Getting Home

by Stephanie Perry Moore

  As Allison went back to her husband to grab their things, I took a shaky breath to calm myself. Colby was walking toward me, and I didn’t want him to see me crying like this.

  “Hey. We’re gonna walk together, right?” he asked.

  “Allison and John just invited us to walk with them too,” I said, gesturing over to them. “If you’re cool with that, you can come with us if you want.” I felt my cheeks heat up, not sure why I was even asking him.

  Colby shrugged. “Seems like we work well together. Yeah, I’ll roll. Besides,” he grinned at me, “if they try anything crazy, I got your back.”

  That surprised me. Earlier on the bus, he’d seemed like such a cocky jerk. But he’d been kind to me and Blake since the bus had crashed. I couldn’t figure him out. It was nice to know yet another person was looking out for me, but I also knew I had my own back.

  Chapter 2

  It took us two hours to walk two miles. Everyone was exhausted—especially Blake. Our luggage wasn’t easy to carry along the gravely roads, but we were still reluctant to leave it behind.

  After a while, Colby and I ended up walking next to each other. He didn’t say anything, but by then most of us were too tired to talk. I couldn’t help myself from peeking over at him, though. I’d never thought much about boys before. And though I’d first figured he was just like all the other cocky athletes in my school, there was something different about Colby. I just couldn’t quite figure out what it was yet.

  I could feel Colby watching me. I glanced over at him.

  “You look worried,” he said quietly. “Don’t be scared. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “I just do,” he said, giving me another confident grin. It should have annoyed me, but instead I found myself smiling back at him.

  After a few more minutes of walking, we came across a gas station. None of the lights were on, but John walked in to check it out.

  We stayed hidden by a row of trees while we waited. Allison looked tense, chewing on her thumbnail as she stared at the door waiting for John.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said to her, placing my hand on her arm. “Everything will be just fine.”

  She smiled nervously but never kept her gaze off that door.

  A few minutes later, John came back outside and waved us toward him. “Oh, thank goodness,” Allison breathed.

  “See?” I said, grinning at her. This time she gave me a wide smile in return.

  “Yes!” my brother cheered. “I’m hungry.” He trotted up to the door, not bothering to wait for the rest of us. Of course now his ankle seems better, I thought to myself. We laughed as we followed him.

  “Thanks for all the help, Blake!” I teased, dragging our bags with me.

  He stopped and turned to face me with a sheepish look on his face.

  “Come on in, Master Blake,” John said with a laugh. I shook my head at Blake, but I couldn’t hold back my grin—I was too relieved at the thought that we’d found somewhere safe to stay the night. Blake realized he wasn’t actually in trouble and sped into the building. The rest of us filed in after him.

  “Everyone,” John continued, “this is Stockey—he owns this place. He said we can help ourselves to anything in here.”

  A short man with a round belly and a bushy white mustache stood by the register. “Definitely get you some ice cream,” Stockey told us, winking at Blake. “Because without the electricity, I’m gonna lose everything anyway.”

  Blake headed straight toward the freezer section, grabbing a bag of chips along the way, and I laughed. While our parents were probably worried sick and definitely wouldn’t want us eating all this junk food, they’d be happy to know we were at least safe. I could only hope they were safe too.

  Suddenly the shattering of glass startled us. Two men with masks rushed into the store.

  “Everybody on the floor, now!” one of them shouted. He turned to Stockey, who was still standing behind the register. “We need money.”

  “I can’t open the register. It’s electronic,” Stockey replied.

  “Well, you’d better find a way to open it or someone is gonna get it,” the other robber said, moving toward Blake.

  Blake, who was still standing off to the side by the freezer section doors, went wide-eyed. He dropped the carton of ice cream in his hand and didn’t seem to be able to move.

  “Stay away from him!” I shouted, cutting through an aisle to get in front of Blake. I didn’t care what happened to me. But if anyone was going to survive all this, it was going to be my brother.

  Chapter 3

  Since Blake and I were little, we’d had a way of communicating with each other without speaking. We’d goof off, silently working together to pull jokes on our parents. If one of us was running around the house while our parents chased them, the other one would sneak a snack out of the kitchen. Guess we had some sort of unspoken code, and it still worked even when we were older.

  When I ran down the food aisle, the robber got startled. He didn’t seem to know if he should look at me or at Blake. While I kept him distracted, Blake shoved him from behind. The robber stumbled forward, and I stuck my foot out to trip him. He rolled into the middle of the store, landing on his hands and knees.

  Meanwhile, Colby had charged toward the first robber. He put his football skills to use and tackled the guy. They rolled, swinging their fists, but eventually Colby got him pinned.

  “Are you all right?” Allison asked me. I nodded, panting to catch my breath. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush.

  For a moment, we all just stood there while the two of them sat on the tiled floor in the middle of us. We had no idea what to do next.

  “What do you want to do with them now?” John asked Stockey. “It’s not like we can contact the police at the moment.”

  “I have rope,” Stockey said. “We could tie them up.”

