"Isn't it beautiful here baby!" Carmen exclaimed as she stretched out her arms and took a deep breath. The view was splendid and the air was really fresh.

"Yeah…" Shane said rather unenthusiastically. She didn't want to be out here on the beach, preferring to be at the hotel, on the bed, doing some things she would… ahem- enjoy very much.

But Carmen didn't want to do that. She wanted to come out here onto the beach and take a stroll. Shane protested as much as she could, but it was of no use.

"You don't sound very happy about being out here."

"I just think it's too early!"

"What's the point of taking a holiday half-way across the globe, only to remain in the hotel?"

"I don't know; so that we can fuck our brains out?" Shane asked gleefully, hoping that Carmen would change her mind about staying in bed.

"Shane, we busted our savings to come here to Phuket. YOU were the one who was adamant about coming here." Carmen was pissed now.

"Yeah… I'm not complaining, I just think that 7 a.m. is a little too early to be out here. This is a holiday, shouldn't we be entitled to sleep in a little later?"

"Fine go back to sleep… I will stay here myself and take in all the fresh air."

"Okay okay… anything you want baby. Your wish is my command." Shane lifted her hands in defeat, seeing the beach now, she had to admit that it was beautiful. It might have been too early in her dictionary, but the rays of the early morning sun was a refreshing change.

"That's better. I promise that it will be worth your while baby." Carmen took a few steps to come up before Shane, and on tiptoes, gave Shane a chaste kiss. Before she could pull away, Shane grabbed her waist and hugged her close. She brought her face down to claim Carmen's lips, and the kiss was anything but chaste.

"Shane…" Carmen tried to pull away, fully aware of the displeased eyes of the locals. They were in the least touristy spot of the island and the residents here weren't used to public displays of affection, let alone one involving two lesbians. "Shane!" Carmen got out just as Shane pulled a little away for air. Shane refused to relent and reclaimed Carmen's lips but Carmen pushed away just in time.

"Aww… baby… you are no fun today." Shane pouted, crossing her arms like a little child. Carmen couldn't help but laugh. She loved it when Shane pouted like that, a vulnerable side she didn't show very often to others.

"Later… I will make sure that your patience is well rewarded." Carmen whispered seductively into Shane's ear. "Only if you promise to be good."

Shane gave Carmen a goofy little grin, and they continued enjoying the beautiful scenery along the beach.

As they sat side by side on the beach, just basking in the glow of the sun and the warm breeze, Carmen suddenly turned to Shane and asked. "What time is it now?"

Shane looked at her watch. "7.30 a.m., why?"

Carmen smiled secretively.

"Why? Whassup?"

Without saying another word, Carmen got up from the sand. When Shane made a move to get up as well, Carmen stopped her.

"Baby, you stay here for a while. Give me a few minutes and I will be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I've got a little surprise for you, and it is over at the hotel. I promise to be back here in 10 minutes," Carmen purred.

Carmen had arranged for a boat ride with Shane to the outer islands of Thailand, somewhere where they could have a nice little picnic together and then have some fun in the sand. Her plan was to get Shane out here onto the beach, then go meet the boatman and come fetch her baby in the speedboat. The first part of the plan worked perfectly, as she had fully expected Shane to grumble about coming out so early. And now, to make certain the second part worked as well.

"What have you got up your sleeve?" Shane eyed Carmen suspiciously, trying to hide the fact that she was very touched that Carmen made an effort to plan something for her.

"Baby… Just trust me and stay here okay?" Carmen grinned. She leaned down to place a kiss on Shane lips before stepping away.

"Okay." Shane stretched a little before leaning back, supporting herself on her locked arms as she watched Carmen walk away.

When Carmen was out of sight, Shane turned back to face the beautiful clear green sea. This was almost a dream come true. After an influential client raved about this beautiful island in the heart of South East Asia, Shane made it a point to bring Carmen out here for their third anniversary. This same influential client paid a shit load of money for Shane's services, and she figured that the money was enough to cover the trip. Carmen protested at first, but in the end couldn't resist Shane's persuasion methods.

Shane grinned happily. Carmen was easy to persuade, she couldn't resist her little pouts and her puppy dog gazes. And now, they were in this wonderful land far off from the fast paced lifestyle in L.A.

