It can all happen in a split second! ch1

Chapter 1: The Beginning          

                   SHOUT, SHOUT, SHOUT, SHOUT AT THE DEVIL! My Favorite motley crue song was playing thru my stereo. my stereo was my alarm clock. It just kept on going, and going, hoping sooner or later it would shut off. 5 minutes have passed, and it's still going. finally i get and uplug the dang thing. it stopped, but not before a few other people's in the household we woken up. My dad came rushing up the stairs. "God Danget John! How many times do i have to tell you to turn that thing way down if you going to use it as an alarm clock!" "Sorry!" i walked over to the door and shut it. Another boring day in Springfield, Illinois. i grabbed some clothes and ran down the stairs to the shower to avoid my little sister. every morning i would get up, she would either be standing right next to my bed until i wake up, and then she yells, "GOOD MORNING, JOHN!"... or she would yell it to me when she woke up! still, i was not fast enough to the bathroom. i run to the bathroom, looking behind me, and then i grab the doorhandle to the bathroom, open the door, thinking i'm home free, "GOOD MORNING, JOHN!" She was in the bathroom, waiting for me. "JAMI, GET OUTTA HERE! YOU DO THIS EVERY MORNING! 'GOOD MORNING JOHN!' IT GET'S ON MY NERVES! NEXT TIME YOU DO IT I'M GOING TO..." I Stopped. I heard growling. i turned around slowly, and, like always, my luck has to be bad, their is a giant bear in my house. "WHERE DID THE BEAR COME FROM??? WE LIVE IN THE CITY!" i said without moving my body and barely moving my lips. my dad came running down the stairs with a shotgun. "Don't move, John." he cocked the shut gun, aimed it at the bear, and shot. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" the bear fell to the ground, and was dead. "John, you not going to school today, and Jami isn't going either. we gotta get out of this town. bear one day, duck another! WHAT'S NEXT???! A GIANT PILE OF GARBAGE?!?!" And luck would have it, a giant pile of garbage fell out of the sky, right into our chimney. the furnace was on, setting the bag on fire. "What's that smell?" Jami walked over to the center of the house, and yelled, "FIRE!!!!!" i grabbed the fire extinguisher, and went up the stairs. i opened the door from the second floor to the roof and climbed up on top. i looked down the chimney, and there was a fire raging in there. i set the fire extinguisher, and dropped it down the chimney. FFFFFFTTTTTTTTT! the fire extinguisher went off, sending a giant white cloud of foam, all over the chimney, and including out the top. SPLAT! the giant cloud went up, and then landed and covered the roof. i was on the roof, so i got completly covered. "hey John, would a towel be handy at this time?" a voice came from nowhere. "UUUMMMMMM.... let me think here..... DUH!!!!" then, i saw i towel, floating down towards me, thru the air. it landed in my hands. "WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED??"i screamed. "idk." said jami. "Don't talk like that!" i screamed. then, i heard somebody down the way yell, "EARTHQUAKE!" all of a sudden, the house began moving back and forth, up and down. i fell off the top of the house, and landed on the ground. i couldn't get up. the ground was vibrating to hard. i just waited for it to get over, watching my house wave back and forth. brick's started tumbling, shingle's started coming off, pieces of roof are hitting my face. "NNNOOOO!" the entire house was falling apart, and then.... CRASH!!!. the house came down, right on top of me. i tried to moved, and could not. i wiggled my toes, and a piece was moved. so i continued wrigling my toes until i got my legs free. once i got my legs free, i thrashed them around
and got my arms free. then i grabbed the stuff on top of me, or what felt like it, and started tossing. i began to see light. i threw stuff faster and faster, and.... "I'm free!" but, it wasn't over yet. i saw a giant pile of stuff where my house used to be. trees, and game systems, metal pieces, and torn up carpet, in a big pile. "DAD! JAMI!" no answer. "My family is gone! how am i supposed to get outta here?!" I thought. everyone on the street came out of there houses, or what used to houses, where family members where helping each other out of the mess. the families all hugged, but not me. my family was gone. i started throwing pieces of house left and right, trying to find some sign, something that will tell me that Dad and Jami survived. i kept throwing, but no sign. i didn't even hear anything. the neighbors watched me like is was crazy, trying to unearth something. the guy who lived next to us came over and asked, "Hey, if you need help, i can help you. what are you looking for?" "My family!" i shouted. "If it's your family you want, your outta luck. Look at the mess!" he was  right. there was to much to be digging thru. i gave up, got in the car, which was surprisingly ok, started the engine, and shifted into reverse. i backed out the driveway, and started heading west. i went down 5 blocks, and came to my Meghan's house, my girlfriend at the time, who was their, by herself, on the front steps, with her no-more-house right behind her. "Jack, My house is gone!" She said after i got out of the car. "Hey, don't feel bad," i said. "My Dad and Jami are Dead!" i ended up yelling the word, "dead". "Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry!" i sat down on the steps, and started crying. "Don't feel so bad. i don't know what happened to my family either," she said. "It just kinda hit, without warning, like a fist punching the house," i started crying even harder. "Well, i we could do," i said, "was get in the car, and drive, drive to the next town i guess and get a hotel," I got up, and she got up. we got in the car, and shifted into reverse. as soon as we shifted into reverse, the engine stalled. "uuuummmmm," i said. i turned the key all the way foward. the engine turned and turned, and started. i hit the gas pedal, and let go of the brakes. the car rocketed backwards, and i turned the steering wheel hard to the left. i slammed on the brakes, and shifted in drive. i floored the gas, and zoomed off down the street, passing house after house, or no-house after no-house. i drove. "Springfield city limits" we passed that sign, and got into the slow lane and turned into the exit to get onto I-55. the onramp to I-55 was full of cars, parked. i had to wedge the car between them to get thru. i finally got onto 55, and then a sign said, "I-55 South Bound Lane Open only". i stopped, and turned around, and got into the south bound lane. there was power lines every where. you could smell natural gas from where gas lines where broken. we got near a turn on I-55, and that's when i found out when the North Bound Lane was closed. There was No North Bound Lane! the road was gone. it turned into giant piles of rubble with some of the tarmack rolling down the hill into the Sagamon river. i continued driving, and then Meghan said, "Hey, Jack, why don't we go down to St. louis. i'm pretty sure that they weren't hit, and besides, there is nowhere to go around here. the onramps have been destroyed, bridges have collapsed, and I-55 northbound is closed! let's go check out st. louis," i said, "Ok," But that decision was quickly changed when Meghan grabbed my laptop of the back. she turned it on, waited for it to load, and waited for the Internet card to connect. She opened My news program, and then the head line was, "New Madrid fires of the most powerful earthquake in U.S., 'well," i said, "that changes my decision about going to st. louis," i continued driving. "Why?" meghan asked. "Don't you know anything girl? the new madrid is right by st. louis!" i screamed. "oh," she said. "well then, where can we go?" she asked. "i don't know," i said, "but we gotta leave illinois for now. we'll come back for our families later."