  “But you don’t understand,” the first robber insisted. “We didn’t even have any weapons. We weren’t really going to hurt anybody. We were just hungry and freaking out about the Visitors and . . . we didn’t know what else to do.”

  John sighed. “That doesn’t mean you can just come in and rob someone.”

  The other robber’s face scrunched up like he was about to cry. “We just panicked. Everything’s so messed up out there—we live a few miles away and everyone’s already looted the stores. We barely got more than a few bottles of water and cans of soup.”

  Colby caught my eyes as if he was wondering what I was thinking. I didn’t know what to think. What these guys tried to do was wrong, but I could understand how scared they felt.

  I turned to Stockey. “What if we just let them go?” Everyone looked at me in surprise. I glared down at the guys sitting on the floor. “You leave now and never come back here, and don’t try this nonsense with any other business.”

  They both nodded hastily. “Yeah. Of course,” one said.

  “Absolutely,” the other added.

  Everyone looked at Stockey to see what he thought—it was his store after all. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face.

  “Okay,” he said. He waved a hand at them and barked, “Get out of here. Now! If I ever see either of you near here again . . .”

  “You won’t,” the first one assured us. They stood up quickly and raced out of the store without looking back.

  Colby walked to the door to watch that they didn’t stop running. He turned the lock on the door with a heavy thunk.

  We all let out shaky breaths. Stockey wandered into the back office, muttering to himself about needing something to take the edge off after all that. I leaned against a shelf as I fought to calm myself down. The thought of Blake getting hurt by someone had left me rattled.

  Colby and John moved Blake to sit down so they could take a look at his ankle and make sure it was still set properly. I watched from a distance, not wanting my panicked feelings to stir up Blake even more
.

  Allison came over to me. “Earlier, I told you that I wanted you to come with me and John so we could make sure you all were safe. But you were amazing back there. I’m actually glad we’re with you so we can stay safe.”

  ***

  The next half hour was quiet compared to how things had started at the gas station. Blake and Colby continued to eat after they’d looked over Blake’s foot, while Stockey let John and Allison pack up some food for the road.

  Blake didn’t seem to be in much pain, but I noticed Allison take another deep breath and rub at her head. “You okay?” I asked her.

  “I don’t feel too good,” she said.

  “Maybe you need to take some aspirin or something,” I said. “I’ll look for some.”

  I got up to search the small row of aisles in the gas station when there was heavy pounding on the front door. Everyone froze. My eyes immediately shot to Blake, and I noticed Colby step in my direction while keeping an arm out in front of my brother. Stockey raised his hands, silently gesturing for us to wait, and he went to the door. He let out a sigh of relief and unlocked it.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “It’s just some of my neighbors from down the road.”

  I nodded and let out the breath I had been holding. We could not take any more trouble.

  After Stockey introduced us to everyone, we all sat back down in the middle of the store. Stockey stayed near the front, keeping an eye on the door to make sure no unwanted guests were coming our way.

  Blake had finally eaten his fill and was now leaning back against one of the shelves in the snack aisle, nodding off. “Go ahead and get some rest,” I told him. “You need it.”

  “But I need to stay awake,” he mumbled, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Gotta look out for you.”

  “I can help with that,” Colby said. “Go ahead and sleep.”

  Blake grinned at him at that and finally closed his eyes. I felt something in my stomach flutter but tried not to show the smile on my face. I cleared my throat and slid down against the wall to sit on the cool tile floor beside Blake. Colby sat across the aisle from me.

  “So it really is an alien invasion?” we heard John ask Stockey and his neighbors.

  “I was watching the news before all the power cut out,” Stockey said with a nod. “They didn’t know much, but the last thing they were saying was that they’d confirmed the unidentified ships weren’t from Earth.”

  The woman sitting next to him rested her hand on her collarbone nervously. Her eyes widened. “We were watching too. And then the TV, the power, everything . . . just gone.”

  John gestured to the rest of our group. “We were all on a bus. It crashed around the same time the electricity died.”

  “I think it was an EMP blast,” another man said. “Wipes out all electronics. Probably killed the car batteries too.”

  Everyone was quiet for a moment. “So what do we do now?” I asked.

  “You’re all welcome to stay here for the night,” Stockey said.

  John nodded. “It’ll be dark out soon. At first light tomorrow morning, we’ll take off.”

  “Let’s all get some rest,” Allison said.

  I nodded, but I was nowhere near ready to sleep. Eventually Stockey’s neighbors took off, but he volunteered to stay the night with us to make sure we were okay. The five of us stayed up talking for a few hours, while Blake snored away. I was glad. He needed all the rest he could get if his ankle was going to heal.

  Eventually John and Allison settled down into a corner by themselves, Stockey went to sleep in his back office, and then it was just Colby and me.

  “So your dad’s in Montgomery, huh?” Colby asked.

  I picked at a loose thread on my shirt. “Mm-hmm. Left about a year ago.”

  I could feel him watching me again. “You don’t seem too happy about that.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You don’t dig him too much, huh?”

