by Israel Keats
“There!” James whispered, pointing to the right.
Leo moved to a different window where he could get a better view. Sure enough, the same looters were breaking into a front door two houses down across the street. He noticed the house next to that one also had broken glass in the door. “Looks like they’re making their way down that side of the street,” he said. “It’s getting dark—they’ll probably quit for the night soon.”
“What if they have some kind of lights?” Sigrid whispered.
“I can barely see as it is. If they had lights, they’d be using them already.” It wasn’t the most convincing argument, but it was all they had to go with.
Sigrid and James nodded, but Leo could tell no one felt reassured. As the sun went down, they lit a few candles and kept them away from the windows to be safe. Sigrid brought down armfuls of pillows and blankets into the living room for the three of them to sleep. Leo dragged a recliner over to the front door, propping it between the door and the staircase. James and Sigrid moved the kitchen table to block the side door.
Leo could feel that something among them had shifted. This place no longer seemed as safe as they’d thought it would be. He cleared his throat, and the other two turned to him. “I, uh, wonder if we should leave for the Air Force base tomorrow morning after all.”
James nodded, looking relieved. “How far away is the base?”
“They said it would be over an hour in the transport vehicles,” said Sigrid. “So maybe seventy, eighty miles west?”
“If we make good time, we could probably get there within a day on bikes,” Leo said. He looked at Sigrid. “Do you have a bike?”
“Yeah, but I also have a dog,” she reminded them. “I’m not leaving her behind.”
“How about one of those little trailers that you can tow behind a bike?” James suggested. “They look like tents? Usually people put little kids in them?”
“Great idea.” Sigrid snapped her fingers. “I know where I can get one. A family I babysit for has one. I have a key to their house, and I know the mom wouldn’t mind if I borrowed it.”
“All right,” Leo said. “We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning.” He felt better knowing what they were going to do next, even if it was riding bikes for eight or nine hours while towing an elderly dog.
They spent the rest of the evening getting ready for the trip. Sigrid emptied her backpack of her schoolbooks and found extra bags for Leo and James. Leo stuffed one backpack full of energy bars and peanut butter sandwiches. He saw James putting cans of soda in another.
“You know that’s going to be warm. And not very, like, nutritious or whatever.”
James looked at him and blinked. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that.” He put the cans on the counter and loaded the water bottles instead.
After they were finished, they sat in the nest of blankets and pillows in the living room—Sigrid on the couch, James and Leo on the floor.
“I’ve been wondering,” James said. “Why us?”
Sigrid shifted to lie down on the couch. “Why Earth?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe they know we’re the only other planet out there with life,” she suggested.
“But what are the odds that only two planets in the entire universe have life?” Leo asked. “I feel like if we know there are at least two out there, that just means there’s probably more.”
“And why attack us?” Sigrid asked.
“I mean, can we really even call it an attack?” said James. “It’s not like they bombed us.”
Sigrid snorted. “Nope, just wiped out our means of transportation and communication.”
“But they might have just wanted to neutralize us. Doesn’t seem like they’re out to destroy us.”
“How comforting.”
“Well, James is right that it could’ve been worse,” said Leo, shrugging. “And for all we know, they might be talking with the government right now, coming up with some sort of peaceful compromise. It’s not like we’d hear about it in our newsfeeds anymore anyway.”
The candles went out, and with nothing else to do they decided to go to sleep. It was strange, Leo thought to himself as he stared up at the ceiling, with the power being knocked out noises in the house seemed even louder than usual. They all jumped any time the wind caused a tree branch to scratch on the roof.
At one point in the middle of the night, the house creaked as it shifted. Sigrid had yelped in surprise, and Leo felt his heart pounding in his chest.
Even though he was with two other people, Leo realized that without technology to help them learn what was going on, he felt entirely alone.
Chapter 7
Leo tossed and turned all night. He’d barely get into a light sleep before he’d think he heard something—Visitors or looters alike—outside. They didn’t have any sort of alarm set, but all three managed to wake up around sunrise.
They each grabbed a box of cereal from Sigrid’s pantry. They didn’t trust the milk in the fridge, so they ate it dry. When they were finished, they quietly crept around the house, grabbing their bags and any other last-minute supplies they could think of. James and Leo found Sigrid in the driveway, attaching the trailer to her bike.
After she helped Sandy into the trailer and hooked a helmet on her head, Sigrid turned to them. “Ready?”
Leo nodded, trying to give a brave face.
James just snorted. “No, but I’d rather try our luck out there than stay around here.” He kicked off and started pedaling. “Let’s do this.”
The morning air was damp and cold as they set out. Leo knew it would be a long day, but he figured they would get to the base before dark, even while towing a dog. Sigrid had left the trailer’s window flap open and Sandy’s snout poked out, sniffing the air.
They reached the edge of town in a few minutes. James—riding in front of the group—skidded to a halt. “Oh no.”
Leo caught up and saw what he meant. Down the road was a row of barricades dragged into the middle of the highway. A couple men stood there as if they were guarding it.
“Maybe they’re police or army officers,” Leo said. “We could turn ourselves in.”
