Your mother hollers that you're going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not―you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner. Only, if it's the last time you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus. But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran. Fourteen kids. One superstore. The bus ride to the end of the world...   "Laybourne's debut ably turns what could have been yet another post apocalyptic YA novel into a tense, claustrophobic, and fast-paced thriller." (Publishers Weekly)   When Dean raced out the door to catch the school bus, he didn't realize it would be the last time he'd ever see his mom. After a freak hailstorm sends the bus crashing into a superstore, Dean and a group of students of all ages are left to fend for themselves. They soon realize the hailstorm and the crash are the least of their worries. After seeing a series of environmental and chemical disasters ravage the outside world, they realize they're trapped inside the store.   Unable to communicate with the ones they love, the group attempts to cobble together a new existence. As they struggle to survive, Dean and the others must decide which risk is greater: leaving... or staying.   Monument 14  is a post-apocalyptic YA novel that transcends age barriers. If you like heart-stopping suspense, realistic characters, and new takes on survival novels, then you'll love the first book in Emmy Laybourne's Monument 14 series.   Buy  Monument 14  to experience the end of the world today! "Frighteningly real... riveting." - The New York Times Book Review, Editor's choice EMMY LAYBOURNE  is a novelist and former character actress. She is the author of the upcoming release Berserker , the horror/comedy novel Sweet and the critically acclaimed Monument 14  trilogy. Before her life as an author, Emmy performed original comedy on Comedy Central, MTV and VH1; and acted in the movies "Superstar," "The In-Laws" and "Nancy Drew," among others.  Monument 14 By Emmy Laybourne Square Fish Copyright © 2013 Emmy Laybourne All right reserved. ISBN: 9781250027382 CHAPTER ONE TINKS     Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you hurdle down the stairs and make a run for the corner. Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus. But the bus was barreling down our street so I ran. *   *   * As I raced down the driveway I heard my mom yell for my brother, Alex. His bus was coming down Park Trail Drive, right behind mine. His bus came at 7:09 on the dot. Mine was supposed to come at 6:57 but was almost always late, as if the driver agreed it wasn’t fair to pick me up before 7:00. Alex ran out behind me and our feet pounded the sidewalk in a dual sneaker-slap rhythm. “Don’t forget,” he called. “We’re going to the Salvation Army after school.” “Yeah, sure,” I said. My bus driver laid on the horn. Sometimes we went over to rummage for old electronics after school. I used to drive him before the gas shortage. But now we took our bikes. I used to drive him to school, too. But since the shortage everyone in our school, everyone, even the seniors, took the bus. It was the law, actually. I vaulted up the bus steps. Behind me I heard Mrs. Wooly, who has been driving the elementary–middle school bus since forever, thank Alex sarcastically for gracing them with his presence. Mrs. Wooly, she was an institution in our town. A grizzled, wiry-haired, ashtray-scented, tough-talking institution. Notorious and totally devoted to bus driving, which you can’t say about everyone. On the other hand, the driver of my bus, the high school bus, was morbidly obese and entirely forgettable. Mr. Reed. The only thing he was known for was that he drank his morning coffee out of an old jelly jar. Even though it was early in the route, Jake Simonsen, football hero and all-around champion of the popular, was already holding court in the back. Jake had moved to our school from Texas a year ago. He was a real big shot back in Texas, where football is king, and upon transfer to our school had retained and perhaps even increased his stature. “I’m telling y’all—concessions!” Jake said. “At my old high school a bunch of girls sold pop and cookies and these baked potatoes they used to cook on a grill. Every game. They made, like, a million dollars.” “A million dollars?” Astrid said. Astrid Heyman, champion diver on the swim team, scornful goddess, girl of my dreams. “Even if I could make a million dollars, I wouldn’t give up playing my own sport