Chapter One: Jasper

It was dark outside. Jasper couldn't see anything beyond a few feet in front of the house, but that was alright. Where they lived there wasn't any electricity. In fact, most of the planet had been without electricity for a few years now. Side effect of the Sojourner invasion, he guessed.

A snowflake landed on the window and his eyes crossed as he tried to get a good look at it. No two snowflakes were alike; his mother had always told him. He didn't know how they could know that for certain when there were so many snowflakes that fell. Did someone out there collect them all and sort them? Maybe it was Jack Frost's job to actually make the snowflakes. He knew about Jack Frost because his mother read him stories about him at Christmas time.

He settled his elbows on the windowsill and put his chin in his hands as he hummed to himself while watching the snowfall. With his father out bringing some more wood in, he didn't really have anything better to do. Canada was cold during the winter months. Where they lived it was really cold. The cabin was really old; he'd found a flintlock musket under the floorboards one time.

"Jasper, do you see your father yet?" his mother called from where she was setting the table.

"No, mama. It's all so dark."

"Well, when you see his light, let me know."

"Okay!"

He stuck his face against the glass and then yelped at how cold it felt. Pulling a few inches back, he stared out into the inky darkness, watching for the bob and sway of his father's light returning to the cabin. Any time now he would be coming back.

Jasper was excited for that night. His father had managed to kill a young buck that morning which meant that they got to have venison for dinner. Venison stew! He loved venison stew. They didn't get to have it often because the deer weren't very easy to find anymore. His father said it was because the Sojourners were killing every living thing, not just humans. Even the poor animals didn't stand a chance against them. That made him sad, but at least this one was going to be eaten instead of left to rot.

Something flickered to his left and he turned to look at it. Was it his father's light? He couldn't tell just yet. He turned to tell his mother, but a loud clan resounded as one of the dishes she was holding hit the floor, spilling stew all over.

"Mama?"

The look on her face frightened him.

"Mama, what's wrong?"

"Jasper, come here."

"Mama, I'm scared."

"Jasper, come here!"

A whimper escaped him as he climbed down off the chest by the window and walked over to where she was standing. She knelt down in front of him and looked him in the eyes before brushing the hair out of his face and back behind his ears. She was crying, which made him start crying too.

"Something bad is going to happen, alright? I need you to go into the safe place and stay there. Don't make a sound. Do you understand?"

"But Mama-"

"No. Now go, quickly. No sounds, no matter what."

She pushed him towards the rug in the middle of the room. He stopped and looked at her as she whipped some tears from her face. When she saw him standing there, she motioned for him to go on again. He turned away and walked to the rug, pulling it back to reveal a hidden door. The little metal handle was stuck so he tugged on it as hard as he could until it flew open. Climbing down the steps into the darkness of the little cellar, he looked up at the door.

"Mama, it's dark-"

His mother appeared in the opening above and grabbed the door.

"I know, dear. It'll be alright."

Before he could say anything she closed the door and pulled the rug back over it. Not being able to see anything, he sat down where he stood and hugged his legs close to his chest. Tears ran down his face simply because he didn't know what was going on and his mother had been crying. His mother never cried. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness he felt around until he found a little metal box which he played with for a moment before realizing it was a lighter. Flicking it on, he looked around the small room.

There were newspapers scattered everywhere; stacks of them piled up. He reached one for one of the smaller stacks and pulled the top paper off to look at the cover. On the front was a blond girl with smashed face, broken arm, and she was covered in blood. He could read, but not that well. Her last name was hard to pronounce, but her first name was Claire. It said something about mute ants…

Then he heard a crash from above him and jumped, dropping the lighter which flickered itself out before starting a fire. Something ran swiftly across the floor above him. Then he heard the scream. His mouth opened and he started bawling, but he remembered his mother had said to be quiet so he grabbed his mouth with his hands, but tears continued to roll down his cheeks. His little body shook violently as the screaming continued.

Someone shouted. His father? Then there was more screaming, but from a man. It had to be his father! But the screaming made him shiver. Why were they screaming? Tears dripped out from beneath his hands as they covered his mouth.

