On the third day, they were saved.

    Well, only some.

 Jordan sat in what she deemed her area of the church, playing go fish with Amy.  It had taken awhile to get Jordan to tell her name, but once Amy was able to scrounge up a lollipop, she had gained much more trust than she had during their first meeting.

     As Amy played with Jordan, she consciously had one ear turned to the hallway they sat in front of. She had heard whispering of another county willing to take the storm victims in to a few of their shelters. They were located in the northern part of the state, and had received minimal damage from the storm. It had officially been a weak since the disaster struck, and they had managed to get some order in place to the point that they could support some of the unlucky.

    "Jordan, can you pause the game here? I need to speak with someone about something very important."

    "Are you coming back." Jordan's eyes were guarded as she heard Amy's words.

   "Of course." Rubbing her hair, Amy laid down her cards and stood."No peaking at my hand, you hear?"

    " I can't promise you anything." Jordan teased.

       Pushing through the heavy doors, Amy slowly entered the hallway where some of the rescuers and organizers stood together. Some had smiles on their faces, while others held a stiff unsatisfied posture. She spotted one worker in particular, Bill. He was the man that Jordan had seemed to gravitate towards even more so than Amy.

    His face paled as he listened to whatever he was hearing from representatives from the refuge county.

   Just as she was about to approach the small group, Bill pushed through, knocking people out of the way as he rushed the church doors. Those on the other side saw his panicked state, and slowly concern grew over the crowd. Amy ran back, seeing Bill gather up Jordan and the few things she had with her. He wrapped her in the thin blanket she slept with, and picked up a few of the makeshift paper toys she had crafted out of the old church fans.

       "Bill what's going on?" She asked worriedly.

      "She has to go. They're sending some of these people to shelter." He said to her. Quickly he lowered his voice as survivors began to listen in and draw near.

     "There are only fifty spots available. I need to get her on that damn bus."

    "Fifty? But...there are over a hundred people here." Amy looked over her shoulder as did Bill to the crowd whose volume began to rise from hearing the bits and pieces of news.

   "I know."

     Jordan listened to their exchange, becoming aware of what it all meant.

    She was going somewhere else? She didn't want to leave Bill. She didn't want to go anywhere but home.

     She bounced along with fear as Bill approached a group of more adults who stood in clean clothes. Her small arms tightened around Bill's neck as he began to speak to them.

    "This little girl has severe asthma, we've barely kept it under control and we've run out of an oxygen supply. Please. She needs to go. She needs treatment."

    One balding man with glasses looked at Jordan, making her turn her head away.

   "Does she have any family members? We aren't trying to move young children by themselves Bill."

   "No-No she doesn't. She was brought in alone."

   "I'm sorry but we can't just-"

   "Please! She can't stay here. There isn't any room. She needs treatment for her asthma and proper treatment for any possibly contamination from the flood waters. We could see only so much here with all of our limitations."

    "She will need a guardian, and if she has no other family, then we can't take her. There is no one to sign off for her."

    "Your taking families? Are you sending us somewhere?" The sudden sound of people behind them rushing to gather their things began to bombard the hallway.

    "We're first!"

     "Me and my wife need to go! Please!"

     Chaos overtook the church as a stampede nearly broke out towards the bus doors.

    "Damnit!" The man that Bill spoke to cursed as he tried to get the crowd under control.

    "Back! Everyone get back inside, please!"

   He waved his hands in the air as he began pushing the rowdier of the bunch as they forced their way through. He looked back when he heard the front doors of the church open. Bill ran outside with the young girl, followed by a woman.

     "Hurry! Let's go!" He lost control of the angry and excited group as they all tried to rush the doors.

oOo

   "Bill! Wait!"

    "I can't! She has to be on this bus Amy!" Bill looked back to see others running as well. He was only a few yards from the bus. His legs pumped harder to get Jordan there first. He could hear her soft cries against his chest.

   "You're going to be okay. Do you hear me? They're going to get you to a doctor, he's going to give you medicine to feel better." Jordan coughed roughly against his shirt. That cough was what had begun to worry him the most. He could see through her best attempt to not be sick, that she was certainly suffering.

    "I don't want to go! Don't make me...Please!" She howled as if she had been hit physically. "Don't leave me please!"

    Arriving at the glass doors of the bus, Bill watched as the driver inside was slow to open it. His eyes were wide as he saw the incoming crowd approach. Banging with his fist, he urged the driver to open the door.

