Ravenous (The Ravening #1)(12)
Author: Erica Stevens

“If Bret isn’t frozen, he’s going to be pretty pissed if we find him.”

My mouth parted, I inhaled sharply as shock rocked me back on my heels. It was the first time I’d thought about Bret in awhile. The first time I’d thought about my sweet and loving boyfriend who was nothing but kind and unfailingly faithful to me. How could I possibly have forgotten about him? Guilt and dismay filled me as I slumped onto the bed. I had forgotten about Bret, but if he was still moving, I knew that he had not forgotten about me. Not even for one small second would he have forgotten about me. In fact, if he was still moving I was certain he would be arriving here as soon as he could, with his best friend, my brother.

***

Abby and I struggled to move our mother onto the piece of plywood I had uncovered from behind our sagging shed. Originally we had planned to transport her in our old red wagon, but there was no way for us to maneuver it rapidly and quietly through the woods. I had to pause repeatedly to wipe the sweat from my brow as I fought to maneuver our immobile mother onto the small board. I hoped that Abby would be able to hold up her end; she was strong for her size, but not used to physical work.

It was going to be a tiring walk back to the antique store if we didn’t have help.

Tears slid down Abby’s face as she briefly stroked our mother’s hair. I was captivated by the striking similarities between them. Even if our mother was gone forever (a fact that I couldn’t even consider right now), she would live on in Abby far more than she would in Aiden or I.

For as long as I could keep Abby alive, anyway, I realized with a pang of longing. Abby was my responsibility now, and I had to keep her safe, no matter what happened.

I moved to the window and cautiously pulled back the curtain. The street lights, on a timer, had come to life a couple of hours ago. Almost all of the houses on the street were dark. A few owners had accidently forgotten to turn off lights on their way out the door this morning, or perhaps they had left them on in preparation for their late return home tonight. A home that none of them appeared to have come back to. If there were other people out there still moving about, they were keeping their presence’s as secret as we were.

It was so lonely, so gloomy and frightening out there. I shuddered as I tried to keep my apprehension hidden from Abby. “It’s been an hour,” Abby whispered.

“He’ll come back.” I replied more for my benefit than for hers. “Stay here Abby.”

She bolted from the bed and staggered toward me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to pack some things. Just stay away from the windows.”

“Bethany…”

I left the room before she could protest further. I felt bad leaving her there, but I had to have some time alone to think, and attempt to sort this whole mess out. Not like that was going to be possible. I hurried to the bedroom that Abby and I shared. Whereas I was a complete neat freak, Abby was the exact opposite. It was difficult to make out the mess of clothes on the floor by her bed, or avoid tripping over them. I hadn’t seen or heard any movement for hours, but I felt as if the most minuscule noise would be heard all the way to the moon if I made it.

I dug out my school backpack and dumped the contents on the bed. For the first time I didn’t bother to place them neatly. There was no need; I didn’t think I would be returning either here, or to school. I quickly gathered my clothes and shoved them into the backpack along with shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. I would like to pack more, but I had to keep things as light as possible, especially without being able to drive anywhere. I grabbed Abby’s backpack and began to shove clothes inside for her. She knew Abby would have preferred to pack her own things, but she would have taken an excruciatingly long time to do so. I was nipping that little problem in the bud right now.

I carried both backpacks, with their meager contents, out to the hall where I placed them by the door for later. I moved carefully downstairs, feeling my way forward as I tried not to trip over my own feet. Creeping into the kitchen I pulled a trash bag from beneath the sink. I packed only a few perishables. We would have to eat them right away, but I was determined to bring as much food as possible and there wasn’t much in the way of canned goods. I topped the bag off with paper plates, spoons, and forks before tossing in a can opener. From the pantry I pulled a case of water out before grabbing some of Aiden’s Gatorade and a few sodas. In the end I put the sodas back, Abby would want them, but they would only weigh the plywood down more.

I placed the bag by the backdoor. Pressing my hand against the glass, I stared out at the night. Thankfully the moon wasn’t bright tonight, but the stars twinkled in the sky. I allowed myself to recall the time before the aliens had come, a time when I had looked to the sky and dreamed if there was anything else out there.

I wished that question had never been answered.

At first they had seemed peaceful, eager to help us, happy to impart their wisdom. But after the beginning peace, and shared advances, things began to change. It started gradually, with a few rights stripped away here and there. It had been so gradual in fact that we hadn’t truly noticed their losses until it had been too late. Weapons were barred to promote peace amongst us all. The aliens claimed that they didn’t possess weapons, or at least not ones they were willing to show us at that time. It was obvious now that their weapons were far more twisted and deadly than anything we ever could have imagined, or possessed.

Then our cell phones were done away with. It was odd not to have the device strapped to me all the time, but the towers were taken down because the aliens claimed that they did, in fact, cause cancer and other health problems. Our government had believed them; apparently there had been evidence of the fact.

Airplanes were banned next; their threat to the alien spacecrafts, and to human life, was the explanation behind that one. We travelled in alien space craft’s when it was necessary, but it wasn’t often they allowed humans on board. It was mostly government officials, powerful businessmen, certain wealthy, and some famous people that were allowed on the smaller alien ships.

The transition was eagerly accepted by some, but a growing dissent had started to move throughout over the past couple of months. However, it had been too late to stop the rapid acceleration that was taking place. The internet was next; they didn’t offer a reason for this. There was no need to anymore as they had already methodically taken almost everything over and shut it down. Vehicles and driving had been banned last week, and it was at this point in time that most people began to realize that we were separated from the rest of the world, cut off from the towns next to us even.