Ah, another day, another chapter.

The good stuff is on its way, cause they're now making their way further into Wyoming.

OOOOOO WYOOOOMING.

This chapter only kind of works out how I wanted it to, so I think it will suffice.
Here's chapter 10 (aw yeah, ten chapters already).

Read & REVIEW

Amanda crawled to her feet, trying desperately to grab a hold of someone so she wouldn't lose her balance again. She stared down at the carpet, which was looping between her toes. With a gasp, she looked down at the rest of her attire, which including undies and a bra. Most people don't consider that attire.

"I forgot my shoes!" was the first thing she proclaimed.

"Yeah, and every thing else." Paul snorted, rolling his eyes. In midst of a full blown heart attack, Ruth looked Amanda up and down, looking a little embarrassed herself.

How stupid can I be? Not even grabbing a shirt! Amanda grumbled inwardly, trying to focus on the horizon ahead. But a little red-orange dot in the side view mirror made her double take, having occasionally caught her eye. She launched forward and leaned against Graeme's seat to get a better look of the mirror.

Graeme flinched and whipped his head around to glance over his shoulder. He inhaled sharply and turned back, "Amanda—are you naked?"

Furrowing her brows, Amanda slapped her hands on either side of Graeme's eyes, like a horse pulling a buggy, forcing him to stare forward. "Don't worry about it!" she ordered, squinting at the mirror.

The red-orange vehicle was approaching quickly, and certainly wasn't a government issued car. But it looked familiar all the same, like she had seen it from the corner of her eye during their expedition, but couldn't exactly identify it. Ruth came up next to her and moaned, "Oh no it's my dad!"

"That's who that is?" Amanda said immediately, sneering a bit in surprise.

"This guys doesn't quit!" Paul said in astonishment. "I kinda have to respect it." He added, mumbling to himself.

Angrily, she grunted through gritted teeth, "Grrr, so what do we do? Throw shit at him?"

"What?" Clive asked, quirking a brow.

"Don't we want to get him off our tail? Let's throw something!" Amanda offered, ignoring the face Ruth was making. It determined that Ruth wasn't up to that plan. Graeme pressed his lips together and turned the wheel violently.

Everyone, especially Amanda, grabbed ahold of something and braced themselves for the RV to tip just a little bit. Once they came out of it, they could hear the wheels of Ruth's dad's truck screech, having pulled the same turn. Clive started bouncing up and down in place.

"C'mon Graeme, drive a little faster." He advised, clenching his jaw.

"Go away dad!" Ruth yelled in the process.

"Everybody just calm down!" Paul said, sounding only slightly calm himself.

"Those ass whores are going to catch us!" Ruth whined.

"I said calm down!" Paul growled.

Amanda rolled her eyes and shook her head violently, staring out the window intently, looking in every possibly direction. Up ahead, she saw a store with a large sign in front of it. Large enough to hide a full sized RV. With a quick check in the side view mirror, seeing how far Ruth's dad actually was behind them, she lifted her hand up and desperately pointed at the shop.

"Graeme! Pull over, pull over!"

"Pull over?" Graeme asked, sounding very unsure. She practically threw herself onto the dashboard, pointing more ferociously.

"PULL OVER."

Following her command, Graeme turned the wheel just in time to turn in and pull up behind the large sign. He inched forward a bit, just to make sure, but they stopped and watched as Ruth's dad's truck drove past them, unknowingly leaving them behind. Amanda let out a sigh that transcended to Paul and Clive.

Ruth leaned back in the passenger seat and sighed as well, Graeme smiling back at all of them contently. Out of the corner of her eye, Amanda saw a black car drive past, but didn't look up in time to the see anything substantial. She looked over her shoulder at Paul, who appeared deep in thought. Something was digging at him, and it was more guilt than Amanda had seen before.

