Sean paid no attention to Jonah’s wet and shaky condition. Shaky, even when the young man seemed to be unconscious. Sean gathered him effortlessly in his arms, hauled him up, and fled as fast as he could out of the college building. He knew the enormous creature seemed as dead as death itself, shrinking, with its skin slowly drying up and becoming callused. But Sean didn’t want to risk it. He wouldn’t feel safe before they got outside and left the place immediately. Too bad his car was a wreck now.
Sean hadn’t checked his other friends. The demise of the queen might kill all her spawn, and—sadly—perhaps every single body they took as hosts would perish, too. After running several hundred yards away from the building, Sean lowered Jonah’s body and examined him for any sign of a pulse. Small puffs of air, some even too small to be discernible escaped Jonah’s mouth, letting Sean know that all hope wasn’t lost. Sean shuddered out a breath. No, Jonah didn’t die. So probably the others had also managed to survive.
Sinking onto the hard pavement by the road, Sean laid Jonah’s head carefully on his lap. What now? He couldn’t imagine walking, while carrying Jonah, all the way to Jonah’s or his house. Not with the boy still out cold. But Sean wasn’t sure, either, if Jonah would be strong enough to walk when he came to. Sean’s head was still buzzing with indecision when he felt a hand tugging at his shirtsleeve.
“Jonah!” Sean had never been happier to see his friend stare at him. “How are you, man?”
“W…w…” Jonah sounded parched but Sean didn’t have any water to alleviate the discomfort.
“What is it?” Sean urged. He brought himself closer to Jonah.
Jonah swallowed, closed his eyes briefly, and parted his lips.
“Where…where are we? What happened?”
“I don’t know,” said Sean. “I don’t know where we are now.” He smoothed Jonah’s hair off his brow,
Sean’s eyes were soft, and he gazed around at the darkness engulfing them. No house was in sight and everything was so quiet. There were only clusters of trees standing together on one side of the road and an open field on the other. Sean wondered where all the people in the city had gone. If his notion was correct about them all surviving after the alien died, he and Jonah should have come across someone by now.
Sean turned to Jonah again. He was still shaking. Sean lifted him a bit so he could tighten his arms around him.
“Are you okay?” he murmured, wondering if he should propose they start moving now.
Jonah was shivering. “Sean…”
“Yes?”
“Why are we here? What’s happened?”
There was that question again. Sean frowned. Was Jonah in shock or something?
“Jonah, you killed the alien queen in our campus. Don’t you remember that?”
* * * *
“I don’t—alien queen? What’re you talking about?” Jonah squirmed, slowly moving away from Sean. This was Sean, hisSean. That one he remembered. Other things, not so much.
Sean’s jaw dropped open. He let him sit up. “What do you mean what am I talking about? You sprayed that mammoth-sized octopus, and you ask mewhat I am talking about?”
Sean’s answer bewildered him. Alien, mammoth-sized octopus, sprayed—he did that?He shook his head and retreated further.
“You don’t believe me?” Sean asked. “God, what’s wrong with you?”
No, no, no, Jonah thought in panic. Here he was, lying on the street, on a hard pavement for goodness’ sake, with the closest guy he’d ever been with, but Sean sounded…crazy. Jonah got on his hands and knees and started to crawl backward.
“Jonah!” Sean said. “Get back here, you’re not in good condition.”
Jonah shrieked when Sean got to his feet. “Leave me alone.” He started to shake violently. Sweat broke through his pores and every single bone in him ached. His heart pounded when Sean crept closer to him. “Don’t hurt me, please.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Sean sounded anguished and Jonah’s heart clenched. All of a sudden exhaustion weighed him down and all he wanted to do was just lie down, close his eyes, and sleep.
“No, you’re not. Maybe.” Jonah had no strength anymore to finish his sentence. He sank to the ground and curled into a ball. Whatever the crazy boy was going to do to him, he thought blearily, he didn’t have the energy to stop it. Let him do whatever he wanted. Just let him…
All of a sudden a blaring sound of a car tore into the night’s silence. Jonah squinted. Brakes screeched and a car pulled up across the street from where he and Sean were. Several boys jumped out of the car. Jonah widened his eyes. He knew them, Dean and the members of the basketball team. Sean jumped forward and stood still in front of Jonah’s body, like a mother tiger protecting her cub.