No output warning when no checkboxes are selected.

This code gets how many checkboxes (nchecked) are selected. It works when more than 2 boxes are selected, but no warning is outputted when I have no checkboxes selected. What should be different?

Here's the code that gets the checkboxes

private int getCheckBoxes(){
    int count = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < checkBoxes.size(); i++){
        if (checkBoxes.get(i).isSelected()) {
        count++;
    }
    }
    return count;
}

private int getIndex(String cityName) {
    return cities.indexOf(cityName);        
}

//Here is the code that I'm putting out my warning

private void handleCitySelection (int index) {
    if (checkBoxes.get(index).isSelected()) 
    { 
        int nchecked = getCheckBoxes();
        if (nchecked <= 0)
        {
            outputDistance.append("Please Select 2 Cities");
        }            
        if(nchecked >= 3)
        {
            checkBoxes.get(index).setSelected(false);
        }
        else 
            if (nchecked == 1) {
                city1 = index;
            }
        else 
            {
                city2 = index;
            }
    }
}

Also behind each checkbox is:

handleCitySelection(getIndex(evt.getActionCommand()));

Thanks in advance!!