"Family meeting." Amanda decided, spinning on her heels and walking back to the couch. She sat down and patted the cushions, looking expectantly at Ruth, Graeme and Clive. They all sort of half-heartedly stood up and trudged over, leaving Paul no room. Instead, he stood up in front of them, rubbing his hands, trying to find the words to speak. When the three others had sat down, Amanda found him staring at her; not at her half naked body, but in her eyes. As if to say thank you. She just smiled and rubbed her knees.

While Paul took a second to think, Amanda shifted in her seat, feeling something under her leg. She reached under and pulled out Clive's alien mask. Giving it a look over, she handed it to him. He took it and stuck his hand up into it, a finger poking out through one bullet hole and then another. He frowned and scratched his head.

"Alright," Paul started, "that's it. This is too dangerous, I—I can make it on my own from here."

Everyone furrowed their brows and opened and closed their mouths like fish out of water. He was pulling what Amanda had decided to pull. Granted it was for their safety, he was thinking of them, and she was only thinking about her birthday but, still. They had both come to the conclusion that it was best if they just skipped off.

"What do you mean?" Graeme protested.

"No, Graeme, you've done enough. I'll—I'll—boost a car or something. I can drive an automatic!" he shrugged, like it was no big deal.

Amanda's eyes widened and her brows dropped, "You're a terrible driver!"

"She's right, Paul, you can't even drive a spaceship." Clive shrugged, nodding in agreement with her.

"I'm close now." Paul insisted, "I'll be fine."

Ruth shifted in her seat, "B—but we've come all this way."

He started to pace, "And at what cost? I've shaken your faith," he pointed to Ruth, "I've done—" he pointed to Amanda, but hesitated and coughed instead, "—things—and I've almost gotten you all killed! I just—"

Everyone stayed quiet. "I just wanted to get home." He muttered sadly.

Clive began to nod, "You are going home. I think we've come too far to let you do this alone."

"Yeah, what happened to BFF's? We are in this together, Paul!" Graeme added in.

Nodding, Amanda piped up, "He's right. I know I denied that earlier, when I said I was going to leave, but look where that's gotten me? Half naked and back inside this stupid RV! This stupid, homey, life changing RV! We're going to get you home, as a team. I'm…WE'RE not going to let you do this alone!"

"You bet your hairy love eggs we're not!" Ruth agreed. "The last 72 hours have been the ride of my life, and I'm fucked if I'm getting off this bus now!" she preached, standing up and putting her foot down.

Graeme and Clive followed, finishing with Amanda who did it for dramatic reasons. With her nakedness, she didn't want to stand up at all.

"Me too!" Graeme said bravely.

"And me!" Clive said darkly.

"Don't forget me." Amanda said, raising an arm that she then crossed with the other, hoping to cover herself a little.

Ruth nodded, glancing at all of them, "Well that settles it. We're all fucked."

A smile began creeping on the aliens face. With gratitude, he looked every one of them in the eye as he said, "Thank you guys, so much. If you're absolutely sure, there is a little something you could do for me."

His thumb hooked over towards the windshield, out at the signs on top of the shop outside: FIREWORKS. "It would really help…to signal that I'm ready to be picked up." Paul shrugged. Amanda pursed her lips and nodded. She nudged Clive.

"You heard the alien." she laughed, trying not to sound pushy.

Graeme and Clive shrugged in unison and told them not to get too close to the windows. One, because they were on the run, two, because of Paul in general, and three, because Amanda was naked and would probably be arrested for indecent exposure. Ruth just laughed and popped a squat next to Amanda at the table, Paul sitting across from them.

Amanda tapped her fingers on the table and eyed Ruth. "How do you feel about your dad chasing you?…Us?" she added at the end, trying to make it plural. Ruth just shrugged and stared out the window.

"It makes him look pretty cock-butt crazy, but I guess I could find it endearing. Like…he cares about me." She estimated. Paul nodded and leaned back in the seat, not minding her odd swearing. Amanda scrunched up her nose again.

Paul pointed at her, "You do that a lot." Amanda looked at him and blinked, "Do what?"

"You scrunch up your nose. Like it's your initial reaction to everything." He chuckled. Ruth smirked and nodded, "He's right, you do."

