Everyone will die. This is a fact that I know is as true as true can be. Death is inevitable, and I am unlucky enough to know when, where, why, and how I will die. The when: in approximately one week. The where: the Sonoran desert. The why: it is the end of the world. The how: thirst.

My name is Clairabell Fitzgerald and I am fifteen years old. I have been on the run with my mother Kalista, my father Jack, and my baby sister Kieko ever since we found out about the aliens from dad's boss, Mr. Elliot Jacobs. I was only six when we left and Keiko was two.

Two months ago, while we were hiding out in an old barn in the forest, we were caught. Father and I had just gotten back from a successful raid. We had stolen enough food to last us approximately one week. Mother and Father would always take turns taking one of us on a raid so that we would be skilled at it.

On that frightful day it had been snowing the first snow of the season. Years later I can still remember precisely the look of relief on Mother's face upon our return and how magical it had all seemed, what with all the love and beauty despite the horrifying world around us, as if we had fallen directly into one of the fairytales Mother and Father had told Kieko and I when we were younger. It truly was a winter wonderland.

Mother threw her arms around Father and all the while Father looked like a child on Christmas morning. In a way that day was the Christmas that I scarcely remember from our old life. Surrounded by loved ones, joy all around, and a feast.

Just as I looked away from Mother and Father, Kieko awoke. I watched as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and saw that we had returned. A smile slowly spread across her face and I just had to laugh. She stood up and hugged me. Kieko is my best friend and a great sister. "Welcome to Snow White's cottage in this enchanted forest here. How do you do?" Kieko greeted me.

At that I simply replied "No! I do not want your poisoned apple!"

We both cracked up. When we calmed down we noticed Mother and Father staring.

Mother said "So are you two wonderful girls going to let your lovely parents in on the joke that you seem to find so hilarious?"

While Kieko tried to keep a straight face I said "Your witch daughter here is trying to poison me. She's just jealous because the prince kisses me awake and not her. Isn't that right Witch?"

Kieko was pretending to be offended. "Jeez, Sleeping Beauty! It's not my fault that I'm so awful. I learned it from my evil step-sisters and my terrible step-mother. Besides, it's not "Witch"! That's Cinderella to you!"

We started laughing again. To us just about everything was a laughing matter. Mother was speechless and looking at us like we were crazy (I suppose she's right about us being crazy). Father chuckled his deep baritone chuckle and said "I take it that you two liked those fairytales I told ye?"

We said yes in synch with each other which set us off laughing once again. Man, I love my family so much. I thought to myself. We all sat down together in a corner of the barn and then Father started to tell Mother, Kieko, and I a story that wasn't a fairytale, he said, but a Greek myth. "The name of this story is "The Odyssey of Odysseus". It is a play that I watched your mother perform in when I was in high school."

Mother got the faraway look in her eyes that meant she was off in the past somewhere. I suppose she was remembering her and Father in their high school sweethearts time. "Once upon a time," said Father.

Those four words sounded so hopeful and fantastic that I shivered. Mother came back to the present and snapped to attention. Keiko was so excited that she could hardly sit still.

"there was a young man named Odysseus who was so-"

All of a sudden there was a whoosh as some seekers broke down the rotting barn door. We were all up and running in seconds. We were headed for the huge hay stack that went up near enough to the hole in the sagging roof \that we could climb out seeing as how the seekers were blocking the only other way out. As we all were scrambling up hay that squished out freezing water with every step Father shouted "Hurry!"

Mother was giving us a boost to the roof. Keiko went first and then I did. Keiko slipped and went tumbling off of the low barn roof. I heard her land with an "oomph" and I paused to make sure that I would not land on her before I jumped.

Kieko was (according to her) a-okay. I did not believe her because once I pulled her to a standing position she whimpered and once I got her moving she was limping. I heard Mother yell "Jack!".

I then turned to make sure that Mother and Father were okay. Mother was going back into the barn!