Shane looked at the soft tides crashing onto the sand. It was so peaceful here she could just spend the rest of her life here and be happy. Maybe that was something they should do. She looked around to where Carmen had gone, wishing that she would hurry back.

'I'm such a dork, missing my baby already after 5 minutes.' Shane shook her head with a smile. When she turned back around to the ocean, she noticed the water receding rapidly. There were some tremors and Shane sat up straight. Something was wrong, but her eyes remained transfixed on the beautiful coral reefs that the receding water revealed.

"Mummy, it's a tsunami!" A little girl screamed. The woman beside her tried to calm her down. And by now there was a huge gathering at the edge of the beach to look at this wonderful phenomenon.

Shane wished Carmen was here to see this too. The colourful reefs were a spectacular sight, unlike anything she had seen before. It was beautiful, but at the same time very disturbing. Shane stood up, but she didn't walk closer to the water line. Instead she took some steps backwards; an uncomfortable feeling crept up inside her and her instinct told her that she should be looking for Carmen. She walked briskly up towards the hotel, throwing occasional glances backwards towards the beach. The waterline had receded back dangerously, and Shane wished that the people wouldn't stand so close to the edge. There were even people, mainly locals, walking up to the reefs to take a closer look at the fishes that were flipping about due to lack of water.

Shane picked up her pace towards the hotel. Suddenly she heard screams coming from the beach, and as she threw a glance backwards a catastrophic wave at least 10 stories high made its way towards the beach at breakneck speed. She ran as fast as she could, all she could think of at the moment was to find Carmen.

She couldn't run fast enough, and the first waves of water surged past her feet. It was difficult to run as the water gushed past her. But Shane continued making her way towards the inlands. A woman in front of her carrying a child couldn't withstand the force of the water and she fell onto the ground. Shane scurried over and helped her up. Neither of them wasted time with words as they picked up the pace again. Shane ran faster but stopped in her tracks as she saw a little girl standing on the side of a pavement crying. She ran over and picked the kid up… not caring whose it was or if the kid's parents were around. She only knew that she should get the kid to safety.

She heard a voice crying out after her, and when she turned to see, she saw a slight local woman running after her. The kid in her arms immediately reacted and Shane knew that she was the girl's mother. Shane slowed her pace a little and as the woman caught up with her, she handed the kid to her mother and pointed towards the direction of the hill.

Shane took a little detour from where everyone was running to, and ran in the direction of the hotel. She was pushed and shoved by the people running against her, but she was determined to find Carmen. When at last she reached the entrance of the hotel, a huge surge of water swept her off her feet and she was submerged into the dirty water.

Carmen was dragged up the hill against her will. She protested as hard as she could. "Shane… I need to find Shane!" She screamed at the boatman who was dragging her. "Missy, beach no more. Waves take beach. We go up hill…!" The boatman screamed, trying to grab the hysterical Carmen and prevent her from going towards the beach.

"Nooo! I gotta get Shane." Carmen screamed again.

"Miss. Come! Come!" The boatman refused to let Carmen go. He pulled her up the hill and was just a few steps away from the first of the waves crashing at the foot of the small hill. He slipped and fell, pulling Carmen down along with him. But they were high enough and close enough to safety. Carmen took the chance to turn tail and run, wanting to get to her Shane. But as soon as she ran, she was swarmed by the crowd coming in the opposite direction. She looked at the bottom of the hill in desperation. She couldn't make it down now even if she wanted to. Everything was covered in brown murky water, and it was impossible to move about.

Tears flowed freely down her face.

She felt so guilty. 'Shouldn't have left Shane there alone. Shouldn't have. What have I done!' Her legs gave way to desperation and she fell onto the ground.

Carmen stared blankly down at the scene beneath the hill… tides swept over the lower regions and devastation reeked in the air. She could hear screaming from people on the hills and people struggling against the current in the water. A few bodies floated around and Carmen prayed hard that Shane's wasn't one of them. The water receded and Carmen thought it was her chance to get down the hill, but the sight stopped her completely in her tracks. The village as she knew it was almost flattened to the ground. Houses made of wood and straw lay in shambles. She caught sight of a car stranded on the top of a coconut tree, and glancing further off, she saw the next wave hit the shores and gushed up the inlands.

'Shane might have made it up the hill!' Carmen thought suddenly. She picked herself up from the ground and started running through the masses of people. Local and foreigners packed the hilltop and there were great amounts of hysteria going around. Carmen ran through the crowd in search of Shane. But as she passed more and more injured people, the fear built up inside.

