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Joshua's cold and dead body lie on the deck as the rain fell on it. He was no longer with them in life, but he was still on that porch with them. They mourned him for several minutes, which became hours.

Dustin and Kristin held each other lightly, sobbing heavily as the rain and the thunder/lightning sounded/flashed. Dustin knew for a fact he had to go on now, he couldn't end up like his father, dead before everyone's feet from being weak-willed and stubborn. He had his own ideas, sure, but he was going to try his hardest not to jump ship and kill himself because of his father's death. He held Kristin tighter, not wanting to lose her.

Kristin cried and cried hard. She had known her father all her life to be strong and protective, but now she had nothing. She had no father, no mother. Just a brother. She hoped to one day see her brother become her father, strong and protective as he had ever been. She was too young to know how poorly her father really could've been at times. He never was when she was around.

They both then howled straight into the air, their sad song filling the world, letting all around them know of what had happened. It was a primal instinct neither could control. They both howled the same sad song, and they both, despite never having control or practiced over it, sang perfectly, their voices one for a moment, a long moment, as they howled together.

Raven watched as Lexi hugged everyone. She sighed and took a step back because she needed some time alone. She turned and started walking away some distance until she stopped to sit on the edge of the cliff and look out at the misty view as the rain began to lighten up. She sighed looking down. "We were born to die." She whispered, "Life in between but mainly death is our cause for life." Raven sighed as she kicked a rock off the cliff, watching it fall down and crash below. She remained silent as she heard Dustin and Kristin howling. She sighed, looking down the side of the cliff. She hated to see death, but it floated around in the air like hydrogen did. She whispered a goodbye prayer and hoped for the best, which was that his soul would be happy and peaceful. Raven stood up and sneezed lightly. Frustrated, she sighed, "I better not be getting sick!" She whispered, and she started walking back looking down.

Lexi walked over to Raven, knowing she had to make things better at some point. "I-I-I'm sorry Raven, for how I was acting before." Lexi looked down at her dirty feet. She hadn't showered in a few days and definitely didn't have any shoes. She hated her feet were so dirty, but she had no choice in the matter. Lexi was ashamed of how she had been acting. She really didn't know how to get along with people sometimes. It was probably because she had been like Raven once, held in captivity and forced to do things that she hadn't wanted to do.

Joshua's body didn't remain there for very long after Kristin and Dustin stopped howling. They knew that there was no need for it to constantly remind them of everything bad that could happen to it. Together, they gave a sad goodbye, then threw it off the cliff. Neither said anything for quite some time, not wanting to be disturbed.

Finally, Dustin turned to the others, "We need to find a better place to stay. One with more food and less... memories." His eyes were still wet from crying. Dustin continued to cry, but it was less now. He missed his father so much, but it was time to move on. He knew Kristin felt the same way, as she had stopped crying already. Dustin and Kristin held each other in their arms, hugging and smiling kindly to each other. They wanted each other to feel better as fast as possible, even though their father's death would leave a hole in their hearts for a long time.

Raven looked at Lexi. "I'm sorry for hurting you if I ever did. I didn't mean to." She sighed, finding it harder to say the words she wanted to say, "I'm sorry for the things I said and all, but I don't know what got into me." Of course she knew what had gotten into her. She had been released of her evil by the evil man. Raven walked over and picked up a rose flower crown, handing it to Alexis. "Here. I made this for you. I picked roses because when I look at you, I see nothing but love and compassion. I admire that." She smiled softly, hoping to fix things between her and Lexi.

Lexi's eyes welled up with tears. She had never been given a present before. "T-t-thank you so much Raven!" Lexi wiped the tears from her eyes and jumped into Raven's arms, hugging her tightly. "You are the best."

Raven was surprised at the hug. "You're welcome!" She smiled almost falling back, but she hugged Lexi back as she held herself up. "Uhm, Lexi, I can't breathe!" She said, laughing lightly. It did nothing for her breathing.