“Turn ourselves in? We’re not criminals,” said James.
“You know what I mean,” said Leo. “We could tell them we were left behind and they would get us to that Air Force base.”
“We don’t know who they are though,” Sigrid pointed out. “They’re not wearing any uniforms. They could be looters too. What if the only people left are the bad ones?”
“We’re still here, aren’t we?” Leo said. Sigrid opened her mouth and he knew she was about to tell him that was different. “We could at least go closer and see,” he added.
James shook his head. “I don’t know. Sigrid is right—we don’t know who those guys are. Once they see us we can’t back out.”
“I’d rather go it alone for a while,” said Sigrid. “Unless we find someone wearing a uniform.”
“Fine,” said Leo. “But we’ll have to go off-road if we want to avoid people.” He turned his bike and started doubling back. “I know where we can get on a trail. It ends just out of town, but will get us past the barricade.”
They rode easily on the paved trail, but it ended in a mess of thick bushes and rocky ground. Leo’s bike was designed for hard riding, but both James and Sigrid had trouble riding over the uneven and rocky ground with their street bikes. Sigrid had it the worst with the dog trailer dragging behind her.
As they neared the barricade, only a few rows of trees and brush between them and the other group, Leo waved his hand for everybody to be silent. They got past the barricade, and Leo let out his breath.
They rode a half mile or so further, afraid to come out where they might be seen. Leo turned to say something to the others when he noticed rustling in the trees in front of them.
They froze. A group of men stepped out. They didn’t look like police officers, and they didn’t look li
ke they were offering help. Sandy rumbled a low growl from the trailer.
“What are you kids doing out here?” one asked.
“We live in town,” Leo said, gesturing behind him to where they’d come from. “We got left behind in the evacuation. We’re just trying to catch up with everyone—we don’t want any trouble.”
The man raised his eyebrows at the word trouble.
“We’re setting up camp over near the lake,” he said. “We’re going to wait out this thing.” Leo noticed there was still a tag dangling from his knife case. In fact, all of their shirts and hats looked new too. He wondered if these guys had let themselves into a sporting goods store and loaded up on gear.
One of the men was eyeing the backpacks the three were wearing. Leo knew if they gave up their supplies, they’d have a much harder time of getting to the Air Force base.
“What’s in the bags?”
“Just some food,” said Sigrid. “Nothing valuable.”
“Well, if you share your food, we’ll share our site. How about that?” the man said.
“We’re passing through,” Leo said. “That’s all.”
“Well, share a little breakfast with us, then you can be on your way.”
“We need it,” Sigrid said, her voice firm. “We don’t have much.”
“Unloading some of that food and water might lighten up your packs, make your ride a little easier,” another guy said. He took a step toward them, and Sandy’s growls rose in volume.
“We said no,” Sigrid continued.
The man lurched toward her. “Now, you listen—”
There was a ripping sound as Sandy plunged through the window of the tent, tearing through the Velcro. She leaped in front of Sigrid and bared her teeth as she growled.
The men hesitated, looking at one another. It gave the opportunity Leo was waiting for. “Run!” he shouted to his friends.
He and James took off, dragging their bikes beside them until they were able to hop on. Leo noticed Sigrid still stood beside her bike, watching Sandy. “Sigrid, come on!” he hissed.
She looked back at Sandy, who was still growling at the men, one more time before climbing onto her bike and following after Leo and James. They pedaled through the trees as quickly as they could. Behind them, Leo could hear Sandy’s growls turning into deep barks. He hoped she would keep the men at bay in time for them to get some distance.
But as they reached the highway and Leo hopped onto his bike, the devastated look on Sigrid’s face made his stomach twist with guilt.
Chapter 8
The riding was hard, but they managed to stay just ahead of the men. Without the weight of a dog, the trailer twisted and bounced lightly behind Sigrid’s bike. They kept riding until they couldn’t hear the men tumbling after them through the brush. The sounds of Sandy’s barks faded away too.
Finally, Leo slowed when he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. The others paused too. They perched on their bikes as they struggled to catch their breath.
“Jeez, is everyone that’s left around here a huge jerk?” James asked, panting.
Leo was about to respond when he noticed Sigrid. She was watching the tree lines with a worried look on her face. “Hey,” he said, “she’ll be okay. She’ll find us.”
“I can’t believe I just left her,” Sigrid said with a weak voice.
James walked his bike over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “She wanted to protect us—we did what we had to.”
Leo could tell that Sigrid wouldn’t want to keep going without Sandy, and his legs still felt like jelly from the hard ride. “Let’s take a break,” he suggested. “We can keep an eye out for her.”
Sigrid looked at him thankfully. “Yeah,” she said. “Okay.”
They wheeled their bikes over to the line of trees, hoping to stay out of sight for that other group but still visible enough for Sandy to spot them if she came after them.
After ten minutes with no sign of her, Leo began to get worried. He knew they could only wait for Sandy for so long, and he didn’t know how he was going to be able to convince Sigrid to leave without her.
