Austin cowered with his mother in the corner of their basement. They were surrounded by darkness except for the occasional flash of light from a nearby explosion. The blasts were close, probably just a few blocks away.
The Visitors had landed an hour ago. And any hope that they had come to Earth on a peaceful mission was quickly dashed when they immediately began destroying Austin’s hometown with laser blasts and high-powered missiles.
Austin heard a crash at the top of the stairs. Someone—or something—had knocked down the front door to their house. He heard footsteps, then the basement door swung open.
Another flash of light filled the room. Austin could see the outline of something coming down the wooden stairs. One of the Visitors. It was tall and thin, with a large oval head. Its skin was pale, almost translucent. Another flash. Two more Visitors were right behind the first.
Austin’s mother wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His entire body trembled. There was no way out. They were trapped.
The Visitors made it to the bottom of the stairs. The one at the front of the pack scanned the room. It lifted its lizard-like head and began sniffing at the air. The only thing protecting Austin and his mother was their little corner of darkness.
Suddenly, another intense explosion flooded the basement with light. That was all it took. The Visitors had spotted them.
“Stay away from us!” shouted Austin’s mother. “Leave us alone!”
The hideous creatures took several steps toward them. They leaned in and opened their mouths, exposing several rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Then they let out the most awful ear-splitting sound Austin had ever heard in his entire life, and—
Austin woke up. His head jerked around as he tried to remember where he was. In the dim early morning light, he spotted the branches of a large oak tree looming over him. He covered his face with one hand, his heart pounding in his chest. It was a dream, he said to himself. It was only a dream. His body was still shaking. He let out a deep breath, relieved that the Visitors had been only in his imagination.
His mom was still sleeping on the ground beside him. The painful kink in Austin’s neck was a harsh reminder that a tree root was no match for his soft pillow back home. “Mom.” He shook her from her sleep. “It’s time to get moving.”
She got up slowly. “I’m ready.”
The two of them packed up their belongings, then crossed the small stretch of woods to get back to the highway.
Austin had no idea how many miles he and his mom had traveled. They’d been walking for three days, stopping only to rest when absolutely necessary. When news of the mysterious lights hanging in the sky first spread, people were concerned but curious. Austin’s mom kept him home from school that day, thinking it would be safer to stay in the house until they’d heard more news. But when the EMP was released and all sources of power were shut down, people began to panic. Looters surged through stores for food and supplies. Their neighbors boarded up their doors and windows, refusing to speak to anyone else. Others took off. After two days, Austin and his mom decided they had no choice but to leave in search of help. They’d heard rumors of a shelter several miles north, so that became their destination.
Now, they walked for two or three hours without stopping. Though the sun was rising, early fall winds kept them chilled. Austin stuffed his hands into his jacket sleeves, wishing he’d thought to bring a heavier coat.
Suddenly his mom stumbled. Austin grabbed her by the arm. “Are you okay?”
“Can we sit down?” she asked.
“Of course.” Austin led her off the road and helped her sit down in a patch of grass. She sat with her arms resting on her bent knees and lowered her head between them. He handed her a water bottle. “Drink this, then close your eyes. You need to rest.”
Austin had become more and more worried about his mom. Since they’d left home, she’d seemed to come down with something. It had started with a sore throat and a bad headache. She’d gotten increasingly tired, needing to stop to rest every few hours. Yesterday she’d started getting queasy. Their difficult journey and a lack of good food to eat only made things worse, and the possibility of the Visitors attacking again at any moment didn’t help either.
“Thanks.” She handed him the water bottle, then lay down. “I’ll be okay. When we get to the camp and I have a chance to rest, I’ll start feeling better.”
Austin dug through his backpack until he found a small plastic packet of two cold and flu gel tablets. Yesterday they’d come across someone along the road and had traded the last of their granola bars for three of the packets. His mom had taken two tablets immediately, and that had given her a little strength back. Austin popped out the two gel tablets and held them out for his mom to take. “Here.”
His mom eyed them for a moment, and Austin knew what she was thinking. If she took these, they’d only have two tablets left. He knew she was worried he would get sick too and they wouldn’t have enough medicine for both of them. But Austin wasn’t going to worry about that. People had said the shelter they were heading to had an excellent medical clinic with doctors and plenty of medicine. His mom would be fine once they got there.
He looked at the shine on her forehead and the way her bangs clung damply to her skin. “Mom, come on,” he said, shaking the tablets in his hand. “You’ve got a fever. Take these. Please.”
She sighed and grabbed them from him, swallowing them with a mouthful of water. He watched his mom doze off, then he curled up in the grass and fell asleep himself.
