Brad laid lifelessly on his bed. His hazy eyes glared at his cieling, which had sopping water stains engulfing the corners. Buckets were placed throughout his room, under several severely soaked places. Though, the room still had a damp feeling to it.
He gradually lifted his head eyeball the window. As usual, it had a translucent layer to it from the water repeatedly sliding down. Brad had not been able to see out of that window for many days now, and he had now lost count.
His face was covered with a forlorn expression, and it remained like this. He lifted his body off the bed, and he walked towards the door. Pacing backwards a few steps, he grabbed his knife, and continued out the doorway.
His apartment building was bare of people, much less structure. Doorways and ceiling sections collapsed, even as he walked down the hallway. Opening the main door, he took one cautious step outside. The three step stoop was flooded up to the second. With his pants already cut up past the ankles, he treaded through the streets to find supplies.

::SeaWorld had flooded along with most of the other cities in Florida. All of the sea animals that had been kept in SeaWorld escaped, and Casey was now out of a job. The water in the cities of Florida were already up to the third story of the buildings. Everyone had evacuated already. There was rumor that in the north the waters were shallow...some said, that it hadn't rained there at all yet.::
::Casey didn't know if any of the rumors were true, but NYC was here home town. She had to get there to see if it were still there. If it was, maybe she could ban together some friends and family memebers. They had to starts building something that would float. Something they could live on that wouold float on the water...something that wouldn't sink.::
::Casey was still in her SeaWorld bathingsuit with the logo on her right breast when she lept off of the top of her third story appartment building and into the water no more then a foot below the roof line. She came back up for air and was greeted with a high pitched squeek. Casey looked over and saw Dibit, one of the dolphins she used to care for at SeaWorld.::
::Dibit chirped happily and swam over to his former caretaker. Casey smiled brightly and ran a hand over the dolphins back. Dibit had gotten his name, for he had a chunk missing out of his right flipper, or as some would call it...a dibit.::
"Hey Dibit! I guess you earned your freedom! I don't think I'll have to worry about saving the sea creatures anymore...looks like my species is the one endangered now." ::Casey said, somehow managing to keep a smile on her face. Dibit squeeked as if he understood, and continued to swim in circles around Casey. Casey patted her old friend, then started to swim north. She had to get to NY...but she knew she could not swim the whole way. She would eventually tire and drown despite how good she was a swimmer.::
::Casey heard Dibit squeek adn looked over to see the dolphin was following her. She blinked and stopped swimming.::
"Dibit, you're free now. You don't have to follow me anymore. This isn't your tank. It's the whole world!" ::Casey tried to explain. The dolphin only chirped, but did not stray from Casey's side. Casey smiled brightly, finally understanding.:
"Oh I get it now! You think I'm your pod! You consider me a pod member! I'm flattered Dibit. I guess if you want to come I can't stop you. Let's go to NY." ::Casey said, then started swimming north once more.::

::She tired after an hour, and Casey had to stop, resting on a tree branch which was level with the water, but was obviously once the top of the tree. Dibit had stayed with her, and Casey was sure the dolphin wouldn't be leaving her side from now on. She looked around...she needed a boat...::
::Boats weren't hard to find though. Any people who were left were in one. There were sailboats, powerboats, even water jets. Casey figured maybe she'd bum a ride from someone. She was in the process of raising up her thumb in order to hitch hike when something caught her eye. She looked over and was shocked to see several jet skis floating on the current toward her. They were all black, and all had the SeaWorld logo on their sides.::
::Oh of course! We had several jet skis and boats at SeaWorld! Why didn't I think to take one? Casey wondered. But of course it didn't matter now. It seemed the current had been pushing the skis along with Casey as she had swam. Casey waited for the nearest one to float closer to her tree, then she reached out a hand and grabbed it's handel. Quickly Casey jumped onto the purple seat of her jet ski and revved the motor. Dibit squeeked.::
"Don't worry dibit, I know you cna keep up, and probably even out swim me!" ::Casey said. Then off she went, flying down the flooded street of what once was her home. Dibit squeeked with joy, then started swimming easily beside her. Dibit was happy with how quickly they wer enow going, and showed his appreciation by leaping out of the water twice in a row. Casey laughed.::

*Darron looked at the panicked world around him, everywhere people were running in fear, holding up in their homes. Hoping that the torrental rains would simply passover them and spare their lives. Darron didn't believe in that, especially not after the telegram he got three weeks ago. It simply read "Your family is dead." He knew what it had been, it wasn't a murder or an accident, it was this rain.

God was punishing the world.

