The Only

CH 25

"I cant believe that, out of all the times I've been in this store, I've never been back here!" I exclaimed, walking past what must have been the conference table. The yellow stripes on the floor of the "employees only" area reminded me of the stripes on a bumble bee.

Timmy nodded, his shadow crossing over mine at the end of the hallway. Jesse was still out in our makeshift living room asleep. Timmy and I had left him to explore the never-lands of WalMart to see if they had a bathroom. So far no luck.

It wasn't the bathroom we needed- we were hoping for a shower.

"I'm sorry," Timmy said suddennly.

"For what?" I asked, shocked.

"For dragging you into the middle of this. I shouldn't have sent you that video of the airship."

My mind wandered back to the middle of class, hiding under the bookshelves in the library, the video playing on my phone. Timmy gasping for air. I was taken aback by the amount of emotions that flooded over me with this memory. Lately all I had thought about was making sure Jesse lived, and getting away from Timmy and his "friends." Now I remembered why I was here in the first place.

"Don't be sorry," I said. "If you hadn't sent me that, my remains would be laying in a pile of rubble somewhere."

Suddenly he stopped walking and hugged me. Just a simple hug. I fought back the sobs that tried to force their way out of my throat.

He let me go, but left his hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry that I didn't turn out to be the person you thought I was. The person I thought I was. The person I wanted to be. I wish I was still just that human kid in high school."

"Hey," I said, sliding his hands off my shoulders. "To me, you're still that guy. Now you just have ties to aliens that want to kill us."

"I wish I didn't." he mumbled, continuing our previous path.

We never found a shower, but we did find a water fountain that worked perfectly. He held the button down for me while I washed my hair.

We gave up our search and went back to our area, where Jesse was awake and helping himself to all the spoiled meat he had pulled out of the not-so-cold section. The smell told me it was rancid, but the look on his face told me he was doing what had to be done to keep me and Tim safe.

"You hungry there, bud?" I asked, taking my seat on the couch.

"Mmhm." Jesse mumbled, watery blood dripping from his chin. He noticed the concern in my face as I sat down on the futon. "Sorry you had to see this," he said, rotten meat spewing from his mouth as he spoke.

I shrugged in response, not knowing what to say.

The wind howled outside, making whatever materials made up the roof clack and bang. For a second I was afraid the Walmart would come down around us.

Timmy grabbed my shoulder. "You sure we'll be safe here?" he asked.

"No." I answered truthfully. "I'm not sure. But are we safe anywhere?"

He nodded in agreement. "Let's try to sleep this out then." He moved to the recliner and I left the couch to Jesse, who had sat down the turkey leg to drink from a water bottle.

I stretched out on the cold floor, feeling the linoleum soothing my sweat-coated sore muscles. "Stasey, you can have the couch, I'll move." Jesse said from above me.

"No, I'm much more comfortable here anyways. Straightens my back." I answered, smiling up at him.

Something soft and fuzzy hit me in the face, filling my mouth with lint. I grabbed the pillow and glared at Timmy, who was grinning like an idiot, proud of his aim.

"If you won't take the couch, take the pillow. It's a luxury you may never have again." he said after he gathered himself.

I sighed, suddenly bummed out. Tonight is my last night with the three of us together, after almost a year spent together. I pressed my cheek against the pillow, remembering our first night in the swamps. We swore to protect each other, no matter what. We made a choice not to go back for our families, and became our own family. I couldn't imagine life without them.