The Apocalypse: The First Year

Timing Is Everything

"Spencer you're cheating no fair!" Lindsey yells as she chases after me.

"Glen, be a big brother and save meeeee!" I yell to Glen who is somewhere hiding probably.

"Spencer stop cheating!" Lindsey chuckles out.

"I'm not cheating!" I shout as I dodge a water balloon. "You're just not fast enough!" I smile and dodge another one.

"Troy help me get her!" She yells to her younger cousin who's visiting with her family for the weekend. Glen and I have been over pretty much all day everyday since Friday. We've been playing all sorts of games this weekend, and having a blast doing so. Right now we're having a water balloon fight. It's me and Glen against Lindsey and her twelve-year-old little cousin. They can't find Glen and I'm too quick. So right now, technically Glen and I are winning.

"Glen!" I shout from behind a tree as Troy and Lindsey charge towards me. Suddenly, Glen appears from inside the dog house with two water balloons in hand. He hits Troy first, in his leg and then tosses another one and hits Lindsey in the back.

"We win!" He shouts when they both hit the ground like they've been shot. We're teenagers...we can be dramatic. "Oh yeah, we win, you lose, oh yeah." Glen says doing a little victory dance.

"What the hell was that?" I walk up next to Glen and ask.

"I was hiding and waiting for the right moment to attack." Glen says confidently. I give him a look. "Well it worked didn't it?" He asks and I roll my eyes at him and walk away. "Whaaaaat?" He calls after me as I stomp away into the house.

–

"Glen stop!" I half shout as Glen chases after me with some sort of dead animal.

"Not so much noise guys." Tim tells us. We're taking a break from driving while everyone grabs a bite to eat, uses the bathroom and stretches.

"Mom make him stop!" I run and hide behind my mom.

"Glen, leave your sister alone." She tells him in an uninterested tone.

"Well you're no fun." Glen huffs and tosses the rodent somewhere in the grass.

"Thanks." I let out a sigh of relief and say to my mom.

"Mhm." She says looking at a map.

"Where are we?"

"Little Rock I think."

"How much longer 'til we get to Atlanta?" I question.

"Maybe nine hours."

"Okay." I say cheerfully before walking towards Ashley who's sitting on the ground by the van reading a book we found under the seat in the van.

Isn't she just the cutest?

"Spencer." My mom calls after me.

"Yeah?" I ask, turning around and walking back to her.

"You're different." She says, looking up from the map at me.

"No I'm not." I shake my head.

"Yeah, you seem different." She nods and scans my face with narrowed eyes.

"Tim says we're gonna head out now." Glen says as him and Aiden walk up next to us.

"Glen, isn't there something different about your sister?" My mother asks my brother and I can feel my cheeks go red. I'm not sure if him and Aiden are aware of what happened between Ashley and I at the police station but I don't want to find out.