I'm Friends With the Monsters (AOE)

Chapter 3: Judgement Day

So surprise! I actually did fall asleep in there, head on the table, snoring away. Uncle Cade must have found me, because the next morning I was back in my bed.

Good 'ol Uncle Cade.

Tessa went off to school-

Okay stopping there.

See, I finished my online courses like a month earlier. I can't deal with my generation, as you can all tell with Tessa, so I basically just homeschool. Uncle Cade went into town awhile later and I was left alone at home, rereading my 'Codename Hero' novel for the countless time. I didn't hear the steps up the door or the knock, but when I went out a little while later, I saw it;

'Notice of Eviction' in red letters.

Why that no-good overweight she-wolf and-

Well my thoughts were very unpleasant from then on.

This was the ONLY home I had!!! I know, it was technically my uncle's fault, but I didn't have anywhere else to go. f we lost everything, BAM! I was in capital S-O-C-I-A-L S-E-R-V-I-C-E-S!

So not my idea of living. And when people hear 'Bipolar', they tend to hear the words 'mentally deranged' instead.

Yeah. I was in for trouble.

So I tore it up to shreds and threw it outside, scowling and thinking those inappropriate thoughts towards her for a good three-to-five minutes before simmering down, and going to the shop.

"Hey Big Guy," I cooed, patting him. "Wish you could understand me. Uncle Cade is in a whole lot of trouble, and we might lose everything we have. I... I wish I could say I wasn't afraid, but that's be lying. I'm... I am afraid of losing my family. But you know, it's only gonna make me fight harder. It's what an Autobot would do, right?"

Silence answered me, and I sighed.

"right..."

---

Tessa came home with her friends in their Jeep, and I was sitting at the end of the driveway. Tessa checked her mailboxes and suddenly scowled and slammed the lid shut.

"Tessa?" I looked up as she stormed by. Confused, I checked the mailbox.

A letter?! From college!?

I picked it up and checked. 'Denied'. Same red print. I felt a sinking feeling grow in my stomach. Was this why Tessa was so mean to me? Was she upset over this?

"Aw cuz..." I whispered, clutching it to my chest. "Now you're really making me feel bad."

I walked back up to the house, but didn't say a word to Tessa.

She was in her room, crying.

---

Uncle Cade came home, and yet again missed dinner. It meant he was stressing over things. Tessa brought out a tray for him, and didn't come in. Must've sweet-talked him into letting her go with her friends. Lucky.

When the stars began to come out, Uncle Cade was standing out on the porch, murmuring about how wonderful my cousin was.

Can I say I felt a bit upset? She treats Uncle Cade like hell and yet he obsesses over her night and day. Them again, father-daughter. I'm the awkward third wheel that joined them. Ever since Aunt Emily died, Cade's been wanting to keep Tessa safe, happy, and all that. And after my mom passed away, he swore on his life he'd make sure I grew up strong and unafraid.

Yet somehow, I'm scared. That I'll lose Uncle Cade. That those Decepticons will return. That the Battle of Chicago will reoccur and I'll be alive... While the rest of my family is dead.

Those worries were plaguing me as I stepped out and joined my uncle's side. "Hey."

"Oh. Hi Gabby." He smiled at me, but it was strained. He was really, really stressed.

".... You wanna go back into the shop?"

He sighed. "Why not?"

We walked in together, and I looked around at the numerous inventions as we approached the semi-truck.

"Judgement Day." Uncle Cade said, then looked at me. "Ready?"

"I was born ready." I grinned back at him.

---

You know, nothing beats tearing a rust-bucket apart!

Uncle Cade and I played some Bob Seger, Queen, and for a little more modernness, Keith Urban as we worked.

We opened up a part of the front and began to check into the radiator and inner grids.

But that's when I noticed something.

"Hey, Uncle Cade?"

"Yeah?"

"Whaddya think burnt a hole THIS size?!" I pointed it out. He walked over and crouched down, and his eyes widened.

"Gabby, that's too big to be caused by any regular accident."

"What, was this guy in WWII or something?"

"No. They didn't come out until-"

"The 1980s. I get it." I confirmed, and began to notice 'off' things.

After about two hours we began to notice things.

Uncle Cade pointed out the shrapnel fragments.

"There's no way on earth it could have gotten this deep without blowing up!"

We worked even harder, and I made the breakthrough.

At seven a.m. Texan time, without any sleep, I tried to jumpstart the truck, and I was, in, complete, shock.

It powered up all right, but NOT in the way you'd expect.

It rumbled and shook, and am animatronic, yet somehow LIVING voice called out weakly!

"Calling all Autobots! Calling all Autobots!"

My hands shook. My heartbeat almost stopped. I knew those words. I knew them. I knew what they meant.

Uncle Cade looked equally as stunned.

We'd. Found. A. Transformer.