As they peered out from the unforgiving bomb shelter into the piercing light, they knew they were the only ones left. One by one they climbed out of the shelter onto the hot soil, stunned by all the fragments of life that lay before them. At first all they could do was gawk, mouths open, eyes unblinking. Then finally an anonymous voice: "Whoa." That single utterance basically summed up all their feelings. Then their minds started to function again and streams of questions began to appear. Where were they? Where were their parents? Their teachers? Not one of them knew their way around this massive city; they had only come here on a field trip. The boys came from many different schools and didn't even all know one another.
             Another voice spoke up, "Think we're the only ones left, eh?" It was a question they had all been afraid to ask. What started as a murmur grew until it became the shouting of the older ones and the crying of the little ones. After the younger boys had been "shh"ed sufficiently another question arose, "Why don't we go exploring?" said Jack, "we'll split up into our schools and see who else we can find." Without even waiting he began to walk away, a group of boys following behind him.
             "Wait a minute!" shouted Piggy, "you can't just leave? How do we know you're coming back? And who's going to take care of the little ones? They'll get lost for sure. And we don't even know each others names." Jack knew he was right but rather then return to the group, he and his boys stood apart defiantly, waiting for whatever was coming next.
             "He's right," said Ralph, "we can't just go off. We need to set a time for all of us to comeback. But, Jack's right too, we should go find any others. Who here has a running watch?" Many hands were raised. "Alright then, Piggy and you t...