Lexi laughed too and it felt good to laugh with Raven. "Sorry, hehe. I think we should all go inside and take showers if we are going to leave, we don't know when we will get another one. And load all the food into the car and truck." Lexi turned towards Dustin and the rest of the people that were standing on the porch. "Does anyone besides Vasily know how to drive?" Lexi looked around waiting for a 'yes.' At least that's what she hoped for.

Dustin nodded. "I do." He didn't want to admit it at first, because he thought it was a useless thing for him. After all, what kind of anthro-wolf just drives a car down the Santa Monica beachfront on a Friday night with his buddies?

Certainly, he did....

Raven nodded, stepping back from Lexi as she headed towards the inside. "I do as well. Kinda had to when I- well, never mind." She smiled softly. "Yes, let's all get showered up!"

"Kristin why don't you shower first and Dustin, Raven and I can load up the car with all the food that's in the house." Lexi tried to think it all out, but her mind was moving faster then she could talk. "After that Dustin, then Raven can shower and Me of course. Then the new guy, and we can leave to find somewhere...better."

Raven nodded in agreement to Lexi's improvised plans. "Sounds good," She thought for a bit before asking, "Hmm, where could we go?" She looked around, seeing only wilderness. It sure didn't seem to hold anybody else's hiding spot, much less a safe spot for them to occupy.

Dustin nodded. "There's two showers. We can fit two different people in two showers. It'll be faster that way. Kristin, go get a shower. Raven or Lexi, I think one of you should take the other. I can get the stuff and Vasily and Gongon can help me load up." Dustin liked the feeling of being a leader, but he certainly didn't think he was a leader. He was just the follower who had ideas. Nothing more, really.

"Anyone up for seeing what's left of the town? We might be able to find some useful stuff down there." Lexi didn't think it was a bad idea, and in her mind she couldn't wait to get down there. She wanted to see what was and what wasn't left of Los Angeles. Maybe they really could find something useful down there. Maybe there were more survivors. She got no positive response and turned to Raven. "Ok, thanks. Raven you go ahead if you want to." Lexi looked over at Raven and smiled. Raven smiled, walking inside. Lexi was glad that they were friends again.

Gongon spoke up for the first time in awhile, tears streaming in his eyes. Out of habit, he first started speaking gorilla. Then he caught himself and began to speak English. "Town would be a horrid sight for you. When I was gone, I saw it. It is in ruins, the landscape dotted with the remains of buildings, the corpses of countless people of all ages, and the occasional patch of land fused into black glass by the explosion. There are even petrified bodies, frozen in positions of macabre horrors. ...It would be an even worse sight than Joshua's body right now. And the scent! I'm an animal. Many of you are part-animal. The smell is unbearable, trust me. I didn't wish to tell, but you would've gone there anyway, and things would have been made worse." He walked outside with a bible he found in the house and stood out on the cliff, making a eulogy for his lost friend.

Kristin went to the showers and smiled at her brother's assertiveness. She kept rolling the title of Alpha Wolf in Dustin's position now. Even if he wasn't in the group, he was her Alpha now in the family. Whatever she did, he would be there by her side every waking moment to protect the rest of the pact. And she's do the same for him, always being by his side. She could never leave him now, especially since she no longer had a father that could look over her while Dustin was gone. She was still grieving, but it didn't bother her as much now. She knew that her father was in a resting place better than suffering the rest of the group. She knew it was all about her and her brother now. They had to move forward to survive, that was the rule. She jumped in the shower and got cleaned up.

As the thunderstorm stopped, Dustin became swift in his motions and began to pack the dry goods first into the back of the car, then turned to Lexi. "Help me out here. Get the stuff from the fridge and put some ice in a few coolers and then put them in the back of Vasily's truck. He's got plenty of room to haul that stuff. I'll drive Dad's car and we'll all drive to a safer and better location." Dustin said authoritatively. He knew he wasn't a real leader, nor was he trying to be. Unknown to him, though, he was a natural born leader. He could lead all of them if he tried hard enough and though hard enough.

