Land Read Free

some important decisions to make and we must make them fairly quickly.” Mrs. Moore scanned the group to see if they were following her words and then continued.
    “Everything will be different now. We cannot count on the government to take care of us. We will have to take care of ourselves and that means working together. We won’t be able to fly home now so we have to decide if or how we will get back to Canada.”
    Suddenly Mrs. Davis, a parent chaperone, jumped to her feet and said “What are you talking about? Of course we will go home! The authorities will get this straightened out and get us home. We must be patient and wait for help. All this talk of not counting on the government is irresponsible of you. It will only panic the children. I suggest we return to the hotel and wait for the management to sort this out!” she finished while looking around the group for support. Everyone stared at her and then swung their eyes back to Mrs. Moore to see what she would say.
    Calmly Mrs. Moore tried to explain the situation. “Mrs. Davis, I understand your reasoning but this is not a normal situation. We can walk back to the hotel but please understand. There will be no power to the elevators so that means climbing 10 flights of stairs as that is the floor we are on. Also, the room doors all have electronic locks that won’t be working so we will have to break the doors open. It will also be very dark in the hallways with the lights out. Next, the management and staff are just people like us that will most likely all leave to check on their own families. With almost all transportation not working, the government will not be able to move around to help most people. Therefore as I said, we must take care of ourselves. This will be a huge challenge. Food and water and safety must be our first priority. With no electricity the water will not flow. With no transportation, food will not be delivered. And finally with over ten million people in this area and no real law enforcement, within days this city will explode with violence. We know of one plane crash but there were probably more which means fires. With the roads blocked by broken down cars and fire trucks not working anyways, the fires will burn out of control. Does everyone understand what I’m saying? The best thing we could do is try to leave this city as soon as possible.” and with that final statement Mrs. Moore sat down.
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    Alex looked at her watch and was surprised to see that only 20 minutes had passed since all this started. It was only 8:30 am and it felt like late afternoon to her.
    “Does your watch work?” came from over her shoulder. She turned and saw it was Quinn asking.
    “Yes it’s only 8:30.” she told him.
    “Why do you think your watch works? Mine is dead. It was a digital I got last year.” he asked.
    “Don’t know but maybe because it’s really old. I have to wind it every morning. It was my Grandmother’s.”
    “Good to know. Some really old stuff might still work.” he replied with a smile.
    “Listen, if this is what Mrs. Moore is talking about and after what Em saw on CNN it sounds like it is, we really need to come up with a plan and I don’t think we should take too long.” Quinn advised.
    Staring into Quinn’s eyes, Alex couldn’t help but wonder how he seemed so calm. Living on a farm meant you learned to keep your head in the game and make quick decisions. Working with animals is always tricky and can be unpredictable. But this was so far from anything they could relate to that Alex felt like she was barely holding on. The one thing she did know was that she trusted Quinn a hundred percent. They had been friends forever and he’d always had a good head on his shoulders. Even when Josh was doing crazy stunts or pranks, Quinn could always steer the situation the right way so everything worked out. Alex always thought that sometime in the future she and Quinn would end up together as a couple. It