylad and Katelyn. The only person who hasn't stepped up is Zane. "Zane, will you be coming?" I ask. Zane shrugs, then steps forward. "Sure." He says. I put my hand in the middle of us. "We'll survive... Hoorah on 3..." After I say that, everyone stacks their hand on top of mine. "1.... 2.... 3..." I count down, "HOORAH!" All of us yell, throwing our hands into the air. Hope rushes thru my system. It may be tricky, but we'll get thru this.