"Couldn't we just wait to move until summer? I don't wanna start at a new school halfway through the year!" I complained. My family and I, which includes my younger sister, older brother, and parents, are moving to Spokane due to a new job my dad was taking there.

"It's necessary. We have already talked about this Elizabeth, more whining is not going to change anything," said my mom.

I sighed, then continued to stare at the passing trees through the window of our black minivan, which was followed by a large moving truck that my dad and sister were in. Moving in the first place is a pain, but to have to try to fit in to a new school partway through the year was worse. Being the "new kid" in school does not appeal to me in any way, even if its senior year and I am almost done.

"As long as Spokane has things to do, I couldn't care less," commented Alex in the front seat, my older brother by 4 years. He was doing online college courses anyway, of course its not a big deal to him. "As long as there is an internet connection there you wont care either, dont lie Liz," he said.

I glared at him, but chose not to start a debate with him. I am not as witty as him, so I can't really counter any of his comments even if I wanted to. He was right of course, we both were video game addicts. I have always had a knack for them, and I was already looking forward to getting to our house and setting it up.

It was still pretty early in the morning, we have been driving for hours and were just now entering Spokane. I wanted to stretch my legs and get out of our acursed vehicle before I lost it, but I don't really have much of a choice.

Negative thoughts about going to school in a few days begin to drift into my thoughts, but I immediately pushed them away. It was hardly worth letting those thoughts take over and make my mood worse.

"Just another 15 minutes you two," my mom said as she turned off the highway.

"'bout time, i'm starving," said Alex, stretching his arms out in front of him.

I continued to stare out the window, my thoughts now on the recent M.O.A.B. I got while playing Modern Warfare 3 with Alex. I smiled to myself. His reaction had been fabulous, for I had managed to get one even before him, and he was obviously impressed. There is something strangely satisfying about facing off with another person and beating them, especially when they dont expect it from you. My thoughts then moved to the savage nature of a game like Modern Warfare 3. I had killed endless amounts of people in that game, but the thought of putting a bullet through someones brain in person made my stomach turn. Please don't let me ever be put in a situation like that in my lifetime.

...

"You get much homework today?" asked Shelby, my sister. Despite being younger than me, she was about an inch taller, which annoys me to no end. Even though we are nearly 2 years apart in age, people often asked if we were twins.

"Nah, my teachers must have felt generous since its Friday."

I stared at the cracks in the sidewalk as we strolled home. It wasn't a long walk from school to our house, but all the activity involved in the first week at a new school was rather draining, and I just wanted to get to the safety and comfort of our home.

"What do you want to do when we get home?" I asked Shelby.

"Sleep." We both laughed. "I don't know, something that requires little effort."

I grunted in agreement. My sister and I have always gotten along really well, maybe once in a blue moon do we every get upset with each other, but even then it never lasts. I truly do not know what I would do without her.

We trudged up the front steps, and I pulled out the key to the house from within my pocket when we reached the door. As we walked in, my mom bounced down the stairs that angled to the front door. "Hey girls, how was your day?"

"Fine, just glad its the weekend," I said as she gave me and Shelby hugs.

"Speaking of the weekend, your father and I are going fishing tomorrow morning."

They are still doing that? I had figured that after we moved they would be done with that tradition, but I respect that they did not want everything to change.

"Alright. Where is Alex? I want to play some Call of Duty."

"Sleeping still, I can't get him up no matter what I try."

I laughed, "yeah that sounds about right." Alex was a deep sleeper like I was, trying to get either of us up is nearly an impossible task. I consider it a blessing and a curse.

I spent the next few hours playing with Alex after harassing him to get up, then decided to get to bed early because I was still exhausted. I figured I would sleep in for a while because of how tired I was, I needed it.

...

I immediately knew something was wrong, even before I opened my eyes to try to help my brain process what I was hearing. My clock and lamp shook on the nightstand beside my bed, and I jumped up, noticing my sister had also just gotten out of bed as well.

"What is that?" Shelby asked, panic obvious in her voice.

"I don't.." I started to say before I was interrupted by what sounded like a large explosion above us. We both ran for the window and pulled aside the blinds.

"No way..." Shelby whispered, while I stood gaping behind her at the planes flying over our neighborhood, dropping off what appeared to be hundreds of men with parachutes. Our window overlooked the front street, so we both saw when a man carrying a gun landed in the front lawn behind our picket fence.