Dustin came outside and looked at Gongon, eulogizing his father. And he was missing it! He went over next to Gongon and waited until the unofficial ceremony was finished before he spoke, "Thanks, Gongon. You are a real friend to me, and a true friend of my father. I know you did not know him long, but I think you two were really working as a team. I think you ought to take the position of 'Alpha' in this pack..." Modestly, he continued, "I don't know if I'm cut out for it." Part of him wanted to be the leader, but he really wasn't certain if he could make it as the leader if it came down to it.

Gongon returned. "I pray that whatever gods out there are treating him well." He started to grab things at random, placing them gently and neatly in the back of Vasily's truck. His face was devoid of emotion, and he did the task with no words and little sound.

Raven showered and dressed quickly. "All right, which of you guys are next?" She asked, smiling softly, "I'll see if I can find a place to load this stuff up."

"Ok" Lexi went into the kitchen closet, grabbed a cooler and began putting some ice from the freezer into the cooler. She put as many cold items from the fridge into the cooler she could. Put the cooler off to the side and got another cooler from the closet and repeated her actions until she was finished.

Dustin returned with Gongon and made a swift movement to help Lexi grab the coolers and load them up. He quickly helped her, knowing that they couldn't stay here any longer. There wasn't too much to pack, their food was already greatly missing food, so it was obvious they wouldn't be able to have held out here for too long.

Kristin finished her shower as well. "Next person, go get a shower."

Bringing two coolers at a time, Lexi placed them in the back of the truck. When finished with that, she looked at Dustin and said, "I'm taking a shower now and will finish helping when I return." With that said, she returned to the house and headed towards the bathroom. She undressed quickly, for all she had on was a simple silky pink dress. She turned the water on and smiled to herself. Her first shower in a very long time. Bathing quickly, making sure to wash her hair and get the dirt from every part of her body, she sang to herself quietly. "If I loved you, there would be no hurt. If you loved me there would be no pain." She thought to herself, what a untrue song. Finishing bathing she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body that had been laying on the floor. She grabbed her clothes and walked out of the bathroom heading for the laundry room where she put her clothes in the washer. She wanted to be as clean as possible before they left.

Dustin didn't bother with a shower, he didn't mind getting dirty. He finished loading the food then rushed into the shower and quickly got himself wet enough, then he shook the dirt from his body and washed up before returning to the group. "How are we doing guys?"

Vasily appeared from nowhere, walking out of the woods soaking wet and not wearing a shirt and with his torn pants. They didn't know why, but he looked quite menacing. On his back, he held the carcass of a freshly slaughtered buck. It was quite large, at least a twelve pointer. "Well, what's going on here, then?" He roared. It didn't sound angry, but more like curious. He knew perfectly well what was going on because he had watched it all from the forest, but he wasn't sure if they wanted it out in the open yet. "I do hope nobody was planning on taking my truck anywhere..." He said looking at them fiercely.

Raven walked out of the cabin saw him, blushing a little. She heard the slight anger in his voice and this made her ears twitch. "We have to move." She said to him smiling softly.

"No, we aren't taking your truck anywhere. You are taking it with us to find somewhere else to live." Lexi told Vasily, appearing out of nowhere. "Done with my shower. What else is there to do?"

Dustin came out and saw Vasily. "Oh thank God!" He stopped and approached Vasily, "Vasily, we need to get outta here. Something bad's about to happen to us, a couple of us are afraid of it. My... my father's dead. We're leaving and we need your help getting out of here. We need you to drive your truck to that bunker you were talking about. We'll all follow in my Dad's car." Dustin became ambitious, he remembered his best odds were in the bunker. "Think you can help us out?"

His voice flat and devoid of emotion, he turned to Raven and said, "That's right. There's danger heading this way. And we wouldn't be able to survive here for long anyway..." He made a slight sniffle, and continued what he was doing. Romanov looked at each of them, noticing that they all seemed serious. "Uhm, oh fine!" He huffed, throwing the deer onto the bed of the massive truck. "If you want to come with me back to the bunker, fine. I'm ok with that, but I will tell you, I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to stay there. I really want to stock up and head east." He said, looking at all of them before walking to his truck and climbing in. "If you want to ride with me, get ready now and jump in." Vasily said as he loudly turned on the C.D. player, making it blare a loud Russian march. It was somehow inspiring to hear it even if they couldn't understand the words.