She stopped to help a woman who was bleeding profusely from the leg. There was a deep cut around the calf but it didn't stop the woman from continuing to make it to safe grounds. Carmen tore off the belt she had on and tightened it around the woman's knee, trying to stop the bleeding.

Carmen started helping more and more people up the long and narrow path. The thoughts of Shane rested in the back of her head, but the instant reaction she had was to help the women and children who were swept away by the tides. The tears continued to flow freely but Carmen didn't stop, choosing instead to help the injured up to higher ground.

As she carried a little girl up, Carmen took a long look at the devastation around her. Many people were trying to help those in need, and there were even more people weeping as the reality of missing relatives sat in. Carmen didn't want to think. Shane would be okay. This wasn't the time to cower in shock.

Shane knew from her days as a surfer that you shouldn't fight the currents. She let herself flow with the tides and took pains to avoid the obstacles in the way. She could feel her arms and body acquiring cuts and bruises from floating metal and glass in the water, but she knew that as long as she stayed conscious, everything would be fine. When the waves receded, Shane allowed herself to flow towards the sea along with it. Initial panic told her to swim against it to safety, but she knew that it would be useless. She saw bodies floating past her, and her stomach churned in disgust. Shane tried to shake off the fear, wanting only for this to end so that she could find Carmen.

As the next surge of waves hit, Shane found herself swept back towards the inlands in breakneck speed. Suddenly something under the water hit her in the back, knocking the air out of her. She struggled to keep afloat, refusing to let the pain consume her. As she regained her breath, she heard a little cry a few feet away from her. Focusing her eyes where the sound came from, Shane saw a little boy staying afloat on a large wooden plank, hanging on to dear life. Shane swam hard towards him. When she reached him, the boy looked at her with shock and horror, and he started crying even louder.

"Shhh… it's going to be okay." Shane consoled him as she put her arms around him and the plank, making sure that they both hung onto it.

"My mummy…" He cried, "She went under the water…!"

Shane hushed the little Chinese boy with sadness. There wasn't much she could do, and she knew that it meant that the mother was lost to the waves. She paddled her legs towards the inlands, going along with the direction of the tides. She desperately hoped that they would make it to the hill before the water started pulling back again.

The boy in her arms started drifting towards unconsciousness. Shane let go of one hand and started slapping him lightly, wanting to keep him awake. He looked at her in desperation and she smiled softly at him, wordlessly encouraging him to continue on.

The hills came closer and closer towards Shane, and with one last effort, she swam as hard as she could towards it with the boy in her arms. The water started pulling back again, and Shane panicked, not wanting to be swept backwards. Suddenly she felt her feet touch ground and with one last attempt, she grabbed the boy off the plank and started striding in the mud as quick as she could. The water pulled back far enough and Shane started running on the soft ground, careful to avoid sharp objects and willing herself not to fall. She made her way as fast as she could towards higher ground, hoping to reach it before the next waves came in.

Carmen gathered bottles of water from the hotel on the hill and set about distributing it to the masses. She was tired, but she pushed on, hoping to find Shane amongst the people resting around. Other than the crying, everyone kept relatively silent, most still in shock from what had happened.

"Take a rest." A British man told her as he took the carton of water away from her. Carmen shook her head no, not wanting to have time to dwell on her over-zealous emotions and she headed back up the hill towards the hotel to get a fresh supply. She took as many towels as she could carry and made her way to the lower parts of the hills. As she started distributing the towels to the folks that made it up after the tides receded the first time, Carmen's eyes came upon a figure that resembled Shane's. Carmen ran towards that woman, not even caring that the woman was wearing something different from the white wifebeater Shane had on. But when the woman turned around, disappointment and sadness washed over her. That wasn't her Shane.

'Then where is my Shane?' She thought sadly. As the time went by, Carmen grew more and more desperate. Her hopes for the survival of her girlfriend diminished with every person she helped that was not Shane. She looked down at the village, and as the new waves came gushing up, Carmen spotted more and more bodies floating in the water. When at last she allowed panic to consume her, Carmen dropped the towels on the ground and fainted right on top of them.

As Shane reached high enough ground, a couple of guys came up to her and one of them offloaded the kid from her. Fatigue took over and her knees went weak. A guy shouting orders in Thai was at hand to grab her and she leaned into him for support.