    The man with the cap shook his head no as Bill began to kick and pry the door open himself.

   "Open the damn door!" He spat.

   He felt hands push and shove at his back, trying their best to get in front of him but he remained rooted just where he was at. Holding on to Jordan tightly, he pushed back to keep them at a distance.

    "Get out of the way!"

   "I'm getting on that fucking bus!"

   "Hey... Hey!" Bill shouted over the loud noise. Furious hands gripped at his shirt pulling him in one direction, and Jordan in the other.

    "Stop!" He demanded.

       A bullhorn was blown into the air making some people cower from the loud sound.

     "Ladies and gentlemen, we are only transporting those in dire situations. Sick and injured only! "

    "We're all in a dire situation!"

   "Please form a line five yards from the bus as we load passengers. Note that there is limited space, and we will fill to capacity. I repeat. We have a limited amount of space. Please step back and form a line..."

    The man on the megaphone walked to the front where Bill remained situated between the glass door and pushing crowd.

   "Some little stunt you've pulled here." He said into his ear. Bill had no concern for his words at the moment. The crowd was being ushered back  into a compact group, away from the bus. Bill tried his best to remain at the front of the crowd where names were being called out of those who would travel to safety.

    "Addams....Alloy..."

   He watched as happy faces ran to the bus doors. They slowly opened to allow them to board and take their seats. Each person who was called only riled up the group as they waited for their own name, shouting when the letters  began to transition.

     "Get her on!"

     "Stand back Bill!"

    "Get her on that bus!"

    "I said-"

     "I don't give a fuck what you said! Listen to me, and get her on the goddamn bus!"

    The roll call was reaching the second half of the alphabet, and Bill could see the bus become full.

    "I swear to God, you better run. Go." Wasting no time, he rushed to the bus, climbing its steps to find her a seat. There were so many bodies in there that he couldn't move down the aisles freely.

    "What the hell is this? I can't take anymore!" Exclaimed the bus driver.

    Looking to his left, Bill found an elderly lady tugging on his shirt.

    "The baby can ride with me." She offered her seat by patting the open space.

      "Thank you. Thank you so much." He bent down, ready to sit Jordan in the seat, but as he did, her small fingers dug into his shirt pulling him with her. She yelled for mercy.

   "Don't make me go! Don't leave me! I don't want to leave without you..." Her face became enflamed. Her head was thrown back and vision blurred from endless tears.

    "Jordan, I'm not leaving you. I'll be there with you in no time. You're going to get help, remember?"

    "I don't want help!"

   "This is what's best for you."

   "You don't like me, do you? You don't want me around either..."

    Bill sighed, and held her face between his hands, but shook furiously away from him. The only emotions he had seen in her eyes had been fear and sadness. Now he saw rage as she watched him with red eyes.

    "That's not what this is, Jordan. I like you very much. Do you trust me?"

      Jordan's chest rose and fall as she began to wheeze. She clenched her fists as Bill waited for her reply.  She shook her head yes once.

    "Good, you have to trust me. Now listen carefully, my wife will be there with you. Her name is Amanda. I'm going to tell her to be there for when you get dropped off."

    "I don't want to-"

   "She's going to watch over you Jordan until I can get there. She's a nice woman-like Amy. And my little girl Sasha, you two can play together until I come. They'll be good to you, okay?"

    At the mention of Amy's name, Jordan looked out to the window, and saw her standing with her hands in front of her mouth. The wind outside shifted her hair and dress away from her body as she watched Jordan on the inside of the bus.

    "Are you sure you'll come for me?" Jordan spoke softly. She could hear some man yell that it was time for the bus to depart.

    "Do you still have the handkerchief I gave you?" Bill asked. Jordan lifted the square of material, running her fingers over the initials of his name.

   "Then I promise I'll see you again." His words were peaceful as he stood to go. Jordan leapt out of the seat, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face against him as she hugged with all she had.

     He lifted her into a bear hug, squeezing as much as he could before setting her back down.

    "I need to get this bus moving Bill."

   With one last wave, Bill watched from beside Amy as Jordan pressed her hands and face to the window. She had climbed over the older woman who helped to steady her as the bus began to push forward. Jordan watched as Amy waved and waved, until they disappeared from her sight.

   "Come on, honey. Let's sit back." Jordan listened to the elder as she rested against the hard leather seat.