We both jumped away from the window, and I stared at Shelby for a second.

"We need to get Alex!" I said, and we both ran down the hall to his room, even through all this chaos, I was still expecting him to be sleep. I shoved the door open to find it empty.

"He must be downstairs already." said Shelby.

We cut back down the hall and looked down the stairs to see Alex running towards the front door.

"Alex no!" but before he could process what I was saying, the front door shot open, and the man Shelby and I saw in our front lawn shot Alex twice in the chest.

It's impossible to explain the feelings and emotions that rushed through me in that instant. I felt completely numb, and I hardly noticed Shelby screaming next to me. Some part of me was telling me we needed to move, to run away from the threat, but I also just felt like crawling under my blankets to try to pretend that I didn't see my big brother taken away from me by this invader.

In that moment I realized something. I realized there was no way I was going to allow this.. murderer to take my other sibling away from me. I grabbed Shelby by the arm and dragged her through the house until we stumbled into my parents' room. Where would she have put it?

"Shelby, hide under the bed," I said to her, staring at her to make sure she heard me through her sobs. As she complied, I locked the door, more or less to just make me feel a little better, then hurried to the closet and began shuffling through the clothes that blocked my vision from the gun I knew my mom had hidden in here somewhere.

"He's coming!" Shelby whispered to me from under the bed. I could hear the pounding footsteps climbing the stairs. Panic began to set in. Just as I was about to give up and look somewhere else, I found it hidden under a pair of jeans on the middle shelf. I pulled the case into my arms and unzipped it to find the handgun, along with two full clips in a pouch. I have only shot guns once in my life, and all I really knew was how to reload it, and shoot. I pushed the clip into place, and turned the safety off just as I heard the door handle to the room shake. I figured the best chance I had to counter this murderer was to go prone around the corner, and wait for the door to open, to catch him unprepared.

I had barely gotten into place when the door burst open, revealing the man who killed Alex. He had kicked the door down, just as he had the front door, leaving him vulnerable while he tried to pull his gun up. I didn't hesitate, and I shot twice, one bullet went into his abdomen, while the second went into his skull, and he dropped backwards on to the floor.

"Shelby! Lets go!" I screeched. As she began to crawl out from under the bed, I ran over to the mans body, and grabbed his gun, I also did a quick search and found an extra magazine, which I intended to put in a pocket, but I was still in my pajamas. "Go grab our backpacks and empty them out. We need to get out of here but we need clothes and food first!"

She nodded, tears still rolling down her cheeks, and ran from the room.

As I got up, I accidentally looked at the man more than I intended, and fought the urge expel everything from my stomach. I still felt numb, which was probably the only reason the sight of the bullet hole in his head didn't cause me to throw up on the spot. As I ran down the hall, I stopped in my room and pulled out several shirts, two heavy jackets, and a pair of jeans. This will have to do for now. I continued on downstairs and found Shelby already in the kitchen, stuffing whatever she could into one backpack, leaving mine for the food.

"Good, let's go," I said.

"What about mom and dad?" She had an edge of hysteria in her voice, as well as a desperate look on her face.

"They aren't here, hopefully since they are at the river they avoided being spotted." I offered, hoping to calm her down somewhat.

"What if they come back? Shouldn't we be here or something?"

"There is no way that they would be able to get here without being intercepted by some other invaders, and we cannot stay here another minute!" I said, frustrated.

"W-what about Alex?" as she said that, I had to resist the urge to turn to where his body lay. I couldn't allow myself to break down right now, we needed at least one of us to maintain their senses.

"There is nothing we can do Shelby," my voice cracked. I could feel the tears trying to pool in my eyes, I shook my head to try to rid the thought of him being gone from my mind. "Come on, out the back."

Shelby's shoulders began to shake again, then she grabbed the heavier backpack with the food in it, while I put on the other backpack to make carrying the gun from the invader easier. It appeared to be an AK47, similar to the ones I've seen in Call of Duty. I thought about it for a moment, then called Shelby. She turned, and I handed her my moms handgun.

"Safety off, use it if necessary," She looked at me hesitantly, then I saw her eyes flick over to where our brother was. She nodded.