Gongon beat his chest. "I like this music! It makes me feel patriotic! Russian, isn't it?" He approached Vasily's truck and roared lightly with it.

Her tail wrapped around her waist, Raven thought. "I'll go with you." She said walking up to the truck. Raven climbed up into it. "Someone else can come in. I don't take up much room." She turned into a kitten and smiled. "See what I mean?"

Dustin quickly hopped into his father's car and started the engine up. He remembered how to drive, so he yelled above the loud Russian music, "Vasily! Just drive where you think is safe! I'll follow you in the car!"

Kristin rushed and hopped into Vasily's truck, turning the music down a little as it was hurting her sensitive ears. She buckled up and looked over at Vasily, "I trust my brother. Don't mislead him please." she smiled, "I'm Kristin."

Vasily stared a little at Gongon. "Are you a gorilla?" He asked, blinking his eyes to make sure they were not playing tricks on him. He glanced over and saw Raven as a kitten. Without waiting, he quickly reached back and scooped her up, depositing her in his lap, and rubbing her tummy again as he briefly smiled at her. He turned to the girl, looking a little unhappy that she had touched his radio. "Uhm, hi. I am Vasily, as you might know. I met you briefly in the cabin,"

Raven laughed a little shocked at what he did with her, but she smiled and started to purr. She looked at him. "That always feels good!" She said smiling.

Dustin honked the horn to Lexi and Gongon. "Who are you guys riding with? Get in if you're going with me." Gongon quickly hopped into the car's backseat.

"Oh yeah, I remember you." Kristin said, a little embarrassed she had reintroduced herself. "I'm sorry I touched your radio. It was just too loud for my ears... I really want to ride with you though."

Lexi headed to the car. There was no time to dry her clothes, so she continued to look wet in them, since they already were wet. She climbed into the passenger seat beside Dustin and waited silently to leave.

He smiled at her just a little, and started the engine the loud revving briefly and drowning out the radio before quieting down again. There was a grinding sound as Vasily put the truck in gear. "May I ask how old everyone is?" He said looking from Kristin to Raven before slowly giving the truck some gas making it inch forward.

"I'm 13, Vasily." Kristin said, she turned to see her brother. "I'd like to ride with Dustin, but I don't think he will have any more room. And it's okay, because I need time to think to myself. So long as we don't leave them, I'll be okay."

Raven smiled and rolled onto her stomach before she sat down in his lap, her tail swishing from side to side. "Hmm... I'm 15." She said, licking her paw, "Yes I know, I'm young." She sighed.

Vasily stared for a moment, suddenly feeling very old. Absently, he stroked one finger along Raven's spine, moving down her back. He didn't say anything as he gave the massive mechanical beast some more gas. As they went rumbling along the road, he started to think deeply about what they would do when they arrived at the base.

Raven blushed through her fur. She purred closing her eyes, and she thought about the age difference. She felt young and like a child. She sighed and opened her eyes, smiling softly and looking up at Vasily Romanov.

"I'm 22!" He suddenly blurted out like it was a horrible secret. Before looking down and briefly rubbing Raven again, he turned off the road onto a kind of bumpy trail.

Logen was at the cabin still, asleep, and oblivious to the fact that she was now alone. Well, not alone. She was being closely watched by a bear. A very hungry bear. A bear that could smell the strawberries she had eaten earlier, and was now attracted to that scent. The bear quietly crept up behind her and nudged her lightly. When Logen woke up, it ran away startled. Logen, dazed, looked around, wandering for a few moments around the cabin. "Hello?" she called out. She opened the door to the refrigerator after a while. She was frightened to realize she was alone, but as long as she had the food in the cabin, she would manage.

Dustin followed Vasily in his father's car, the car heavily damaged from the original escape from LA. There were scratches, dings, and a few cracked windows. Despite this, it worked.