He helped her make her way up the hill to safer grounds, and as they walked on slowly, Shane noticed a small commotion a little off the track, a group of people were fawning over someone who had just fainted. And there were orders being barked as some of the men attempted to carry the lady up the hill. Too tired to be curious, Shane allowed the volunteers to help her, accepting the towel that warmed her up and the water she desperately needed.

Shane didn't know that the lady in question was her Carmen.

Carmen opened her eyes slowly to find the sun glaring down on her. The rays made her eyes sting and she brought her hand up to shade them. Vaguely remembering the whole incident, Carmen wondered if it had only been a dream. She willed her eyes shut again, wishing wholeheartedly that it had been only a nightmare, and Shane's comforting arms would embrace her any moment soon.

"Mama! The lady is awake!" A little girl called out to her mother. Carmen opened her eyes again and there was a little face peering down on her. A little girl with red curly hair and mud smeared face smiled at her and she brought her tiny fingers up to wipe the sweat off Carmen's forehead.

"Ah… How are you feeling, miss?" A robust lady came up to her and asked in a European accent. Carmen smiled slightly at the pair, she sighed internally as she realize that everything that she thought had happened, happened. The disaster, the catastrophic tsunami, the tidal waves happened, and Shane… Shane was still missing.

"Shane!" Carmen called out suddenly, giving a fright to the lady and the little girl.

She sat up briskly and tried to stand up. But the kind lady held her hand firmly against her shoulder.

"Dearie, you should rest. Your husband will be just fine."

"Shane… my girlfriend… She is still out there, I left her on the beach… I… I shouldn't have left her on the beach." The little girl put her arms around Carmen and the comforting embrace finally caused Carmen to break down and cry. Finally facing up to her own sorrow.

"It will be okay…" The little girl said sadly, "My daddy is out there somewhere too." The little voice traced off into a whisper, and Carmen turned to look at the little girl in horror. She glanced at the woman and saw her tearing up. Carmen put her arms around the both of them and they all hugged each other and had a good cry.

When at last the wave of emotions subsided, the little girl pulled away and said, "Mama, I want to go over there to look at the little Chinese boy."

Both Carmen and the lady looked over at the direction the girl pointed to and the robust lady smiled.

"Okay Anna… But be sure you are where I can see you. I don't want to lose you in the crowd."

Anna nodded her agreement and ran towards the direction she pointed to.

"Now dearie, what's your name?"

"Carmen."

"Good, my name is Gertrude. And I am from Switzerland."

Carmen sniffed and she looked up into the kind and patient eyes. "I'm from Los Angeles." She couldn't believe that Gertrude's husband was missing and yet she could find it in her heart to help others.

"Don't you worry, Carmen. Your Shane will be just fine." Gertrude placed a comforting arm around Carmen and settled down beside her.

"Thank you. And your husband will be okay too." Carmen said in return.

"Yeah I know. Robbie will come back to me. I just know it in my bones."

They sat there in silence. Not knowing if what they thought was true. Many lives had been lost and the disaster was far from over. Carmen knew that unless they saw their other halves in person, chances were they would not appear. But until she saw Shane's body, she refused to believe that Shane was gone.

Shaking the thought out of her head, Carmen rose slowly up. Just as Gertrude was kind enough to help her in spite of her own sorrow, she could in turn help others as she awaited Shane's return.

'My baby will return to me!' She thought as she drew a deep breath in.

"How is he?" Shane asked as she wrapped the towel closer around herself. At this moment she wished she was a doctor so that she could take care of all the unconscious people. The Chinese boy she saved fainted along the path and now rested safely on the grass patch beside Shane.

"Still breathing, I think he is just exhausted. Poor boy." A Thai local that spoke perfect English answered. His ragged suit suggested that he was a waiter, probably from one of the hotels in the lower regions. Shane sighed as she looked at the boy, now sleeping peacefully. She wondered what would happen to this little boy when all the dirt settled, and the disaster was over.

Right now though, her thoughts were consumed by the fact that she was on dry land, and she should be looking for Carmen. She tried to push herself up, but realized that her back was so sore that any movement she made a piercing pain rush through her. She must've hurt her back really badly when that object slammed into her in the water.