Kane! Get a rescue boat going, scoop up anyone you see that isn't in the shelter.

The commanding officer of the naval academy scowled at the stupidity of his own words, of course anyone that wasn't in the shelter needed to be "scooped up". Well, it wasn't his fault, everyone had been going through their own personal hell, suicides had been higher in the city than they have since the early 1930s; many people trying to repent with their past sins just couldn't dig up the faith they needed in this impending judgement day. Kane stepped in the water, using the latex raft next to him to prop him up, it was only about knee deep, but a man needed only 2 inches of water to drown in. He climbed in the boat, and with a tug and sputter, soared off to the desolate streets, the engine gagging behind him.

::It took Casey only a week to make it to the city of NY. She stopped everynight to rest ontop of still visable rooftops. She didn't mind being wet any longer, the rain was non stop, so she didn't even try to find shelter. She just rested ont eh rooftops in the pouring rain.::
::She didn't need to worry about food. Dibit, understanding that Casey could not hunt fish on her own without the human equipment, wet out and brought back fish to her. He always gave her three fish. Casey supposed that this was because when she had given him his treats for doing tricks back at SeaWorld, she always gave him three fish. Dibit squeeked and nodded sharply happy with himself. Casey always praised him, but could no longer give him treats. So instead she settled for patting him on his head and giving him kind words. The dolphin didn't seem dissapointed.::
::Casey was able to cook the fish easily as well. In one of the early cities, she raided an abandoned smoke shop. She had filled her pockets with several cigarette lighters, and had stolen several newspapers for kindling. The next tree she saw...was stripped of twigs, and any bigger branches that she could manage to rip off. She tied up all her wood neatly with a stolen rope, and tied it to the back of her jet ski. This way, she would always had the means for fire.::
::So doing this repeatedly finally took her to NY. The water was noticably shallower here, and it only came up to Casey's knees. In some places it was even dry, such as on hills. But of course it was deeper still in trenches and the lower reagions. Casey did not want to leave her Jet Ski anywhere, but the knee deep water wasn't deep enough for her to ride in. So instead, Casey walked her Jet Ski along with her, like how kids used to wlak their bikes down the streets.::
::Dibit was very un-happy with the shallow water. He only followed Casey for a little while. Soon he was not able to swish his dorsal fin at all for leverage, and with an un-happy squeek, he turned around and headed back toward deeper water. Casey waved, knowing that he would be back once she found deeper waters again.::
::Casey wasn't sure of what to do now. Caseys parents were long dead. They had died a few months before the rains due to a car accident. She no longer had family in NY...but it was still her home, and she felt like she was needed there. Looking for a way to help, she started wlaking around aimlessly.::

Delia sat in a hotel room. She was crying. She still wore the black southern belle dress she had worn for her last competetion. She slid onto her stomach, sobbing.

The rain pitter-patter, which in the begining was soothing, was begining to become annoying. She sat up, and rubbed her ever-crying eyes. She stood up and walked to the balcony.

She threw the door wide open. "I hate you! You took him away!" She screamed. Slowly, as if in a movie, she walked to the railing. "I'll never dance again. I'll never-" She fell to her knees, trying hard not to cry. "I'll never love again. I know! I'll jump." She stood up, leaning her weight on the rail. She gathered her skirts in her hand, and raised the dress above her ankles, then she moved her legs so she was sitting on the thin rail.

Would I really? Yes. But what about...Him? He's dead. He wanted me to be the best. You'll die anyway. I know. Now push off. I guess I should. Of course you should. She pushed off the rail and fell into the water which came above her head. The impact shocked her, and she wriethed trying to reach the surface. But he dress got in her way.

She was reaching for anything, anything at all. Her hand grabbed a boat, and she pulled her self up, the boat flipped over her head, but she pushed it off.

::Casey was wandering the city when she hit an area with deeper water then the rest. The water instead of being up to her knees went deep enough so that she could use her jet ski once more. Casey hopped on and started putting around looking for anything of interest.::
::And interest she found as she heard a shout. She looked up and saw a girl standing ontop of a balcony. She shouted something...then jumped!!! Casey watched the girl fall into the water and struggle to swim to the surface. But teh girl was wearing a heavy dress that was keeping ehr down. She struggled for a boat, but it flipped over.::
::Quickly Casey drove her jet ski over to see if she could help.::
"Hey, are you alright there? You need some help?" ::Casey asked. She knew the answer. The girl was obviously very upset. She had clearly been crying. Her eyes were red. Casey reached out a kind hand, hoping the girl would take her help.::

Brad haulted cautiously when he came to an area of deeper water. He tapped his toe in once or twice, as his mind brought up no answers. While drawing a complete blank, he raised his head to observe his surroundings.
His heart leaped when he spotted the three moving specs about a quarter mile away from him. The first smile he had in many weeks arose from his expression. From his pale gray complexion came sudden color! Hope uncovered itself, and it made no attempt to hide further!
He broke into a run, inching along the sidewalk that only rose to his ankles in water. When he arrived near the beings, he saw one was in agony. Reaching his hand out immediatly, he yelled "Grab over here!"
A small fraction of him felt embarresed for not acknowledging the other woman and..dolphin. For the time being, he would ignore it.

