You're Not in This Alone

Lance, Miranda, and I all turned around at the same time. Surprisingly close, a boy and girl in their teens stood only twenty feet across the huge dusty field we were standing on. The girl was pretty even with her plain brown hair and eyes. The boy had darker hair and ocean blue eyes, and he wasn’t painful to look at either. However, they both looked like they were about to run away.

“Wait,” I pleaded, making my voice as soft as possible. “Please, hear us out.”

The boy took a step closer to the girl, but he nodded sharply.

“I’m Ebony, and this is Lance and Miranda. We’ve been in Catskill, a town in New York, since after the world… ended.”

I saw them looking distressed when I mentioned New York. They must’ve been realizing how far we’d come. Not to mention that we’d appeared in front of their eyes out of thin air a few seconds ago.

“We already have six other people living with us that have gathered there, and they went to find three more today. We don’t want to hurt you; we just wanted to see if you wanted to come live with us. We figured that since there are so few of us, we should stay together.” The words poured from my mouth as if I didn’t even have to think before I said them. Maybe I didn’t.

The girl seemed to relax a little bit, but the boy didn’t. The girl was the one who said confidently, “I’m Faith, and this is my boyfriend Tristan.”

“Hey,” Miranda welcomed them.

“Hi,” Lance said politely.

Lance’s voice made Faith stiffen a little bit again.

“You’re the only one that’s been talking in our heads,” Tristan accused, sounding almost aggressive. However, I sensed that he was only being protective of Faith.

Another couple, I thought to myself.

Lance answered carefully. “Yes, I am. I’m sorry if it bothered you. I’m telepathic, and we thought it would be best to warn you that we were coming.”

“Thanks?” Faith squeaked, both her and Tristan’s eyes widening in shock and disbelief.

“How did you just… Just appear there, out of thin air? And how did you get here from New York so quickly? And how did you know where to find us?” demanded Tristan.

I felt weak. They were having a hard time believing us.

“Ebony has an uncanny way of knowing important things,” Miranda explained gently. “And our friends Nadia and Ethan back in Catskill have the gift of teleportation. What gifts do you have?”

When I saw the looks on their faces, my stomach dropped. Just as Faith whispered, “What are you talking about?” I became away of the fact that they didn’t have any powers.

Now Faith was the one about to run, and Tristan was the one holding her back. “Wait,” he told her. “They must be telling the truth. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. Maybe they can help us.”

“We can,” I assured them. “We have food, water, houses, and power.”

They were both relaxed now. “How many other people did you say there were? I miss people’s company. How old are they?”

I smiled at her. “I’m seventeen, and so is my boyfriend Gerard. Lance and Miranda are fifteen. Leo and Shelby are nineteen. Ethan and Nadia are twelve. Sarah is ten, and so is Skyler.” The last name slipped from my lips, and I knew it was true.

Lance and Miranda glanced at me, but I mumbled to them, “A new one.” They seemed to accept this.

Tristan and Faith seemed to be accepting it too. “We’re sixteen,” Faith informed us, and Tristan was almost smiling. I think we should go with you. Don’t you, Tristan?”

Tristan took her hand. “I do too,” he agreed.

“Do we have time to pack some of our things?” he asked us.

“Of course,” Miranda replied.

We followed them across the field and down a dirt road into a tiny town. We walked for about fifteen minutes down another dirt road until we came to a mid-sized farm house.

“This is my place,” Faith declared. “Tristan’s been living here with me this past week. You can sit in the family room while we get ready.”

“Thanks,” Lance said for us. We followed them and waited in a small room with antique-looking furniture and decorations. It made me smile. It was a homey room.

The two new additions to our group emerged from a hall with heavy-looking backpacks.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“How are we getting there?” Tristan asked uneasily.

“I’ll speak to Nadia telepathically and tell her to teleport us back,” Lance told them.

Faith shifted her weight nervously. “Are we leaving for good?”

I frowned. “We could come back if we had to, but don’t worry. Teleportation doesn’t hurt. It’s disorienting, but no painful.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that, it’s just that… We’ve got a dog and two horses in the barn. They can’t take care of themselves, they’re domesticated animals.”

At that moment I knew I was going to like Faith a lot. “I’m sure we can work something out,” I said.

“Why don’t we leave them here for now and come get them tonight?” Miranda suggested. “I’ll build the horses a barn at the house you choose, and the dog won’t be a problem for anyone, I’m sure.”

Faith grinned, ignoring Miranda’s strange words: “I’ll build the horses a barn.”

“Okay,” Tristan said, “I think we’re ready now.”

Faith nodded.

I looked at Lance and knew that he was speaking to Nadia. In mere second later we were leaving Texas behind and had joined everyone else in Catskill.