waters we’d taken from the gas station.
John, Allison, and Blake ate quickly and
headed into the building to use the restrooms
afterward. Colby stayed silent even after
they were gone, and I noticed he had barely
eaten anything.
I nudged him to say, “Not hungry?”
He looked away.
I pressed, “Now wait, we’ve just been
talking for hours. Why clam up on me now?
What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just tripping,” he said.
“Tell me,” I said.
“Just thinking about the future. Up until
yesterday, all I could think about was getting
recruited by a good college and playing
football. Now I don’t even know if we’ll survive
this alien attack. Everything I used to worry
about seems kind of . . . pointless now.”
“I get it. I’m second-guessing everything
too. Been too angry at my folks for them
splitting up, and right now I’d do anything to
see them. But we’ve got to stay focused.”
Colby looked at me and sighed. “How?”
36