((gelfman said he wants Natalie to run this))

((Nevermind, I'm back.))

Delia grabbed Casey's hand. She fought to keep her head above the water. She held tight to Casey's hand. For the time being, Delia deicided to ignore the boy. She hoped he'd understand she was frightened of being dragged down again.

::The gril grabbed her hand, and Casey quickly struggled to pull her up onto the back of her jet ski. After a struggle, she suceeded and the girl was safe on the back of her jet ski. Casey decided to get her to some shallow waters, sos he rode over to where the boy who offered to help stood. Casey then lept off of her jet ski, for the first time noticing that Dibit had returned and was splashin in the deeper waters waiting for her. Casey looked from the girl to the boy.::
"Uh..hi! I'm Casey." ::She said. Then turned to the girl to help her off the back of her jet ski.:: "You ok? What happened back there? Did you fall?" ::She asked, not recognizing that she had tried to kill herself.::

Brad remained silent, short of the few words he had. He considered throwing himself into the water at that moment, but he held back his depression the best he was able.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, purely curious. "There haven't been anyone outside voluntarily for many months now.."

"Well, the south is already underwater. And most of us that survived heard that the North wasn't really flooded yet. Plus...this is my home town. So I figured I'd come up and see what was left. See if I couldn't do something here. After all, with no job, or school...you get bored. I figured, there must be something I can do to help those who survived." ::Casey answered truthfully. Dibit chirped happily from the water. Casey smiled.:: "And Dibit decided to help me. We need a plan you know. We should build something...like WaterWorld! Ever see that movie?" ::She asked smiling, her gray eyes bright as she brushed her blonde hair out of her face.::

"Well, I wish we could do that.." He said, with his hope draining by the second.
"Although, I've heard rumors there is a NASA base in Washington that has a few abandoned space shuttles. They supposly are able to take you to the moon, but that could be a rumor..." He paused, staring at the out-of-breath girl on the floor. "I'd say we go, because it's our only chance.." He smiled, but he was partly willing to do it.

((Thanks for posting everyone, I was pretty convinced this would die out quickley.))

::Casey's eyes widened at such an idea.:: "..wha...but....leave Earth? I..I dunno.." ::She said hesitantly. She loved the Earth and everything in it. And she was convinced that even if everything flooded, and that all the land dissapeared. Humans would still survive. They were good at adapting. Someone had to have been building floating homes somewhere, right? Besides...she loved the sea dn all the creatures in it. It would still be Earth if the land was gone. For there'd still be the sea...and there'd still be earth sea creatures, and there'd still be humans. Casey couldn't imagin leaving earth. She loved it so.::
::But she was also starting to realize...that she may have no choice. Casey knew that she couldn't possibly live on her jet ski forever. Eventually it would run out of gas...and eventually all the trees to gather wood from would be gone. Eventually...she'd have no resorces left at all to live off of...And it was then that she realized the human race couldn't possibly survive without the land. what would they build floating homes out of? Surely not water! And without resorces...they'd never be able to get materials from the bottom of the ocean. There'd be no way to build anything to live on...Casey suddenly for the first time realized how hopeless her dreams and wishes were. Even if they built these floating homes now...they'd eventually deteriorate...and there'd be no way of fixing the rotting wood.::
:: Casey's eyes suddenly filled with tears. There was no hope for the human race. It didn't matter if she went around and saved people from drowning. It didn't matter what they did from that point on. There was no massive plan to survive against God. There was nothing. They hadn't a prayer...they couldn't do a thing. Not even rocket scientists...Rockets? She thought. That was their only hope. To leave Earth...leave what it was that made them human, their home. Finally she turned back to the boy who she still did not know the name of even though she had introduced herself.::
"I...I understand. I will come with you. But if this shuttle thing doesn't exsist. we must try to find a way to build something that will float so we can survive." ::She said. Casey then looked back tot eh girl.:: "Ok...you gotta come along too then. It seems this is the only way we can survive. what are you guys's names?"