"Lexi, can I ask you something?" he started, "If it is up to us to repopulate... what do you think the kids will look like?"

Lexi thought for awhile before she answered Dustin's question. "I think our children would look like you to be quite honest." Lexi couldn't think of a better answer. She returned to her quite state and waited until she was told to get out of the car.

Dustin followed in the car, trying to remember how to drive. He hadn't done it in a few months. He was often discriminated against for being one of the only ones who could drive but wasn't truly human. Dustin waited for an answer from Lexi.

Raven thought briefly and giggled. "Wow. 22." She whispered, rolling off his lap and landing on her stomach. "Ouch!" She said sitting up. She rubbed her nose and climbed back up. She sat on his shoulder. "So where are we off to?" Raven asked, licking his cheek and smiling.

Romanov almost wanted to scream after hearing how she had said '22.' "Well, we are currently off to a nuclear fallout shelter that is right about... Here." He said smiling as he saw an empty black hole surrounded by burn marks. He honked the horn of the truck and slowed down before stopping.

She smiled. "Don't worry, I don't care about how old you are." Raven whispered in his ear, she licked his cheek and smiled. she looked out the window, "We here?" She asked.

Dustin, too, slowed down. What was he honking at? "What's he blowing the horn at? I don't see anything. Stay here for a second, Lexi." Dustin got out of the car and approached Vasily's side of the truck. "What are we waiting for, man? Where's the shelter at?"

Lexi nodded her head and watched as Dustin talked to the stranger she still had not introduced herself to. She didn't quite like him. He was insensitive and thoughtless. She could tell Raven liked him though, and he liked Raven. They would make a good couple, and they could help repopulate the world. Lexi was lost in her thoughts.

"We are here!" Vasily said smiling. Gesturing to the doorway with the blown off door, he smiled. "Wait here." He said before getting out and jogging into the doorway. A few moments later, a large portion of the mountain seemed to be sliding away. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be a large steel bulkhead cleverly painted to match the mountain exactly. As he opened the door, which was wide enough to drive his truck through lengthwise, he flipped on the lights revealing the many rows of military vehicles.

"Wow!" She said, looking around. "I've never seen so many of those before!" Raven sat down on the dashboard, looking out. She looked back at them, her tail swishing happily "Yeah!" She said smiling.

Dustin could only stare in awe before heading back to the car. He got in and followed Vasily into the mountainside.

"Uhm, what exactly is 'here' Vasily?" Kristin asked. Here she was, in the side of a mountain with a bunch of cars, and she didn't know what she was doing here. "And what are we going to do now that we're here?"

Vasily slowly drove his truck into the mountainside, getting out after he parked it against a wall. "Here, my friends, is the official nuclear fall out shelter for the President of the United States, along with his Chief of Staff and his cabinet!" He said loudly, walking up to another small steel bulkhead and pressing a button, making it slowly slide up to reveal a large, empty room with a presidential seal over a single hallway. A short distance down that hallway was a very heavy door. "And through that door, my friends, is our salvation. At least for a while." Romanov said, grinning as he began to walk towards it. Nearing it, he stopped and looked back noticing what looked like a helicopter behind one of the trucks. Hmm, he thought to himself, he could fly but it wouldn't hold them all and it would quickly run out of fuel. "Oh well... might be useful." He muttered, heading back towards the group.

Raven hopped out and looked around. She changed to her half-form and looked around. "Wow!" She exclaimed smiling. She slowly walked in, looking at everything. She saw many shiny things. "Oh... shiny!" She said smiling. She skipped in, stopped, and looked at the seal. "Wow!" She meowed and stretched her legs one at a time. She couldn't help having her tail swishing around. It did that when she was happy. She smiled, happy to be happy now. She actually felt safer already.

"I can tell you, we will be well protected enough here. For a while anyway. As I said before, I might leave you people here and head out.... I'm not sure yet." With that, he walked over to the door and with some difficulty unlocked it, swinging it wide open and revealing a large open room with some couches. In the back there was an elevator leading to the different levels. The room had several other doors as well, leading to other parts of this level. He smiled and sat on one of the couches, briefly resting and waiting for the others.