I could hear Father say "Kalista, just go! I'm already a goner! Kee-kee and Clairdey-cat need you!"

In response Mother yelled to us "Run girls! We'll meet you to a point! We love you!"

Kieko was shaking me and telling me to get a move on. We could hear Mother trying to free Father using a pistol she had. I knew that she had to try, but they were going to get caught! They already are caught. I corrected myself sulkily. Those seekers probably have Mother and Father passed out and in the police cars (seeker cars) already since the shouts and screams have stopped . That means that they are after us now!

My breathing was quick to coming at the thought of having an alien in my head. Kieko noticed and looked over at me.

"It'll be all right Clarabelle. Even though Mother and Father are gone we'll get away. Don't think about them right now. When we first came to the barn I remember seeing a house. It has a garage that we can hide out in."

A few minutes later we found the house that she spoke of. It was nothing special. We were careful not be seen. We could easily see a few children looking to be about six pestering a very tired-looking lady. The door to the garage was old-fashioned and simple to open. Thankfully the aliens didn't lock things.

We stayed there all night and the seekers search party for us only came near our hide-out twice. One of the times that they came near we could see them through the cracks in the garage wall. We watched them go up to the house and ask the aliens that lived there about us. The tired mother answered by smiling and shaking her head no. They gave her a card and went away.

Sleeping was rough what with all the cold. I can remember so well how cold and terrified Kieko and I were that night.

The next morning we managed to slip away unseen. Over the two months we slowly made our way to Picacho Peak. It was the "to a point" that Mother was yelling about when we left. We knew that the aliens in Mother and Father knew about our family plans to meet there if we ever got separated, so we went on a final raid and around Picacho Peak. We went straight into the desert.

Please let me explain. When Father's boss, Mr. Elliot Jacobs, came to tell us about aliens, he also told us that he had heard a rumor about humans trying to make a community out in the middle of the Sonoran desert. He said it was worth a try, but possibly a lie.

I told Kieko about it when she was nine and hadn't expected her to remember, but here two years later she was insisting we go into the desert searching for people who probably don't even exist. I said okay only because I knew that we would die either way and I might as well make her happy in the process.

Now two days later I am wishing we had went with the death by alien and not death by desert. We are thirsting to death and burning up. Kieko does not care though. She is patiently waiting (with a smile on her face!) for non-existent humans to come and rescue us.

It is dark out now and Kieko is sleeping. I am on the verge of sleep, but movement awakes me fully. I hope that it is ravenous wolves who will finish us quickly, but to my surprise it is a boy about my age. This doesn't make sense. He is too young to be a seeker. Camping and got lost maybe? I hope that we can steal water from him before he has us changed. I don't want to die and neither does Kieko, but there is no other choice.

The boy looks angry, sad, a little frightened, and very determined. He tells me something that I do not understand. He is pulling something out of his pocket! Oh God, I think to myself, this is the end! What he pulls out from his pocket confuses me. It is a flashlight. He shines it in my gritty eyes and mutters something to himself that sounded like "She's human. Amazing!"

Everything then comes together in my foggy mind. I am either imagining him or I fell asleep. Kieko got silly thoughts of other humans out here with us stuck in my head!

My Dreamt Up Boy (lets call him John) John is handing me something. Water! Even if it is not real it is better than nothing. It cold and wet! I drink until the wonderful water is gone. Now that my throat is clear of sand and I feel better from the water I speak for the first time in a while.

"Who are you?"

He shines the light in his eyes to show me that he is human then says "Jamie Stryder. You?"

I giggle at the fact that John has a name and say "Clarabelle Fitzgerald."

I point to Kieko and say "That's Kieko Fitzgerald. She's my little sister and she's human too. We heard there might be other humans hear and Kieko insisted that we come."

At this point, he was pulling out another water for Kieko who had just woken up and she drank it all. When she was all done Jamie said "There is more water inside the caves that we remaining humans call home. Your home too if you'd like it to be. Welcome."

We followed him into the caves and into a better life.