Sighing frustrated, Shane decided to rest a few more moments before making her way through the mass of people to look for her Carmen.

A little girl skipped over from the other side of the hill towards the little Chinese boy. She kneeled down beside him and wiped his head with her tiny fingers. She noticed Shane glancing at her and she looked up, eyes running over her inquisitively.

"Hello, are you feeling better?" The little girl asked.

"Yeah, thank you." Shane smiled at the warmth the little girl radiated.

"My name is Anna, what's yours?" Anna extended her hand out to Shane and Shane shook it.

"Hi Anna, my name is Sh "

Just then, another tremor shook the island, and there were cries of desperation everywhere. The volunteers worked rapidly to calm the crowd down, but hysteria traveled around like a fast spreading virus.

Shane stood up, her back hurting badly. But she didn't care, Anna started screaming in fear, running and tumbling as she made her way back in the direction she had come from.

"Mama! Mama!" She called out. Shane wanted to follow. But when she saw Anna jump into the arms of a rounded lady, she sighed with relief and focused on other people who might need help.

"Stay down Miss, you are injured and it is not good that you run around." The Thai man said to Shane. He barked another set of orders in Thai to a family of locals and ran off to calm as many people as he could.

Shane stared back out to the ocean, a loud crashing sound occurred and Shane knew that it could only mean that another tidal wave had hit the village. Suddenly, a whole mass of people ran up the hill from below, and it could only mean that the waves had hit far higher than before.

Carmen!

Shane pushed the pain to the back of her mind and stood up again. This time, her eyes roved frantically, looking around to see if Carmen were amongst those running uphill. She took a few steps forward to look at the bottom of the hill, and the devastation she saw caused a lump to get stuck in her throat. Shane hurried back to the Chinese boy and picked him up, not wanting him to get trampled upon by the wave of people hurrying up the hill…

"Carmen!" Shane called out, praying to dear god that maybe somehow, Carmen would hear her cry and find her.

Carmen stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. Shane! Did she hear Shane call her? It was impossible; there were so much screaming going on that it was difficult to even hear Gertrude right behind her. Anna had run up into her arms and Gertrude held Anna as close as she could. Carmen looked at the wave of people running uphill, and she started making her way downwards to help the older folks up. The cry of her name was slowly forgotten as she put her heart into helping out. She listened to a local Thai man in a ragged waiter suit who spoke perfect English bark out orders to the volunteers and tried as best as she could to calm the people down. Communication was no longer a problem as universal sign languages mended the language barrier between foreigners and locals alike.

As the tremors subsided and the people calmed down, Carmen sat down onto the ground exhausted. The waves were still raging inlands, but they now seemed lower than before and it was in no more danger of reaching anyone of them. Heaving a resigned breath, Carmen started up the hill towards the make-shift first aid tent, hoping to get a sip of water there and see if there was anything she could do. Her eyes still roamed around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Shane amongst the people around her, now more densely occupied.

Shane sat the Chinese boy down onto the grass again. Another kind old lady volunteered to hold the boy and signaled to Shane that everything would be alright. Shane nodded her thanks and made her way towards the make-shift first aid tent. Her back was killing her and the cuts she'd acquired were burning from the dried up salt of the seawater. She knew that if she was to help out at all, she needed to get her wounds attended to first. Then she could move quicker around to look for her Carmen.

"Is there anything I can do?" Carmen asked as she took a bottle of water from the volunteer. She gulped it down as she listened to the instructions given by a Caucasian doctor who came to the island on a holiday.

"The doctor there needs a nurse to help him. Could you help him until we can find a real nurse? Thank you!" The doctor hurriedly pointed to an Indian doctor attending to an old lady with a big piece of glass stuck in her shoulder. Carmen winced as she saw the open wound. But she knew that it wasn't time to be squeamish and she jogged over to help the doctor.

"Hey, I'm Carmen, is there anything I can do for you?"

The doctor looked up briefly with furrowed brows and looked back down at the wound. "Hi, I'm Simon and yah, could you please help me hold the piece of glass? I need to cut open the wound a little to pull it out."

Carmen wanted to puke at the sight of the wound and the smell of dried blood overwhelmed her. But she held her breath and did as the doctor had asked, closing her eyes tightly as she didn't want to see what the doctor was going to do.

