I finally snapped back to reality. I had to get to her. I grabbed my gun and ran to the wall, pressing my back up against it and holding my quick breaths. I could hear someone standing on the other side. “She fell through!” A voice projected up from the gap below me.

  “Shit, I'm coming!” The boy who had been stopped at the top of the stairs quickly turned back around. Their footsteps ran down the stairs, and I was soon to follow. I held my gun out, ready to shoot as I crept down each step, and then I heard one of them yelling.

  “She’s alive! Outside, go go go! Don’t let her climb out!” I felt in my pocket for my keys. I had the keys. The truck was locked. Brooklyn wasn’t getting anywhere without these keys; that was if she could make it anywhere at all. I turned the corner and walked along the edge of the kitchen and into the corner room. Luckily, there was only one way for the intruders to enter to get to me, so I didn’t have to turn my back on the danger. I tried to look in the reflection of the glass window, but it wasn’t clear enough.

  “I’ve got her, someone help me,” I stepped out, cocking back the trigger and grabbing the shoulder of the first person I saw. I forced the gun up against the side of their head. I’ve never shot someone before. Was I willing to do it? I would. I told myself I would if it meant I had to save Breelyn. The boy immediately put his hands up. He was slightly shorter than me, but not by much. I could feel every muscle in his thin body tense. Two of them were wading around in the water, and one of them was kneeling by the living room hole to try and reach down and grab them.

  “Who are you?” The boy next to me's voice came out cracky. He sounded like me when all of those soldiers stopped us in front of the gate. I wanted to sound brave, to sound courageous, but I sounded like the scared kid I was. The boy, on his hands and knees in front of the hole in the ground, glanced back, then turned his full body towards us.

  “Uh, Tristan, we’ve got a problem. You might want to get up here,” I saw a light shine out of the hole. I heard one of them curse from the basement. I could hear their voices speaking to one another, but I couldn't make out the words. They sloshed around in the water every time they moved. I had heard the name Tristan before; it was a friend of my cousin Jacob, but that didn’t mean we were safe. Besides, it was a common name. “Let him go, he didn’t do anything-”

  “Shut up. Where’s the girl at?” I saw him reach towards his pocket. I took the gun off the first boy’s head and aimed it at the second one. I couldn’t make out his face in the darkness. Still, I kept my hand tight around his shoulder. “Don’t get any ideas!” he flung his hands in the air. The second I slightly adjusted my grip, the first boy turned around. He reached his hands out to grab my gun, but I kicked his knee in and ran out the door. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it open, but with how much force I used to slam my shoulder into it, it forced the tree’s limbs to the side. The door slammed shut behind me. I ran over to the opening on the side of the house, attempting to part the weeds as I did so. I was afraid I'd fall into the hole before I had a chance to calculate my entrance. Either way, as long as I get down there sooner rather than later. I could hear the branches scratching against the door while they started to open it.

  “She has a gun!” one of them yelled from above.

  “She does too!” They yelled back from the basement. I decided I didn’t have enough time to carefully lower myself into the hole. Ins,tead I half lowered, half slid my way down the side and aimed into the darkness. My ankles stung when I landed. I saw a shadow reaching for something, then a light lit up the room. It was Breelyn, and she was holding the two boys in the basement at gunpoint. She had never shot anyone either, and we both knew there was no reason to start now. I clicked my gun back, letting my presence be known, but I was sure they heard my loud entrance. It was no secret.

  “Amelia, is that you?” One of the boys, a few inches taller than me with a blonde mullet, had slowly turned around to see me. He had a hat on, and his ears stuck out a little bit. I had a faint memory of who he could have been, but it was so long that I was scared I was second-guessing myself. It was dark in here, too.

  “Who are you?” I was surprised at how strong my voice had been this time. It was calm, but it was very clear.

  “It’s Colton, Jacob’s friend?” I squinted and turned my head a bit. He swiveled so I could see him in better lighting. My arms immediately felt like Jell-O. They fell in front of me, both of my hands still wrapped around my gun as they fell to my sides. I released a sigh. Upon my movement, Breelyn knew it was safe. She lowered her weapon, too. I was so out of breath all of a sudden. I let my head roll back a bit, then I began to laugh.

  “What are you doing here? Why did you- I could have killed you, Colt!” I put my gun into my waistband. The immediate adrenaline had worn off. I could feel the water on our ankles now. It was very, very cold, and I couldn’t imagine what was inside it. I wanted to gag upon the thought, but I didn’t have time. Someone’s arm wrapped around my neck, and something cold and hard pressed against my temple. I reached my hands up to claw at the arm, but they held me too tightly.

  “Hey, let her go! It’s her!” Colt snapped at them. They dropped me, and I almost fell forward. I barely grazed the top of the water with my fingertip before I hit the wall with my shoulder to regain balance. I coughed, gasping for air. “Shit, dude!”

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  “Sorry! I’m sorry! I thought you were-I don’t know! I’m sorry!” The boy was apologizing. I could barely see him through my blurred vision. He looked very, very tall and very lean. His hair was short and dark, and his head round. His eyes were close together, and his skin pale. I had no idea who this kid was, but he had almost killed me. He was the one leaning over the hole in the living room earlier. “I would never hurt a girl, I swear,” I coughed again, my hand on my chest as I stood up and grabbed my gun from the waistband. It was a force of habit. The tall boy stepped back, his hands up, and Colton reached his hands out to stop me.

  “Whoa, okay, let’s not jump to conclusions here, alright? He didn’t mean to. Right, Peter?”