Lexi got out of the car when it came to a complete stop. She took a look around and thought to herself, it's better than nothing. Lexi sat on the hood of the car waiting for someone to talk. Seeing there were couches, Lexi got off the hood of the car and went to sit on one, but continued to say nothing, waiting instead to be addressed.

"Lexi... I need you to help me here a second." Dustin tried to unload the car, but he obviously needed her help. "Please. This stuff is heavier than it looks."

"Leaving?" Raven looked sadly at Vasily. She quickly hid it behind a smile. "I guess you have to do what you have to do," She said quietly as she walked around and towards the elevator.

"I said, maybe." Romanov said looking at her. "I do still think there are survivors out there and I do wish to find them, but I'm not sure if I want to go yet. I haven't decided."

He noticed that they were slowly filing in. He stood up and placed a map on the wall, pointing it out to them. "Well people listen up! This is a five level shelter. As you can guess, the command area is on the bottom and I don't think any of you should go down there. It is a quite dangerous place if you don't know what you're doing." He paused for a moment, then continued, "As for the other four levels, it is living quarters on the top level, entertainment areas beneath it, kitchen below that, and mess halls below that. So feel free to wander over to the kitchen; we couldn't put much of a dent in this place's food supply for at least a few months." Vasily smiled at them. "The rest is not really empty space, but close... I'd call it filler space... much like this room here filled with couches televisions and computers." He said, smiling a little as he looked around. "Go wild! You guys deserve it!"

"Ok." Lexi got up and started to help Dustin unload the car. "Where should I put all this stuff? In the kitchen?" Lexi looked at Vasily.

"What?" he asked, looking at Lexi, whom he had seen only briefly earlier. "Oh, yes follow me." He said. relieving her of one of the boxes and heading down the hall to a nearby kitchen placing the box on the counter.

Lexi nodded to Vasily as they laid the boxes down. She then left him and followed the way Raven went. Up the elevator. She let the stranger in the elevator before her and hesitated before entering the confined space with the stranger. Not saying a word as the elevator approached the second floor. She quickly exited and let the stranger lead her to the kitchen.

"I'm going to check this place out." Dustin went to the elevator and Kristin eagerly followed him. The two of them entered the elevator and pushed the level 5 button and began to descend towards the command center. It didn't matter what Vasily had said, he was going to see if he could get somebody on the radio to help them out. He just had to know if there was anybody else out there, but he didn't want to tell anybody he was going there.

Raven nodded, "All right then." She stepped into the elevator, and went up to the next floor. She smiled and walked around. She found an empty room and walked about it for a moment. She walked down the halls, then turned into a kitten and started running, trying to get her mind off of some things she had done previously. She stopped and started to slide across the floor. She laughed shaking her head. She smiled and turned into her half-form. Raven stretched and walked down the hall some more, thinking for a bit and looking around.

Gongon looked around, smirking. This was the biggest base he'd seen in forever. It was amazing to see, really. He started to wander off towards the entertainment level that Vasily had been talking about. He remembered what Dustin had said about Joshua earlier. "He would've loved it here," Gongon said, "Lots of space."

Vasily shook his head, smiling a little before wandering around heading up a floor looking around. "Didn't Raven come this way?" He asked himself before walking into a room with some couches and a TV. Sighing, he sat down and turned it on, surprised when he actually got a reception. He looked at it a moment before realizing it was an outside view of the shelter. This place had a CCTV loop! He could see all the security cameras on TV. Smiling, he began to flip through the cameras, looking for his friends.

Dustin and Kristin went towards the rooms that were open. Many of them were empty offices. The one in the back, however, was a large press conference room, like one you would see the President giving speeches in. He entered, his sister following closely behind and they searched for a radio to transmit their signal to any other survivors.

They finally found one and Dustin quickly sat down and began to talk into it quickly, "C.Q. C.Q. this is..." he saw the name of the base Rocky Mountain 1, on a big sign painted on the wall, "Rocky Mountain 1 calling. Rocky Mountain 1 calling. Is anybody out there?"