By the time he woke up the sun had moved much higher in the sky. If they didn’t get moving soon, Austin worried they might end up spending another night under a tree.
He roused his mom from her nap, hoping she would look at least somewhat refreshed. But as she stood up her face was still pale and clammy, and her eyes had heavy bags under them.
“Let’s go,” she mumbled. She tried to shoulder her own backpack, but Austin grabbed it from her and put both bags on his back.
As they resumed their walk, Austin’s mother continued to get worse. He knew she was trying her best to keep up, but they were moving at a slow shuffle.
They’d barely been walking for another hour when she suddenly stopped and rushed over to the grass. Before Austin could ask what was wrong, his mom ducked behind a bush and threw up. He could only hope she’d digested the medicine by then so it hadn’t gone to waste.
As she walked back to him, wiping her mouth, Austin handed her the water bottle again. She swished some water in her mouth and spit it out. “We’re almost there,” said Austin, trying to lift her spirits. In truth, he had no idea how much longer they had to go. She nodded grimly, and he knew she didn’t believe him.
Finally, after another difficult hour of walking, Austin saw a handmade sign posted along the road. As they lumbered closer to it Austin felt relief wash over him. The sign read: Emergency Shelter, 500 yards ahead.
“We made it, Mom,” he said enthusiastically. “Come on. You can do it.” She said nothing, but they began walking at a faster pace.
A few minutes later they made it to a gravel driveway. It was long and winding, surrounded by trees on either side. Austin couldn’t see what was at the end of it, but he hoped it would be everything they needed.
As they reached the end of the driveway, they came to a tall chain-link fence. It had to be at least six feet tall. Two beefy men wearing neon yellow vests stood in front of the fence’s gate. The fence extended both directions into the nearby woods where Austin could see other guards posted among the trees. On the other side of the fence were rows of wooden cabins. It looked like this had been some sort of cabin resort before the Visitors had attacked.
“Can we help you?” barked one of the guards.
“Uh, this is the shelter, right?” Austin asked. “We’d like to come in. We’ve been walking for days.”
“Names?” grunted the guard. “You have to register first.”
“O’Donnell,” said Austin. “I’m Austin, and this is my mom, Sofia.” She leaned into him heavily. Austin noticed that she was still very pale.
“What’s wrong with her?” said the guard. The other one just stared.
Something about the guard’s tone made Austin uneasy. “She’s exhausted from the trip, that’s all,” said Austin. “We’ve been walking for days.” He didn’t want to tell the guards about his mom’s sickness in case that would cause the guards to turn them away. Later, once safely inside, they’d talk to the doctors and tell them everything.
“You can’t come in if she’s contagious,” said the guard.
“Really, she’s just tired,” said Austin.
His mom attempted to stand tall, to straighten her body as best she could. She removed her arm from Austin’s shoulder, but he could see she was close to tipping over.
“I’m fine,” she said, giving them a weak smile.
“Please,” Austin added. “She just needs some food and a good night’s sleep.”
The guards eyed each other, and finally one of them nodded. “Okay, you’re in. But there are rules. We have very limited supplies, and there’s a lot of work to be done to build up our resources and make things safe for all of us once the Visitors invade.”
“Invade?” Austin asked, wondering if this place had received some kind of contact from the military or the government. Did the Visitors signal their attack? he wondered. “Have you heard news about an invasion?”
“We don’t know when an invasion is happening,” said the guard. “We just know it’s going to happen eventually. Why else would the Visitors have released the EMP?”
Austin nodded. The guard had a point.
“As I was saying,” continued the guard, “the only way to make the camp successful and secure is if everyone does their share. If you both work hard and do your part, then you’ll get three meals a day, a warm place to sleep, and protection from the Visitors. Got it?”
Austin hesitated.
“You have a problem with that deal?” asked the guard. “It’s the best one you’re going to get for miles around. You’re lucky you found us.”
“Yeah,” said Austin, glancing at his mom. The guard was right. “Yeah, okay. We’re very happy, and grateful, to be here.”
“Good,” said the guard.
“It’s just . . .”
The guard narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“My mom won’t be able to work,” he said. “At least not right away. She needs some time to rest.”
“Well, I trust you can do your mom’s share of the work until she gets on her feet?” asked the other guard.
Austin paused. He wasn’t sure he could do the work of two people. He felt extremely weak himself after the three-day walk. But he quickly realized the only way they were getting into the camp was if he agreed to do the work for his mom. He responded as confidently as he could. “Of course.”
“Good.” The guard swung the gate open. “Welcome.”