Just as Leo was working up the nerve to tell Sigrid they should start thinking about leaving, they heard a familiar bark in the distance. They stood up to see Sandy trotting down the highway. She’d spotted them, and as she came closer she wagged her tail.
“Oh my god,” Sigrid cried. “I can’t believe it!” She wrapped her arms around Sandy as the dog bounded over to her.
“Good girl!” Sigrid said. She checked over Sandy’s body. “She’s perfectly fine. But ugh, you’re wet, Sandy!” She pushed the dog down. Leo saw—and smelled—that she was right. Sandy was soaked, and her paws and legs were covered with mud.
Sigrid rubbed her hands along Sandy’s back. “She’s freezing. We have to warm her up.”
“We should build a fire,” James said. “Get her dry and warm.”
“With what?”
“Wood?” He pointed out some fallen branches.
“I mean how do we start the fire? I don’t have any matches. Do you?”
“Nope, but we’ll figure it out. Rubbing sticks together or whatever.”
They walked their bikes into the woods until they found a small clearing that had good tree coverage. James volunteered to gather wood while Sigrid tried to clean up the dog and Leo sorted through his backpack for some food. After he’d collected a small pile, James pulled the bark off of two branches and started sawing at one with the other. Nothing happened.
“Guess it’s harder than I thought,” he said. “Usually I’d just look for a video online to show me how to do this.”
Sigrid looked over at him. “Shouldn’t you build, like, a fire pit or something first anyway?”
Leo laughed when James looked down at the grass he was kneeling in. It looked like he had planned on starting the fire right in the middle of the ground. James sat back on his heels and sighed. “Man, I always thought this kind of thing would be so easy. They sure make it look like it in the movies.”
“Yeah, and it’s not like they teach this kind of thing in school,” Leo said.
Sigrid pulled out a sweatshirt from her backpack and used it to dry off Sandy’s fur. “Well, at least I brought two of these. Guess one of them is yours now, girl!”
“So we don’t have a fire,” James said. “At least we have food. I’m starving—can we eat now?”
“Um . . .” Leo said, looking at what was in his backpack. “Sure. Sort of.” He pulled out one of the peanut butter sandwiches—it was squished inside the plastic bag. His backpack had gotten more jostled than he’d expected. The crackers had been crushed into crumbs.
“Well, this is for lunch,” he said, passing out a crumbling sandwich to James and Sigrid. They ate as best they could, scraping the food out of the bags and pouring crumbs into their mouths. They washed it down with lukewarm water.
“We are really bad at surviving,” said James.
“Yeah. Well, once this food is gone it’ll get harder,” said Leo. “We’ll have to hunt. Or gather. Or whatever.”
A brisk wind picked up as they pushed Sandy back into her tent. Sigrid had wrapped her up in the sweatshirt, so she looked like she had at least gotten a little warmer.
They headed back to the highway and set out on their way. They passed a few signs for a wilderness preserve, reminding people to clean up their litter and be careful with their fires.
Sigrid laughed at that one. “If we can start a fire, we’ll be careful with it,” she said.
A couple of hours later they found a small rest stop. There was a set of bathrooms and an old-fashioned water pump. They were surprised to see it still worked. They refilled their water bottles, and Sigrid found some paper towels in the bathrooms that she used to towel off Sandy. At least now she was relatively clean and dry.
“Here you go, girl,” Sigrid said as she poured out half her water bottle for Sandy to drink. Leo went back into the rest stop building to throw aw
ay the paper towels, and he spotted James staring at a bulletin board in the hall.
Leo walked over to join him and realized James was looking at a map on the bulletin board. A red star marked their current location.
“I don’t think we’ve been going fast enough,” James said, resting his finger on the red star. “It’s already getting dark out—I don’t think we’re gonna get to the Air Force base tonight. But,” he reached for a brochure pinned up on the board, “I found this lodge. Looks like it’s not too far away.”
The town listed in the brochure looked to be in the same direction as the Air Force base. Leo grabbed it and paged through it. The lodge was a small resort with half a dozen cabins and a main building. On the back of the brochure, he found a miniature map and checked it against the map on the wall—sure enough, they weren’t too far away.
“We could stay there for the night,” James suggested. “Beats lying on the floor in here. We could at least sleep in a cabin or something.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Leo. He pocketed the brochure and pulled the map off the wall as well, tucking it into his backpack.
“Fine by me,” said Sigrid, who had walked in to join them. “We might even find a stove. And matches,” she quickly added.
But a few minutes after they started in what they hoped was the right direction, they felt wet drops on their backs. They hurried back to the rest stop building and sat under the overhang. It began to pour down rain, so heavy they could hardly see.
“Add a raincoat to the list of things I should have brought,” Leo said. “Along with matches and a compass. Next time aliens attack, I’m bringing all those things with me.”
“And a towel for the dog,” Sigrid added.
“And sleeping bags,” James said with a laugh. “Since I think this is where we’re sleeping tonight.”
They were quiet again for a moment, watching the rain come down in sheets. They sat with their backs against the wall. Sigrid had laid her spare sweatshirt on the ground for Sandy to lie on, and after a few minutes of anxiously barking at the thunder, the dog had finally settled down.