Lexi came into the room where Raven was and asked, "Has anyone seen Dustin or Kristin?" Lexi asked, looking around.

Raven yawned and rubbed her eyes. She felt very sleepy, so she walked back, looking for a room to sleep in. She opened one of the doors and walked to the couch, where she sat down before curling up, turning into a kitten, and purring herself to sleep.

Some time later, Vasily was flipping through the cameras, until finally he stopped on one that showed Kristin and Dustin down in the command room. He suddenly stood up angrily. "Capitalist swine!" He hissed angrily, before darting towards the elevator, hopping in it and heading down towards the command room. He hoped they hadn't done something stupid.

Lexi ran after Vasily, making sure she grabbed her backpack, which had been in the box as well. "Where are you going?" Lexi screamed after him.

Raven woke up and walked out of the room. It had been a fitful sleep anyways. She followed them to the elevator. "What's going on?" She asked rubbing her eyes as she walked up to them.

"C.Q. C.Q. This is Rocky Mountain 1 calling. Can anybody hear me?" Dustin kept trying to adjust the radio. He had seen these things used in movies and on TV so he figured he knew what he was doing. Kristin sat by his side intently waiting for him to get contact.

"Transmission acknowledged, Rocky Mountain 1. This is Appalachian Parkway 4 calling back. Over." Finally, somebody else was alive! Dustin and Kristin cheered happily and Dustin continued to transmit.

"Uhm, our current status is very grim, Appalachian. We have only a few people here. There's Kristin, Vasily, Lexi, Raven, Gongon, and myself, Dustin, and we're all that's here. What's your current situation over?" Dustin was glad to have somebody to talk to, made him feel he wasn't alone in the world.

"We're pretty strapped for people ourselves. There's only a few of us here. We're all that's left of America's army. We're holed up right now waiting on our orders." came the reply.

"Well, it's good to know somebody else is alive." Dustin replied. Dustin continued to talk into the radio, "Thank goodness that we even have a military, Appalachian. Over."

Vasily walked out of the elevator and came into the room, glaring angrily at them just in time to hear the message. He was unmoved, however; he always knew there were people left alive. The only question was where? Now he knew that answer. He stood there behind them, looking down at them. It seemed that they hadn't noticed him yet.

"Oh, they're in trouble!" Raven whispered behind him. She watched them, putting her hands on her hips. "What happened to staying out of here?" She asked. Raven crossed her arms. "Hmm..." She said thinking as she looked at them, "You guys don't listen do you?" She asked curiously.

Kristin turned around suddenly and saw Vasily and Raven standing behind them. She tugged on Dustin's shoulder and he turned around to see him. "Oh... we're just seeing if there's anybody else around." Dustin protested. He stood to protect the radio, he wasn't giving it up because Vasily was here. "We're going to see if we can't find a way to get the others here or us there. So we can all start anew together." Dustin turned back towards the radio.

"Who's in charge over there, Rocky Mountain 1?" came a response.

Lexi pushed aside Vasily and stood behind Dustin. She held her backpack close to her, ready to pull her knife out at any time. She was willing to fight for her future mate.

Vasily Romanov rolled his eyes a bit before leaning over to the radio turning some knobs and checking it against some numbers on a chart on the wall. "There!" He muttered as he finished fine tuning the radio. "Call out to your heart's content!" He spat, "Not like it's going to do any good..." He mumbled, walking over to a corner and starting to flip switches, turning on a bank of computers to see what they held.

Dustin picked up the receiver and spoke into it. "Sir, nobody's in charge. We're all just kinda... flowing around waiting to be picked up."

Raven wrapped her tail around her waist. "well... I'll be going...." She turned and started walking towards the elevators. Maybe she could still catch some winks. She walked up to the elevator and stepped in. She went back to the second floor and walked out. She stretched and sighed as she fell asleep again.