She shrugged, "I guess it's just what I learned. My grandma does that a lot, so I must've picked it up from her."

They all fell silent, not knowing what to talk about now. Amanda tapped her feet and sighed, which set off Paul.

"So who was that girl you bumped into?" he asked loudly. She looked at him again and blinked. She shifted in her seat.

Caitlin. Her cousin. Oh if she ever got home, she would hear exactly what she had done, but through the eyes of Caitlin. Which means Caitlin would've described Amanda running through the streets naked with an alien, as Amanda running through the streets naked, painted in tribal colors, with an "illegal" alien, smoking pot, while carrying the aliens prized cock fighting Rooster. Because that's how Caitlin's stories always panned out. But why was Caitlin randomly there? In that random town when she should've been in Moorcroft, helping prepare for Amanda's birthday. Amanda had thought that angrily at first until she remembered that she was also busy and not very present on Caitlin's birthday the day before, so she shouldn't be talking.

With a heavy heart, Amanda slumped her shoulders and picked at her nails, "That was…my cousin, Caitlin." She muttered. Paul quirked a brow.

"You're cousin? What was your cousin doing there?"

"Well my family lives close by, so I shouldn't be surprised. But usually she'd be out with my aunt and uncle, returning gifts." She shrugged.

"Returning gifts, why?" Ruth asked.

"Cause her birthday was yesterday and I missed it." Paul and Ruth sucked in a breath through their teeth, sounding like snakes, cringing. She nodded.

"So that's why she looked so pissed." Paul finally laughed.

Still picking at her nails, Amanda just widened her eyes and nodded. They all stared out the window in time to see Clive and Graeme burst out of the shop carrying a large bazooka type firework.

"Oh look, they're running." Paul said amused.

"Holy shit—GET THE DOOR." Ruth ordered, slipping out of the table chairs faster than Amanda could even think about it. Paul swore under his breath, "Can you drive this thing?"

"I've been driving these things my whole life." Ruth laughed, jumping into the drivers seat. Paul rushed to the door and pushed it open in time to let them in. Amanda stood up and grabbed the fireworks from them so they could fall onto the couch.

Paul shook his head, "Graceful."

Ruth sped off, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Amanda read the label of the Fireworks: The Five Tones. She'd probably get the reference if she didn't care that they had shoplifted. But she almost stole clothes earlier that day. Stealing expensive fireworks was more rewarding.

"I think…it's a good time…to have…quiet time…" Graeme panted, sitting down on the floor. Paul nodded and trudge over to the passenger seat.

"It's okay, we're nearly there." He muttered, looking determinedly out the window.

Amanda sat back down at the table, setting the Fireworks down in front of her. She couldn't wait to be in Moorcroft soon. Paul was almost going to be dropped off, and then she could get home. The thought of going home made her excited, but actually recognizing the fact that Paul was leaving right before she herself went home put a damper on her spirits. He was leaving the planet. He wasn't down the street, or in the next town, he was leaving the planet.

Their friendship had it's highs and lows, and it had just started a new chapter where they always got along and seemed more close. And yet something wasn't complete. Something didn't seem finished about their friendship, like they hadn't matured into a real friendship. Just a friendship where they talk when they're around each other, but don't ever talk otherwise. They could've had a connection that made them closer, but they hadn't found it yet.

With him being an alien, she felt like it just wasn't simply a love of some book series, or the same favorite color. It needed to be something deeper.

"See. Now we're almost there." Paul said. Graeme and Clive stood up and stood between the seats, blocking Amanda's view.

"This is where we've been heading?" Clive asked, unsatisfied.

Paul shook his head, from what Amanda could see. "No," he muttered, "I—I just need to make a little stop first, okay?"

For the first time ever, Graeme sounded irritated when he said, "Do you really think we have time for little stops, Paul?"

Calmly, Paul answered, "this is just something…I really have to do."

Amanda scrunched up her nose, she had even caught herself, for the first time, and stood up. The apology.