Then it went completely silent. No more screaming. There wasn't a sound. He heard something, though, through his sobs. Shuffling. Then light peeked through the cracks in floor above him. There wasn't a sound as the light appeared. A wave of fear ran through him and he reached down, trying to grab onto the wood of the floor. The door suddenly pulled completely off the hinges and a dark face with white eyes peered down at him.

It was looking right at him! A Sojourner! He could see its mouth-less face as it looked at him. The bony protrusion from its arm was covered in something red that dripped down onto the stairs. It turned its head this way and that. Surely it saw him, though. He was sitting right at the base of the stairs! He was as good as dead!

It withdrew. He heard footsteps moving across the floor and out. He just sat there, staring at the opening above the stairs. How had it not seen him? Sojourners killed every living thing they saw, and surely it had seen him as it had looked right at him. He couldn't believe it. The fear had washed the tears right out of him and he looked down as if expecting to find that he was already dead, only to find that he couldn't see himself. Well, he could see his outline, but he looked like the very wood he was sitting on. How was that possible?

He stared at his hands for a while. Eventually his skin began to change back to what it was before and he realized that he'd even taken on the texture of the wood. Not understanding what this meant, and realizing he hadn't heard a word from his mother or father, the tears came back again and he started crying as he sat there.

It was a full hour before he finally got himself to move. The stairs creaked beneath his feet as he climbed them. Hand grabbed the ledge and he slowly pulled himself up to peek out. He didn't see any of the Sojourners, but he saw his parents. Specifically he saw his mothers head, staring at him with her body lying elsewhere in several pieces. He screamed uncontrollably and nearly fell back down the stairs when he tried to clamp his hands over his eyes.

He couldn't look. He couldn't look at his mother's lifeless eyes and disembodied head, knowing that he'd never be able to talk to her again. He might be young, but he knew what this meant. Turning away, he climbed out of the cellar and turned to walk towards the back of the cabin. Grabbing his little Spider-man bag, he shoved some batteries, a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of his mother's homemade bread, and his stuffed dog into it. Grabbing his coat, he pulled it on and zipped it up before putting the backpack on over his shoulders. Next he put on his boots, hat, and gloves. Then he grabbed a flashlight, opened the back door, and looked outside. He didn't say anything so he stepped out into the snow.

His father had told him that if anything happened to them he shouldn't stay at the cabin. It wouldn't be safe without the two of them there to protect him. He couldn't survive on his own, anyway. They'd said if he walked south, he knew which way that was from the cabin, that he would eventually make it to a road. If he followed that he'd make it to a town where he might be able to find some survivors holed up. They told him to keep moving and try to find another human to live with. Without them, he wouldn't survive.

For a while he walked without the use of any light. There was no moon to see by, but if he turned on the flash light too soon he might draw Sojourners. So he walked silently, save for the crunch of his boots on snow, twigs, and leaves, while leaving a trail of tears behind him as he cried over the loss of his parents. He had no one left in the world. What was he going to do?

After a little while of walking, and stumbling over tree branches, he decided he was far enough away. He stopped. Listening for a bit, he tried to see if anything was around. Not hearing anything, he turned on the flashlight. The light pierced the darkness, and cut a swathe in front of him. All he could see were trees. A lifted arm dried the tears away from his eyes before he started walking again. At least now he could see where he was going.

He walked south for a long time until he stepped out from behind a tree and found himself on a hard surface that he hadn't ever seen before. Shining the light at it, he saw that it was completely covered in snow, undisturbed, but the clear area went on for a long way. He decided this must be the road, so he stepped out into the center and started walking south.

Eventually the clouds above him began to part and moonlight filtered through. He turned the flashlight off when that happened and just walked with the moonlight. It was cold, but he kept moving so it wasn't too bad. After a while he noticed other tracks in the snow. They didn't look like his. Still, he kept walking until he heard something ahead of him. Lights appeared in the distance and his eyes went wide as he heard sounds like roaring.

In a panic he ran off the road and fell down on the ground in the snow. Lifting his hands, he tugged them over his head and lay very still. His body reacted to his terror and he, and everything touching him, turned white as snow and took on the same sleek texture. As he lay there, the machine passed him by, trundling through the snow with several Sojourners on the side. He waited until it was gone, then stood up and pulled his stuffed dog out of his bag. Hugging it to his chest, he started walking again. Just a frightened little boy alone in the wilderness. Life couldn't be harder.