Chapter
2
Kevin sat up,
dazed, and looked around. He was still in the bathroom. He had been in there
when the bus had crashed. He had heard the screams and had been hurled around
in the bathroom. He had bumped his head on something; he wasn't sure what. It
was throbbing painfully now. But that wasn't important to Kevin. He had to make
sure the others were okay. He cautiously opened the bathroom door and gasped at
what he saw. The bus was a disaster area. Some of the bunks had collapsed.
Their things were scattered everywhere. In the midst of all the mess, Kevin saw
Howie. He was sitting up, his eyes wide and filled with pain.
"Howie?
Are you alright?" Kevin cried, kneeling down beside Howie.
"I think
so," he said. "I got thrown out of my bunk. I think I just got pretty
banged up. But other than that, I guess I'm okay."
"Where
are the others?" Kevin asked anxiously. Howie said nothing, just stood up
carefully.
"Where is
everybody?" Kevin asked again.
"I don't
know," Howie said, his voice sounding shaky. Kevin walked through the bus.
Suddenly, he gasped. Nick was lying against the wall near the front of the bus.
"Nick!"
Kevin cried, running over to him. Nick was motionless. His eyes were closed.
There was blood running down the side of his head, and Kevin could see bruises
already starting to form on his face. "Nick!" Kevin cried, louder
this time. He knelt down beside Nick and nudged him gently. Nick just lay
there, lifeless. Kevin looked hard at him and realized with a shock that his
chest wasn't rising. Kevin grabbed Nick's wrist to feel for a pulse. He got
nothing. "Shit!" he cried, his voice rising shrilly.
"What is
it?" Howie asked, rushing over to him.
"He's not
breathing!" Kevin cried. Howie tried not to panic. He knelt down beside
Kevin.
"Move
over," he said. "I'll do CPR. Get your cell phone and call 911!"
Kevin raced to
the back of the bus and dug through his bag until he found his cell phone. His
fingers shook as he dialed 911. Shakily, he told the operator what had
happened. He began to panic when she asked where they were. He didn't even know
what state they were in. It was too dark to see out the bus window. Luckily,
they could trace his call and could figure out where to come. Kevin hung up and
hurried back to the front of the bus.
***