"Delia." she said. Once she was in shallower waters, she fell to her knees. It was hard to stand in the dress. She wiggled in the weet heavy dress untill the sleaves came off, and then she struggled to pushed the wet dress off. Once it was off, she stood in her black petticoat.

"I'm Brad." He said, wiping away the tears bulding up under his eyelid. From first impression, he decided he would accept these people.
"I have some supplies at my apartment down the street. Food supplies are low, and I'm not speaking about my collection in particular. I originally came outside of find food.."

((Two things, we can't move from this position until Bates's character meets up with us. [That better be damn soon Bates. :P ] Aside from this, I spent my boring science class today and drew up plans for the space shuttle we'll eventually take. When the time is right I'll post em..on the site. ))

*Darron had spent about 20 minutes on his raft until he had come across a group of three survivors, the water they were in was torrental and swift, sweeping chucks of foundation over it's foaming crest that each small rapid brought. He accelerated and then killed the engine, coasting to them. There was no anchor to use, it'd weight down the boat too much, so he only kept his hand on the sputtering engine, adjusting it to stay in front of them.

What are you doing out here? Get on the raft, I've gotta get you to a shelter before it becomes too much.

He had thought about his own words, it was allready too much...we were all as good as dead now, as much as we ran, death always won in the end.

"Sorry, but we had something else in mind." He said, trying to sound as polite as he could. In reality he just wanted to ignore the man, but under these circumstances he didn't doubt he was armed.

"Sorry pal, can't let you do that.....
It was the truth, he had orders to bring EVERYONE that was alive to the shelter....who knows what those who weren't would be doing....smuggling drugs, killing people...in all honestly Darron didn't care; they were all going to die soon anyway...but still. He noticed one of the women with him, she had a doliphin of all things with her.

There aren't any seaparks here, where'd he come from?

"Look sir, we really have to leave.." He said, his words fading as the man mentioned something about the dolphin behind them. He wondered what the moon base was like, but for now he'de have to concentrate on the present.

::Casey unlike Brad wasn't s hastey. Although the reality of it all did finally just sink in...she still contained a polite, and generally happy personality. Casey smiled at the stranger on the boat then called by clicking her tongue to Dibit. Dibit swam over and allowed caset to pat his head.::
"This here is Dibit. He escpaed from SeaWorld with all the other animals. I used to work there. He followed me all the way up from Florida!" ::Casey said. She then stood up to face the stranger. Well...might as well save as many people as she could, right?::
"We can't go to the shelter. We'll all just die there anyways. We're going to find a space shuttle. Brad here says he ight know where to find it! You should come with us! As far as I can reason, it's the only way we can survive. I'd like you too come. I don't want a nice guy like you drowning." ::Caset said. She smiled brightly.:: "I have a jet ski, it might be useful along with your boat!" ::She said motioning to her parked jet ski, then to his boat.::

"Yes." Brad said, turning around. "I suggest you do come. Frankly, it seems you would have more experience in the mechanical department then any of us." He stared into the eyes of this man, hoping he wouldn't take action.

*The woman was kind to him and insisted that she had wanted him to travel with them, she had come a long way, obviously; saying she had hailed from Florida. They sounded like they had direction, but at the same time...

....Kane was preplexed, he couldn't abandon his orders, he was binded by contract...well, if the world was going to end, it wouldn't really matter, now would it? Instead of this uncertainty, he preferred to have a hostility in his responce.

"Space shuttle that you might know the way to? Sounds like bullshit to me..." He glared at the desperate world around him, and he knew that deep down inside he wanted to leap at the opportunity to take this chance...

"...I'm sorry. But I think it would be best to come to the shelter...at least for one night. How long has it been since you've had a warm meal?"

"Truthfully?" Brad cocked his head upward. "I haven't had anything but cold canned foods for many months now."
He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and continued.
"But we adapt, and I mean it, i'm sick of adapting. I want to get off earth, and I want to live out the rest of my life in peace! I don't know about all of you, but I'm willing to take the damn chance!"

"What other chance do we have? A hot meal is enticing..but who knows how long we have until the rain fully floods the city." ::Casey reminded them. The answer everyone was thinking was, none. They had no other chance. So a long shot was better then nothing. She turned back to the stranger.::
"Please come with us sir. I know that at least I would enjoy the company of a handsome man." ::She smiled brightly at him. Hoping...praying he would not throw his life away, and give up just yet.::

Delia looked at Darron. "You should come with us." She said softly, her voice stratchy. She rubg out the water in the skirt of the petti coat. "It'd be easier then sitting and waiting to die."