Karin gazed once again at the enormous tree as she put the phone back in her bag again, wanting only to turn around and run away. If she had seen it on television back home she would probably have thought it was beautiful; she might even have wished to be here to see it. Now that she found herself in the middle of what might be the greatest catastrophe in recent times however, the beauty of the tree was the last thing on her mind. She could look at it only with resentment.<br/>Eventually she directed her attention at her surroundings. The quakes had left the road unusable even for a pedestrian; the fissures were massive and left a lot of areas unreachable, not to mention the crevice that completely cut her off from the rest of the square. Toby was still nowhere to be seen; every time Karin spotted a new lifeless body lying in the rubble of a collapsed building she held her breath, fearing it'd be her beloved boyfriend.<br/>There was a good chance he had died in the chaos following the quakes, but Karin refused to let herself believe it yet - he had to be alive somewhere nearby, and they would eventually find each other and go back to check on Toby's family. It felt like an unrealistic dream, but for now it was the only thing keeping Karin on her feet.<br/>The train station in the distance was crumbling down, reminding Karin that the situation still wasn't safe. Anything still standing was at risk of crumbling down at any time; she had to move somewhere safer before she suffered the same fate as the people who had been crushed by falling buildings when the quakes began, as much as it pained her to leave the area.<br/><br/>Where could she go, though? She also had to secure food and water for herself at some point in case it took a few days for help to arrive; simply moving as far away from buildings as she could or go and try to help the staggering amount of injured people wouldn't help her in the long run. Before long she'd start dehydrating, and she couldn't help the injured in her current state. Instead, she directed her attention towards a small group of survivors sitting together in a circle not far from where she stood, seemingly discussing something amongst themselves. If anything could solve her current problems, a group of people who might know the city would be her safest bet.<br/>She crossed the distance quickly, but slowed down once she got closer until she stood only a few feet from the nearest person in the circle.<br/>"Excuse me," she said in her light German accent, "do you know where I can find some food and water?"<br/>The entire group turned quiet and stared at her, one man looking about 5 years older than she frowned. "In a convenience store that hasn't been reduced to dust obvious--"<br/>He was cut short as yet another terrifying scream reduced them to silence, and they stared towards the silver tree. Karin shivered as the rain started to fall, once again feeling the terror she had felt when she first heard that horrible sound, despite this time it had only lasted a small moment.