  “Right about now, I wish I could throw my arms around him.” I looked up at Colby. “But I think I’m only feeling that way because I’m all freaked out thinking the world’s gonna end. If I’m being honest . . .” I hesitated.

  “Yeah, be honest.”

  “I’ve been angry with my dad ever since he left. I’m happy I didn’t have to move to Montgomery with him, but I would have in a heartbeat if that meant we all could’ve stayed together,” I said.

  “Oh wait now, back up off Montgomery! There’s a whole bunch of history there,” Colby joked.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

  He grinned when he noticed I was trying not to smile.

  I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around my legs. “I’m just saying it’s bad enough that my mom and Blake and I had to move across the city. When my dad left, we had to downsize from a house to this tiny apartment, and I have to go to a different school,” I said.

  “How’s that been?” Colby asked.

  “Let’s just say it hasn’t been my favorite experience.”

  “So what do you want to do when you graduate?”

  I looked over at him, wondering why he wanted to know. But I also didn’t know what to tell him. I didn’t even know if I knew the answer.

  “Still trying to figure yourself out, huh?” he asked, as if reading my thoughts.

  “Yeah, I guess I am. What about you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m doing the same thing—trying to figure it out.” He glanced down at the floor. “I’m sure you heard me talking to my grandma on the phone while we were on the bus . . .”

  “Yeah, you were kind of loud and hard to ignore.”

  He gave a small laugh but quickly turned serious again. “So you know that I got kicked off that college visit because drugs were found in my bag—steroids. Which I’ve never used. Somebody gave them to me right before I headed to Hillview, but I absolutely hadn’t used them. Not that my grandma believed that.”

  “Was she angry with you?” I asked.

  “Yes, but she has a right to be. I live with her. My mom has a drug problem. If it hadn’t been for my grandma—and for great teachers, coaches, and other folks in my life—I’d probably be messed up.”

  “So why did you have those steroids on you? Why didn’t you just get rid of them?” I asked him, and then immediately wished I could take back the question. This wasn’t really any of my business.

  “Stupid,” he mumbled. “I got cocky, thinking about trying them out—thinking that maybe with the drugs I’d be an even better player than I already am. College visits can do that to you. Five star hotel. Coaches and food all around. Endless money from an institution. And things are so competitive.” He looked up at me with a serious look in his eyes. “I messed up, and now I’m out here trying to make it while aliens are attacking us. But it ain’t all bad. I got to meet you at least.”

  I felt my heart skip a beat.

  “We’re gonna be okay,” he said then. “You know, if the aliens don’t get us. We just gotta get out of our own way. You with your anger and me with my ego.”

  “Yeah,” I said, unable to stop the smile on my face. “Maybe we can help each other with that.”

  Colby nodded. He started to yawn and gave a shy smile. “Guess we’d better get some sleep too,” he said.

  I moved next to Blake, laying my head on the jacket he was using for a pillow. Colby curled up a few feet away from us. I smiled to myself. It’s not like I was about to grab his hand or kiss him or anything, but I could tell there was definitely something between us.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning we were on the move again. Colby stuck close to Blake and me, making us both laugh by talking about normal stuff like TV and sports. With him around, it was easy to forget about the Visitors.

  But even after being on the move all morning, we were still a long way from Montgomery. And walking all this way took its toll. We needed to take breaks frequently, especially with Blake’s ankle still not back to one hundred percent. When we saw a res
t stop sign, it was a welcome sight. We walked along the exit ramp to find a campsite with a small building for restrooms. We sat down at a picnic table and pulled out some of the food and waters we’d taken from the gas station.

  John, Allison, and Blake ate quickly and headed into the building to use the restrooms afterward. Colby stayed silent even after they were gone, and I noticed he had barely eaten anything.

  I nudged him to say, “Not hungry?”

  He looked away.

  I pressed, “Now wait, we’ve just been talking for hours. Why clam up on me now? What’s going on?”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just tripping,” he said.

  “Tell me,” I said.

  “Just thinking about the future. Up until yesterday, all I could think about was getting recruited by a good college and playing football. Now I don’t even know if we’ll survive this alien attack. Everything I used to worry about seems kind of . . . pointless now.”

  “I get it. I’m second-guessing everything too. Been too angry at my folks for them splitting up, and right now I’d do anything to see them. But we’ve got to stay focused.”

  Colby looked at me and sighed. “How?”

  “You’re the baller. Aren’t you used to figuring out how to make a comeback even when things are looking down?”

  He snorted out a laugh and shook his head at me. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  I grinned at him. “I don’t know that much about sports, but I know that if we want to make it we have to think we can win.”

  ***

  The weather was changing. With the darkness came the cold. We decided to stay at the campsite for the night. The building had a small hallway leading to each restroom’s door. We figured we could sleep in the hallway—it was better than sleeping outside.

  The five of us crammed into the small hallway together. “I’m cold, sis,” Blake whispered. I motioned for him to slide closer.

  Colby was on the other side of him. “Don’t take your body heat away from me,” he said, sliding closer too.