Lexi sat on Dustin's lap as he talked to the people he was talking to. "So, who is it that you are talking to?" Lexi was curious, for she didn't know what an 'Appalachian' was.

Vasily smiled a little and very calmly said, "He's talking to another shelter very much like this one in the Appalachian Mountains farther east of here on the other side of the country." He said, before taking his leave and muttering something about it being hopeless as he stepped onto the elevator and rode it up wanting to sit down for a bit.

Dustin sat down, after having stretched his legs. "I'm talking to some military guys on the East Coast... said there aren't but a few of them either." He began to pick up the radio receiver again when the response came back.

"Glad to hear a voice. We've been waiting for a while now for a civilian to tell us they're alive." Came the short reply. Then followed by a new voice, "You have any supplies?"

"No, we don't have anything other than this bunker and what's already in it." Dustin replied, "But I'd like to think we've got enough to last us for a while."

Vasily got off the elevator, not knowing what floor he was on and not really caring. He wandered into a room with a couch and sat down, very narrowly missing Raven. He yawned loudly, not noticing her before leaning back and closing his eyes, rubbing his head with his hands.

She looked up at him and pulled her tail, seeing as how he was sitting on it. She giggled and snuck up on him. Seeing how he didn't see her, Raven pounced on Romanov smiling, but then she licked his hand. "Hey!" She said, meowing.

"Ah!" Vasily yelled. Sitting up and smiling at her, relaxing again, he said, "Oh, it's you!" He said, grinning and patting her head. "Need something?" He asked her scratching her under the chin.

Raven smiled at Vasily. "Actually... you came in here," she purred, "So I should be asking you that." She smiled, and turned into her half-form, sitting in his lap. She smirked as she faced him.

"What are we going to do, now that we know there are only a few survivors left?" Lexi asked Dustin. It was much later in the day and they had been talking for a while on the machine Dustin kept calling a radio. "I guess it didn't really do us any good to know that, and you should probably turn that machine off. What if they try to travel here and get to us, it will be less food for us." Lexi looked at Dustin and then at Kristin, hoping they would agree.

"You said there were six of you, Dustin?" Came a reply after a while.

"Yes sir, just the six of us." Dustin responded quickly. He turned to see Kristin was still beside him, listening intently. He also saw Lexi hadn't left yet either. At least they seemed to care he was talking to somebody else. Maybe there was hope after all.

"You might want to listen in then, Dustin. 'Cause in about six hours, a military chopper is going to be there and it's going to airdrop a few Marines for you guys. We got word that something out in the Rockies is systematically moving its way down towards Mexico. We don't know what, we just know that whatever it is, it is not a friendly thing. Repeat, it is not friendly."

Dustin became worried suddenly. what did he mean, not friendly? He quickly responded, "What do you mean? What is it?"

"We don't know, Dustin, but what we do know is that animals of all kinds run from it before this thing strikes. And when it strikes, it takes everything out. It kills everything." Dustin nearly dropped the radio. They'd already had that warning sign earlier. He just hoped whatever it was wasn't going to come this way.

"I think we need to leave now. I don't think having these people come here is the best thing. We already have one military person, thing, here. We don't need more telling us what to do. Especially since most of us are minors." Lexi was scared, if they didn't follow her then she would just have to be alone, but there was no way she was going to let the government take a hold of her again.

Dustin nodded his head, "I don't think it's safe here. Whatever is out there has already warned us it's there. We need to find a way out of here before that thing gets to us. If it eliminates everything, we're not safe here." Dustin headed back towards the elevator and Kristin rushed to it, so as to be the first one on it.

Lexi followed. She pressed any button on the elevator. She got out at the button she pressed and began calling for the others. "Gongon! Raven, Vasily! Raven, Vasily!" She ran into the sitting area where Vasily and Raven sat contently. "We have to go now!" Her look of worry and fear should have explained everything in an instant, and she didn't feel like explaining to anybody what was going on anyways. She knew men were coming, military men, and she didn't like it. She knew that no matter what... no matter what happened, they had to leave. Or they would be dead soon. Just like Joshua. Dead.

To Be Continued....