Three days had slipped away while I prepared for the journey to my family's home. Guilt gnawed at me for leaving Michael behind. I'd asked everyone, but no one had any information about him. The grim stories I'd heard left me with little hope of finding my friend again.

I absent-mindedly sorted through my meager supplies, mentally tallying them. Two cans of beans, three cans of tomato soup, two bottles of water – I could reuse those. My hopes of finding my family were dwindling too.

A can of tuna. During my first hours at the campus, there had been a desperate broadcast from a kid in Lowell, but it had ended in screams and the sound of shattering glass.

No other forms of media were operational. Six packets of sports drink mix, a one-pound bag of M&M's, a multi-tool, can opener, flip lighter, pocket knife, flashlight. I was cut off, with no idea what lay beyond our town.

I meticulously arranged everything in my backpack, mindful of the weight distribution. A poorly packed bag would only make the long walk harder.

With the pack now heavy on my shoulders, I hesitated at the door, the fear of the unknown world outside holding me back. Everyone had tried to dissuade me, but I was convinced my family needed me. Yet, standing at the threshold, I found myself paralyzed, unable to take that first step.

"Alec, wait."

"Lilly?" I looked around and found her hurrying towards me, James following behind. She thrust something small and heavy, wrapped in cloth, into my hands. It felt familiar, and as I recognized its shape, my eyes widened in surprise.

"Where did you..." I started to ask.

"Shh," Lilly interrupted. "James had it. You'll need it."

James extended a small wooden box to me, which I accepted. It was just as heavy, and I instantly knew what it contained.

"You guys need this more than I do," I said, a sense of unease settling over me.

"No, we don't. If they decided to attack us here, we couldn't hold them off," Lilly replied.

"And we're going with you," James added abruptly.

Lilly looked at him in disbelief. "I thought we agreed not to go?"

"Lilly, Mom and Dad are dead. I saw the house. It's gone. The panic room is gone. There is nothing left, they are dead. You can choose not to believe it, but it doesn't change the fact," James said. His tone was flat.

I blinked, taken aback. Brother and sister. I hadn't seen that coming.

James caught my expression and added, "She's my step-sister. We don't like to advertise it."

I raised an eyebrow, absorbing this new revelation.

"Lilly and... James... Potter?" I snickered and put on a posh accent as I said the characters' last name.

Lilly whirled on me. "That's the only word you ever get to say about it, understand? Ever. EVER. Our last name is Jade."

I held up my hands and pulled away from her. God damn, she was feisty. "Alright, jeez, touchy."

"I'm not kidding. It's the one thing this dweeb and I agree on. We hate that reference."

"Yeah," James tossed his hands up and let them quickly fall to slap against his thighs. "That's true, just about the only thing I see eye to eye on with this skank." Lilly shoved him. "What you get to call me a dweeb?"

"It was a coincidence, but," he continued, still eyeing Lilly as she mockingly balled up a fist and twitched at him.

He flinched. "Hey," he yelled. "You wanna tell him?"

Lilly snorted once and then took a few steps back, folding her arms. "Just tell him," she said.

James chortled a bit. "It's a complete coincidence that we both have the names of those characters from Harry Potter. But..."

I glared at him. "I swear to God, say but one more time." He smirked at me before continuing.

"BUUUUT... We both do have our names because each of our respective parents were huge dorks."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and rubbed my eyes. "Oh god. These two idiots are coming with me. I'm gonna diiiiieeee..."

"Look," James said, rubbing his own brow with a determined gaze. "We have a better chance out there where we can run than just sitting here. Lilly, you can stay if you want, but I'm going with Alec."

He turned to me. "If... If that's okay with you. I mean, you don't really know me, but..."

I frowned, weighing the decision. "No, I don't know you, but..." I paused, considering the situation. "There is safety in numbers, and I have no issues with you coming along. Either of you." I glanced at Lilly. "James is right. You're sitting ducks here."

James added, "He has a good plan, Lilly. If we can get his family and then head to the mountains, that's our best chance."

Lilly sighed, reluctance apparent in her posture. "I guess it makes sense... I just don't like it."

I chuckled, a touch of irony in my voice. "What's there to like about any of this? But as an Eagle Scout," I winked sarcastically, "I've got the skills to keep us alive, as long as we don't end up in a direct fight. That's a different story."

Lilly looked skeptical. "You think you can keep all of us alive? Your family too?"