    She felt like a noodle as her body tossed with the bus's every move and bump. She tried to cry, but her eyes must have been broken. There were no tears coming out like they were supposed to. Rubbing at them with her small fists, she sat and gazed out of the window before her eyes, tuning out to all of the noise around her.

oOo

       "I'm going to do it, Amy."

      "Are you certain about this?" She turned to Bill as they began walking back to through the church parking lot.

    "I couldn't live if I didn't. Something tells me that this has to be done...something in my heart."

    For the past two days, Bill had been asking Amy about adoptions and how the procedure went. Amy had caught on to his desire to adopt little Jordan, and she was more than willing to help in any way that she could. She would file, arrange, make whatever needed to be done happen. She had seen more than enough to believe that a person like him could provide her with a spectacular home and life. She could already sense the love he had growing for the child, and was completely on board with helping.

    "I support you with this decision. You talk to your wife, get everything scratched out and I'm here to help you."

    Bill held open the church doors as Amy entered first.

    "Thank you, Amy."

     "Of course." Amy smiled softly, and walked back into the room full of disappointed people who were stuck for another night in the cramped space until their chance to leave came.

oOo

   Present Day

       The continuous blaring sound of Felix's phone alarm rang throughout her bedroom.

      One arm peaked out from beneath her comforter, allowing a little space to draw in the offending sound. She fumbled with the mute button, and turned over the bright screen to see the time read  5:15 am.

    Throwing it to her side table, she stretched out her limbs, moving around on her soaked sheets.

    "God..."

     She had another one of her nightmares.

    Felix had been bound and dropped into a bottomless space of water. She swam and swam, but could never quite reach the top. Just as she would wake up she would feel her lungs give out in the dream, and her body falling back into the depths of the water, totally helpless.

    As she sat on the edge of her bed now, she rubbed her neck ridding it of tension. She hung her head as she continued to sit there, staring into the darkness at her feet. She heard the creak of her bedroom door, and feet walking across the hardwood floors. Weight was added to the opposite side of her bed, and she turned to greet her company.

    "Hey baby, did I wake you?" She cooed. Reaching over, she buried her face into the neck of the warm body beside her.

    "Mmmm...." She sighed. She began to scratch at the soft fur of her husky, getting the spot on her belly that would make her leg kick.

    "You like that Sophie? Good girl..." As the dog thwarted around beneath her master's massage, Felix patted her belly and stood.

    "You ready for a run, girl?"

   The dog quickly turned over. Ears perked and tail thumping against the mattress at the word run. Shee began tossing her massive body around the bed even more.

      Walking to her bathroom, Felix began to get into her exercise wear, ready to run off the stress caused by her nightmares as per usual every morning.

oOo

   "Are you hungry? Hey, get back..." Felix stood in her kitchen, fresh from her morning run. She listened to Sophie lap at her water bowl, and toss around the empty food one. Felix herself rehydrated herself, downing a bottle of water within a few gulps. She pushed away her eager dog who hung around her legs, nudging her towards the pantry where she kept her food.

   "Sit Sophie." The dog complied and left Felix alone to fix her own meal first. From her living room she could hear the morning news recount all of the events of the past week, and the developing news.

       "A major tsunami has struck Thailand this morning, devastating thousands and leaving hundreds stranded as special rescue teams race to help..."

    Blood pooled in Felix's ears as she turned to see the images being shown on the TV. They replayed footage of the massive waves striking down on resorts and towns across the country. Sophie began to bark, startling Felix from her daze. She looked down to see that she had overfilled her bowl of cereal as milk dripped down to her feet.

     "Shit."

    Rolling off paper towels, she tossed them down over the mess.

    "No Sophie, out!" She nudged the dog away before she could get a hold of the spilt milk.

   Reaching above her, she finally pulled out the canister of dog food, dumping out Sophie's morning portion. It was enough to distract her as Felix cleaned up the floor.

    Finally being able to sit in front of the TV with her second bowl of cereal, she reached for the remote, turning up the volume of the news report.

      "Right now Mark, it's hard to say. Reports are telling us that this tsunami is one of the most devastating and terrifying that they have had this season...Homes have been destroyed, people are homeless. From our sources we have learned that there is no official death count as they numbers continue to roll in by the minute."

       Flipping through the channels, Felix couldn't seem to get away from the tsunami reports, and she slowly felt herself becoming overwhelmed with emotion. Quickly she checked her list of recorded shows, and chose Judge Mathis.

     Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she began to eat her now soggy cereal through the tears that fell without her permission.