  “I didn’t mean to. I swear,” Peter looked terrified. I put my gun back. I never meant to look threatening, not this time. I didn’t like being seen that way. This wasn’t a normal look for me. I was glad I didn’t have to shoot anyone, though. Those kids back in Hartland were shoot first and ask questions later. I never wanted to be anything like them, and I'm glad these kids weren’t either. If they had been the type, though, I would have died. I’d never have the guts to shoot them unless they gave me a reason to. By the time I found a reason, I'd have a bullet in my head. I would never survive. “I’m sorry, are you okay? You’re bleeding. I’m sorry!”

  “Stop apologizing!” I snapped. I squeezed my fingers into my palms and rolled my wrists around. I had been so tense that my muscles were starting to ache. “Breelyn, you alright?” She nodded and rubbed the back of her head with one of her hands.

  “I don't know how, but yeah,” She reached up to touch the ends of her hair. It was soaking wet. “My ankle hurts a little bit, and my shoulder. I landed sideways,” She started wading through the water. “Can we get out of the basement?”

  “Yeah. I feel like I'm losing years of my life the longer I'm down here,” I let her walk in front of me and watched her climb out. I went after her, then the rest of the boys followed as we made our way to the road.

  Seeing Breelyn in the daylight looked a lot worse. Her mascara was underneath her eyes from the water, and her whole body was drenched. Her hair and jeans were dripping black liquid. “Did you eat any of it?” I looked her up and down. She took off her jacket and wiped off her arms. It didn’t do much.

  “No, that’s why I didn’t scream,” she started rolling her shoulder around. “What’s it look like?” I stepped a little closer as she turned around for me to see.

  “A little red, and a little swollen. Nothing too crazy.” She nodded and bent down to lift her jeans. Her ankle looked about the same, maybe a little bit redder. Colton, Peter, and his two friends joined us on the road. The one I had held at gunpoint stared at me. He had dark brown eyes, a lot like Peter’s, and his hair was just as short and dark. His voice was so familiar, but I had never seen him before. I figured they would be brothers if he wasn’t so short and stalky, and that’s when I realized who it was.

  “Andrew, no way, dude,” They all could see my awestruck face. “Your loud ass made it through the apocalypse?”

  “I almost didn’t, thanks to you,” I couldn’t help but laugh. Hearing his voice in real time instead of over the phone felt like a dream. I had played games with him, Jacob, and Jacob’s friend Hunter before. We used to do it all the time. I looked over to the one with the face I hadn’t been able to see yet. He was as tall as Colton and had dirty blonde hair. Looked a lot like Jacob, but he had green eyes instead of hazel. The only difference was that his nose was much bigger on his face. His chisled features hadn’t changed since the last time I saw him.

  “The one and only Tristan,” I didn’t know why, but tears started to gather in my lower eyelids. All of these boys were still here and still alive. It was a treasure to have childhood friends still living. “Haven’t seen you since prom. It’s really good to see you.” I knew Brooklyn had seen him before, too. Jacob had brought him and Hunter when I came down to stay with our friend Olivia. Brooklyn had been there, too. Hunter and Tristan were the only ones of Jacob's friends that she would recognize by face.

  “You're still alive," Tristan said, meeting my eyes. It was quiet for a little bit, like everything had shut off around me, but not for long. "I bet you miss the simple nights, huh?” Both of us let out a slight laugh. I had gone to Jacob’s high school prom with their group, but traditionally, I had “gone with” Tristan. That was the night he was referring to. Jacob and Hunter had set us up. He couldn't tell by my face, but my insides were eating me alive. We shared a look when Breelyn connected the dots.

  “Tristan! I do remember you,” My heart felt warmer as Brooklyn recognized him. I was surrounded by people I already knew. A smile grew on her face.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen you before,” Tristan pointed to Breelyn. “Yeah, you and that mixed friend of yours were the ones fucking up the Twister game,” He started to laugh. “That’s the night Colt was supposed to come over and chickened out.” That was also the night we almost branded Tristan with the family's last name. Obviously, we didn't actually do it.

  “Alright! Anyway,” Colton took off his hat and fluffed his hair before returning it to his head. “Could have found you guys a lot smoother, sorry about that. I didn’t think y'all'd be so tense,”

  “Guys your age in this town are nothing like the ones in Hartland,” I crossed my arms to keep warm. Breelyn was slightly shivering next to me. The chilled breeze against her wet skin wasn’t making it any better. “Gosh, Colton, what the hell were you thinking?” I started laughing. “What are you doing here, anyway? How did you find me?”

  “Jacob said you were in town. I figured I'd check this place out before going back to his house. I knew the last time you were down here, you explored this place.” I laughed again. He was scared half to death when I tried to convince him and Jacob to come with me to this house when we were younger. I was surprised he had the guts to do it now, but everyone was a lot more grown-up. The fears we had back then were nothing compared to the real world.

  “You know me,” I took my hoodie off and handed it to Breelyn. I had a black long-sleeved shirt underneath. “Why’d you want to find me anyway?”

  “Mutual agreements,” Tristan spoke up. Hearing their voices matched up with their faces almost made them sound different from inside the house, but it was just my head playing tricks on me. “We don’t get to see very many faces from the outside with the wall up now.”

  “Well then,” I crossed my arms again to keep myself warm. “How about we head back to Jacob’s and finish the conversation later? A couple of my friends are waiting for us.” Breelyn gave me a look as if silently thanking me. Her teeth were chattering.

  “Please, let's go,” She rubbed her hands together. “I never wanna see this place again.”