CHAPTER 2: GOODBYE

I ran with all my strength to get to my house as soon as possible, hoping to find my parents alive there. As I did it, I kept thinking that something bad had happened to them, it was like a bad feeling that began to torment my heart. The fatigue of running almost 10 blocks was beginning to take its toll on me but at last I was able to reach my destination, however when I looked up I thought I had lost myself, I was unrecognizable, my neighborhood had been strongly affected by what happened for an hour. The earthquake varied in different places and apparently here was one of the places where it hit the hardest. It was horrible to see that the place where I grew up and played until the afternoon practically destroyed I began to walk through the rubble of the place to be able to help my parents that since the disagreement I had with them in the morning I knew nothing but the darkness of a cold night where you could not see the stars to give light or the moon to shelter us with its heat tonight. They made the search more difficult I turned on the flashlight of my cell phone to keep looking but the only thing I found were many dead and blood spilled on all sides. They were really not very nice to see this scene and I really wanted to run away but I had to find my parents I kept looking without results.

Suddenly I managed to see a watch very similar to the one my father used to wear, this worried me and I ran there to be able to banish the body that was hidden in the rubble, I had almost no strength left but I continued to undo in the end what I was afraid of. iso reality was my father, now lifeless, the tears on my face began to flow as I wiped his face from the earth that he had. In my mind the beautiful memories that I lived by his side began to surface and I regretted the fact that the last thing I did was argue and in the end I could only burst into tears resting on his chest in which you could no longer hear the heartbeat, my tiredness from that moment was so much that I fell asleep if it weren't for the police sirens I wouldn't have woken up yet I was so frustrated and angry at the moment that I approached the first police officer that I found myself complaining to him because they had just arrived at this time. Emphasizing that many lives could have been saved, perhaps my father's among them. If it weren't for your incompetence. And when I was about to hit the officer, his companions grabbed me saying to calm down but my courage was so great that I didn't want to pay attention and I started to get rid of the policemen who were grabbing me until one of them used his stunner and with that I fell I don't know how long I was unconscious on the ground but little by little I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was my mother I thought it was a dream but it wasn't her with tears on her face so beautiful and angelic I just hugged her and then be me the one who burst into tears and with great difficulty managed to say:

_pa..pa died She kissed my forehead and then answered: _ I know my life but he will continue to take care of us from heaven we will have to start a life without him even if it is very difficult. _ Your sisters. (I ask worried) _ I left them in the hospital while I went in search of you. Esmeralda has a leg injury and is recovering from it. Amelia is just scared. My mom took me by the hand to say after a sigh of relief. __well this ambulance will take us with them. I saw from the window how the city had been and the number of patrols and ambulances trying to calm a desperate population. Having arrived at the hospital where my sisters were, we had to go through the large crowd that was in the place, I think it was more collapsed than I left a few hours ago but in the end we were able to reach the corridor where Esmeralda was finished recovering as soon as we I saw Amelia ran to meet us, we simply hugged her, she asked where she was, dad, we were silent, we didn't know how to explain that dad was no longer going to be by our side a 6-year-old girl, but my mom took a breath and then said:

_ my little princess your daddy made a trip to a better world from there he will take care of us and protect us. Amelia just burst into tears as Mama hugged her. Esmeralda was confused, she didn't understand what was happening. I simply go up to her to tell her Papa is no longer with us. Amelia went into chok to believe the news That dad would no longer be by our side physically. I hugged her with great force and love and then kissed her on the forehead and simply whispered into her ear: _ He will always take care of us where he is. Finally my mother and Amelia approached us to end in an effusive hug I only had them and now as the man of the house my duty will be to care, love and protect each one as my father did. Now we were calmer, we managed to make Amelia fall asleep, the poor thing had had a very hectic day and one of those that you want to forget but nevertheless you cannot do it because of the marks that I leave on your heart. Also try to get some sleep so I can try to finish faster for me this day that I will never forget. However, when I finally closed my eyes, nothing did the same again. It had been half an hour that I slept because when I woke up everything was chaos I could hear the screams of the people and the earth began to move with more force, an earthquake had already fallen stronger than the first two without thinking twice I ran towards Amelia who was very scared, I carried her in my arms while dodging the hospital lights that were beginning to fall as a result of the strong movement that was shaking us, I ran with all my strength through the corridors moving increasingly intense towards the room where my sister was recovering between the wings room where I saw my mother under Esmeralda's bed and she was very frustrated because she could not move I left Amelia with my mother to go in search of a wheelchair for Esmeralda fortunately they were not that far and I was able to return quickly with them Without hesitation, I quickly raised my sister to the chair to be able to mobilize her, we left the room at a fast pace, but the real test would now come. ograr go down from the third to the first floor

How to do it, you could not use the elevator, only the scales and the earthquake that we were seeing simply did not forgive, they only grew in intensity more and more and they did not give me many seconds to think about what was best so I told my mother and Amelia They go down the stairs, they listened to my instructions and began to go down in those seconds, look for some other way to go with Esmeralda but all those who take you to the first floor were already ostruded so I carried it and we started to go down the stairs Esmeralda He just looked at me tenderly and after caressing my face he said: _ Jak leave me here I am a burden right now. I only responded with some anger: _ Not all of us will make it out alive from this moment I started to accelerate to get to the first floor faster and there Mom and Amelia were waiting for me along with a lot of people who wanted to leave, however the door was not so big so that everyone could leave And although they asked to remain calm, the desperation of the moment was greater, nor did I expose my sisters and mom there so I went in search of some other exit, we began to collect the corridors and for our good luck there was one that connected with the exit of the hospital sometimes in moments of despair people are blind to their thinking and they cling to a single place, fortunately it did not happen to me since I looked for another exit and found it quickly we went in search of a safer place to protect ourselves I thought of the mountain that I liked to go when I was far away since fortunately I was not that far only a few kilometers more, however something would happen that would harness my perfect plan to know Survival the earth began to open in two and when I saw it I had to think quickly about another place to be safe, however those seconds of pause were a big mistake we fell into an abyss in which it had been formed when the earth split in two .

Fortunately, nothing serious happened to us, only that of Esmeralda, who did not have such a good fall and the pain in her leg returned, which had decreased a bit. Unfortunately this was not a good time to stop to see her wound and rest, we had to continue until we got there. going to the hill via the abyss allowed us to survive the blasts of fire that began to burn everything in their path we were able to reach the hill some people who were already there helped us to rise to the surface it was at that moment where I was able to breathe a sigh of relief since I had brought them safely. However, I still regretted the fact of not having been with dad in time, who knows now would be with us still alive. I turn to see and I could not believe it, my beloved New York no longer existed, there was only an entire nation left destroyed and the power on fire that was built based on hard work and hope because it simply disappeared we no longer had a home to live in But we had to follow the path and put aside sadness if we wanted to stay alive, since there was an alert that strong winds were coming. And with what we have lived it was better to prevent and it was thus that the few who survived this first test left without direction or destination guided simply by the instinct of survival that was how I said goodbye to my life and home without knowing what awaited us passing the Hill.