Just Hold Hands

Chapter 14

Theo awoke at some time in the night, in complete darkness. Her sister's gentle breathing across the room assured her that she was sleeping peacefully.

The small band of kids had, unexpectedly, found weapons. They'd come back after dark each carrying a giant cylinder in their arms. They'd dismissed Theo's concerns about carrying a weapon so close to their bodies, unceremoniously dumping them behind the house. They'd restarted the fire, and Theo volunteered some of her beans towards the meal. She was warming up to the kids, who were really just trying to save their planet. She couldn't fault them for that.

They'd preemptively refused a bed, which was fine by Theo, she wouldn't have given hers up anyway, instead producing a number of sleeping bags, which they gleefully rolled out on the floor of the kitchen.

Theo blinked herself awake as she came into the realization that she would likely not fall back asleep. As quietly as she could manage, she wandered out of the room, cringing as the door creaked, and downstairs, where she was careful to avoid the kids as she stepped outside.

She passed through the door, feeling the cool spring wind on her skin. She walked a few steps away from the structure and tilted her head up. There were no animal noises, no birds chirping, just the gentle sound of wind. The sky was so dark that the pink haze had little effect on the sky Theo recognized, save for a faint pink glow of the stars. She looked up at the stars, at their familiarity, and thought of how alone she was in the universe.

"Theo?" she heard the wind whisper. She quickly turned. The girl, Saiyr, was to her right, curled up against the exterior wall. She looked small like that, all the way on the floor.

Theo walked over to sit beside her, pointing and asking, "Is it okay if I sit?" Saiyr nodded and Theo knelt, leaning back beside her. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," she whispered. Theo nodded.

"Me, too."

"We don't live far away. I miss my family."

Theo paused. She didn't know how to comfort her, if she was supposed to share a hopeful story or promise her that she'd see them again. She couldn't promise that.

Saiyr continued, gaining little volume, "I left to help, with my friends. I thought we can do something but..." she sniffled, "We're helping, I'm glad we're helping, but I miss them anyway."

Theo didn't know if she was supposed to hug her. The thought made her feel a little nauseous. "My mom's far away, my sister and I want to find her."

"Where did she go?"

Theo looked up at the sky. "Dunno. She said Wyoming, but she could be anywhere." Or dead, she thought, but didn't say. "Where do you live?"

Saiyr chewed on her bottom lip. Theo noted that she'd changed clothes, she was in the same jeans as the day before, but wearing a new tee-shirt. They really had planned to leave.

"North Illinois."

"You walked the whole way?"

She shrugged, looking away. "Wasn't that far."

"Just to help?"

Saiyr looked up at Theo. "Of course. We thought we could do something, so we decided to do it. Don't you want to save the world?"

Theo let out a soft breath, like an unfinished laugh. She didn't know the answer to that, but Saiyr probably wouldn't like whatever answer she could produce. "Sure, I want to save the world, but I wouldn't sacrifice much to do it." She bit back a breath and looked away.

"That's sad."

Theo shrugged.

"Jonah really does believe it, you know. He believes we're gonna save the planet and stop the aliens."