Somewhat the Beginning (A Falling Skies Fanfiction)

Hopefully Not Our Last Goodbye

I hate leaving Hal, but I need to do this. I know Hal, Tom, and Anne will make it back. I'm just glad Lourdes and Iain are coming with me, I don't think I could make it without them. My mind looked back to the night before, everyone arguing. Parents yelling things that weren't appropriate for the young audience of kids looking from the shadows of the gym. Tom and Weaver trying to regain attention on the words they didn't get a chance to say. Me trying to slip out unnoticed and failing in my attempts of sleep.

I finished packing my backpack with clothes, paper, pencil, etc. and headed towards the front of the school. Reminds me of going off to Summer Camp when I was a kid. The only difference is I won't be coming back home. I open the front door and walked out into the blinding sun. After I adjust to the light I notice what a beautiful day it is. I breath in the crisp, clean, air. I feel a warm breeze brush past my cheeks and make my hair flow back. No cars, no more pollution, apparently. At least the aliens want to keep the world from dying (a better job than we were doing). I turn back towards the school, Take a long look, I tell myself, You won't be back here again.

"Ashley!" A familiar voice calls. I turn to see Iain, one-strapping his backpack, waving, and flashing his pearly white teeth. Throughout all of this he still seems to keep his teeth sparkling. Before (and apparently still after) the invasion Iain was known for his perfect teeth. He was really proud of them too. "Hey! Seems like I haven't seen you in forever." I said, hugging him. He nodded, "I know what you mean. Seems the longer the aliens are here the farther apart people are growing." I didn't want to think about growing apart with any of my friends, especially the Masons.

Speaking of the Masons, here comes Matt followed by Ben. Matt looked excited, he always loved road trips, but Ben looked depressed. Tom said I had to look out for them, so that meant making sure they knew everything was going to be alright, time to turn up the happy. "You guys ready?" I sounded too happy, but oh well. Matt eagerly nodded and Ben just shrugged, "I guess." We went over to where some old crates and boxes were set up and sat on them, waiting awkwardly while everyone said their goodbyes.

Tom walked over and we all (even Iain) got up and hugged him. Hal walked up and I hurried to be the first one to hug him. "I don't know why you're hugging me," he started, "'Cause I'm going with you." I looked up at his smiling face and a smile twice as wide as his formed on my face. We broke our hug and I looked at Matt and Ben. Matt was the first to speak, "Really! No joke?" Hal nodded and gave Matt a big hug. Then he gave Ben a photograph, "I want you to hold on to this for me. Will you?" Ben smiled his cute little sweet smile. He put the photo in his pocket and gave Hal a hug. All this brotherly love makes me miss Danny. I wish could hug him and hold him and tell him everything was alright. At least he's in a better place now, well, I hope he is.

Terry Clayton stood on top of a stack of crates and announced, "Ok, I know you're going to miss your kids but we've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall. Say your final goodbyes and head on to the tunnel." And we did just that. Lourdes, Iain, the Mason boys, and I waited in the back until and stood with Tom. "I promise to look after them." I told Tom, then Hal looked at me funny. "What?" I asked. He smiled, "Um, I thought I was the oldest one here." I chuckled, "Maybe physically, but mentally I've got you by about 5 years." We would've gone at it all day if Tom hadn't intervened, "Ok, kids. You're both old. Now get going before you get left behind." Once again, we did as we were told. Matt waved back to Tom one last time and we started on our journey.