Shane asked a Caucasian doctor for help, showing him her back. As the good doctor pried up her shirt, he was shocked to see a long slash across Shane's back. It was still bleeding profusely and the cut was very deep.

"Oh my god Miss., how did you survive the pain for so long before even coming to us!" The doctor used whatever supply of antiseptic he had left and cleaned out Shane's wounds carefully. Realizing that he didn't have another more of the lotion, he looked around to see if there were any volunteers around to help get a fresh supply from the hotel.

"Hey you Miss!" He called out to Carmen, who was just finished with the old lady as the Indian doctor dressed the wound. "Could you get me a supply of antiseptic lotion and bandages from the hotel?"

"Okay!" And Carmen ran towards the hotel.

Carmen!

Shane perked her head up and turned around to take a look, but as she twisted her body, it caused another sharp pain in her wound and she closed her eyes and winced in pain.

"Don't move, Miss! This is a very bad injury!" The doctor said as he took a sip of water, resting for the first time since the disaster struck.

"Thanks." Shane said through gritted teeth and she turned back around to a more comfortable position. The pain on her back nearly caused her to black out and she didn't want to risk that again.

Carmen came back around with the supplies and handed them to the Caucasian doctor. He murmured an appreciative thanks and turned back to tend to the deep open wound in front of her. Carmen looked over his shoulder, somehow drawn towards the figure in front of him. Not wanting to get her hopes too high up, she bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from shaking. The top was red, and Carmen stifled a sound of disappointment. But it looked red from blood! She walked up to the front of the patient and whispered out of joy.

"Shane!"

The tears followed the sound and all she wanted to do was hold her baby tightly in her arms and never let go again. But Shane only looked up weakly, and with a look of recognition and a cry of relief, she blacked out as the excruciating pain seized her. She fell forward, and Carmen was there to catch her baby. Carmen let the tears fall freely as she looked at the wound on Shane's back. Ever so often, she could feel her baby flinch in her unconscious state as the doctor cleaned out a deeper part of the wound. She cradled her girlfriend's head in her arms, holding it close in her bosom and patiently waited for the doctor to finish bandaging the wound. Then with the help of another volunteer guy, she carried her girlfriend to an unoccupied spot and let her rest on her lap, careful to avoid the wound.

"Carmen." Shane whispered as she opened her eyes, it was nearing dusk and she saw that Carmen was nodding off in an uncomfortable position. She sat up slowly and turned to face the best thing that ever happened to her. Placing both her hands on the shoulders of her baby, Shane repeated the whisper of her girlfriend's name.

Carmen slowly came awake and she saw her beloved's face in front of her. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, not believing what she saw. When she opened her eyes again, and the face did not disappear, Carmen's tears rolled down fiercely. Shane's tears were right there with hers, and they embraced with relief and vigor.

"Shane." Carmen called out, just rolling the word on her tongue. "Hmm." Relief swept through Carmen when Shane answered. She pulled away from the embrace to look at Shane's face. There wasn't much light left, but she could tell how badly bruised her baby was and it broke her heart. She ran her fingers lightly across the cuts and the purpled marks, careful not to cause any pain. All the love couldn't take away the guilt Carmen felt.

"Shane… I…" Carmen choked. Not knowing how to start. She needed to say sorry to her Shane, but the words wouldn't come.

"Sssh… Baby, I am just so glad you are alright. And that we've both pulled through this together." Shane smiled. She cupped Carmen's face lightly, and placed a loving kiss on the Latina's lips. "When we get back, I am going to make you officially mine." Shane said with finality as she brought her lips back down onto Carmen's. The Latina brought her arms lightly around Shane's neck, cautiously avoiding the bandaged wound, but Shane needed the closeness and she crashed her girlfriend into her.

"I just wanted to tell you." Carmen started again, her eyes gleaming with all the love and happiness. Her arms drew up tighter around Shane's neck as they rocked together. "I love you, very much."

"I love you too… I love you so much." Shane said as the tears rolled from her eyes again.

They fell asleep in each others' arms that night. And neither was willing to let go of the other.

Morning came, and the seas were calm and gleaming, it was as if the disaster never happened. It was almost peaceful. But the destruction all around told them otherwise. Houses were in shambles. Cars totally busted. There were bodies lying around. Everyone made their way slowly down the hill towards the heart of the devastation. Silence hung in the air. They weren't too sure of what had happened. But everyone was glad that they survived.