After a moment's thought, I admitted, "No, I don't think I can."

Lilly's expression faltered, but I continued, "However, I believe if we work together, if I share what I know, we can keep each other alive. It's about teamwork. And I have to check on my family, even if the odds are slim."

After a moment of contemplative silence, Lilly finally agreed. "Okay. Okay, I'm convinced."

She glanced at the items in my hands. "I feel safer with that around."

Nodding, I looked down at the pistol and munitions wrapped in cloth. "Yeah, me too. And there's something else I haven't shown anyone."

Their curious looks prompted a shake of my head. "Not here. Let's get moving."

With a deep breath, I gently placed the wrapped pistol and ammunition box at the top of my backpack.

"Whumph!" The sound echoed as I decimated a boulder with the alien egg weapon. Lilly and James exclaimed in unison, eyes wide with shock.

"What the hell is that?" James gaped. "And where did you find it?"

Holding the egg carefully, I explained, "On the alien ship in the courtyard."

Lilly interjected, "You actually went inside? I thought you just saw those things."

I smiled. "No, I actually went in."

Lilly's eyes sparkled with admiration and something more. "That's... kind of amazing."

James shot her a disbelieving look. "Lilly! Are you serious right now?"

I chuckled, feeling a sense of familiarity in their reactions. "I figured this alien gun might come in handy. Plus, those creatures could tear me apart in a heartbeat, so if any were alive, it wouldn't be a painful end."

Lilly, undeterred by James's reaction, quipped with a wink, "Still, kind of a turn-on."

"Lilly! For fuck's sake!" James shouted.

Surveying the land behind Lilly and James, who were still bickering, I tried to focus on the task ahead. The sky was a dismal gray, the air chilly and filled with a smoky haze that made everything seem like a bleak, ashen dream. We were far from town now, walking among the deserted cars on the freeway.

The initial panic had left many vehicles destroyed or abandoned, stretching as far as I could see. Scorch marks from alien plasma and downed jets dotted the landscape, detailing the chaos that had unfolded.

Ahead, a helicopter lay atop a city bus, its rear rotors still feebly spinning. We'd hoped for weapons or ammo but found nothing useful. James, in a bid for a visual deterrent, had picked up a damaged assault rifle. It was more for show than function.

Amidst the wreckage, a destroyed alien fighter shimmered distinctively. Recalling the initial attack, the overwhelming dominance of the alien forces became painfully clear. "We got annihilated," I muttered to myself, touching the pistol in my hoodie pocket. Its cool metal offered a strange tableau of fear and comfort. I didn't want to use it, but it was reassuring to have it. If it came to that, I'd take a few of those creatures down with me.

James's whining snapped me out of my thoughts. "Are we gonna have to walk the whole way?"

"Maybe if you weren't such a little wimp," Lilly teased.

"I'm not a wimp! I just smoke too much," he retorted.

I tuned out their sibling squabble. It was different from my relationships with Kendall and Alicia. Maybe being step-siblings added an extra layer of antagonism.

"We're about ten miles from the exit that'll take us North," I informed them. "Once we're off the interstate, we can find a vehicle to maneuver around the debris."

James groaned at the thought of walking ten miles, but I assured him, half-jokingly, that his chances of dying were high anyway.

Lilly's laugh sparked another round of arguing. I was beginning to regret bringing them along. Their noise and constant bickering were grating on my nerves.

"Guys, can you please be quiet?" I pleaded, trying to keep my cool.

James apologized, admitting he didn't know how to handle the situation. I explained that we needed to focus on getting to safety first.

Lilly and James nodded in agreement, ready to follow my lead.

Looking ahead, I pointed out that the traffic appeared to be thinning. "Let's find a larger vehicle to get us moving faster. Or off the road – I doubt we'll get pulled over."

James pointed out a semi-truck, but I admitted I wouldn't know how to drive it. "I can drive a stick, though," I added, expanding our options.

Lilly wondered if any vehicles would still run. "They probably ran out of gas by now," I reasoned. "We might need to siphon some."

James reminded us of the alien weapons' electrical disruption. "Damn, that's true," I conceded. "We might have to look further from town, away from the fighting."

James and Lilly nodded, grim finality upon their faces as they hoisted their packs and started forward. "Let's go," I said, a glimmer of hope sparking within me. Maybe, just maybe, we would survive this.