"Are you going to apologize?" she asked. Paul barely looked over his shoulder and smirked, "Yeah. This is the real apology."

Sufficiently satisfied, she sat back down. From what she caught out the windows, they could easily be close to Moorcroft. She could walk down the road to the little town and find her home. And some clothes. And a birthday dinner. But they were in this together, for Paul. She wasn't going to try and abandon them again.

"This is good, stop here. This is close enough." Paul said suddenly. The RV came to a stop.

Before the brakes could stop squeaking, Paul began to groan. Like he was nervous. Everyone stayed silent. She saw Graeme shift and his arm point towards the window. "Well, shouldn't we park a bit closer?"

Amanda stood up for a second time and began to tip-toe forward. How far had he made them stop from where he needed to go and apologize? She walked up and stared right over Graeme's shoulder and Paul's head at a medium sized white house surrounded by yellow fields. The little house was beautiful and quaint, very hospitable. The person living there had a lot of time on her hands; and a lot of little hands to help fix it up.

"No. We don't want to scare her." Paul said quietly, as if speaking to a sad little child.

It was Amanda's grandma's house.

The sight of it, them being parked in front of it in general made Amanda's mouth drop open. Paul was going to apologize to her Grandma Tara? Why would he need to apologize, he's been locked up for almost half a decade. Her eyes were drawn to a specific spot, where her Grandma Tara had led her, right off to the side of the house, out towards the middle of the field. She would tug on Amanda's hand and pull her up a big mound and point at the rest of the ground around it. In a light voice, she would say, "This is where it happened. This is where I saved an alien. I was your age when it happened." Amanda always believed her. Growing up where she was, she was surprised she was the only one. Caitlin believed her for a second, and then just didn't give a damn.

So, that means, Paul was the alien her Grandma found? Why had she never mentioned a name! Paul was her dog's name at the time, of course, but she never said that that was what she named the alien. She didn't even say that she had named it! Amanda shook her head and adjusted her glasses, trying to think about all of this. Paul had crash landed in her Grandma Tara's yard, and then left everyone to think she was crazy. She ranted to Amanda about how no one believed that she had saved an alien.

It was a damn good thing that Paul was apologizing.

Without giving Amanda a second glance, they all stood up and filed out of the RV, and walked in a group over to Grandma Tara's front porch. Amanda was too busy staring speechless at this home she had practically grown up in, hearing stories of one special alien—and that special alien had violated her and teased her and made her uncomfortable and—and made her witness miracles, and made her open, and made her feel safe, and made her all new friendships.

This was certainly a deeper connection that Amanda wasn't expecting at all. Not in the slightest.

Once she was able to blink out of her trance, she was overcome with emotions. Her Grandma Tara wasn't crazy. And she was right there for her to see, on her birthday. It was her family. And Paul was apologizing of all things, to her Grandmother who always seemed so torn apart by the opinions of others.

And none of them were even doing anything. Just standing there, not moving. She inhaled deeply a few times and bravely puffed out her chest. Forgetting that she had no shoes, she speed walked to the door, slammed it shut behind her, and then trekked down the dirty gravel road to the front porch, where Graeme and Clive were trying to talk to someone inside. Ruth was the only one to notice Amanda, whose face was bright red from either holding her breath or pure anticipation, stomp up the steps.

The door slammed, just as Amanda stopped behind the two shy gentlemen, and then the door was pulled open.

"What is this, some kind of a joke?" her Grandma growled, her usual kind face distorted in pure disgust at the two of them. They must have already mentioned Paul. Amanda exhaled a long held in breath once she saw her.

That exhale included a very breathy pronunciation of, "Grandma."

Graeme, Clive, and Paul turned and looked at her, "Grandma?"

Grandma Tara's eyes slowly brightened and the door flew open, "Mandy?"

Holding back a squeal of excitement, Amanda rushed around Graeme and Clive and wrapped her arms tightly around her Grandmother. Out of all of her family, she wished she had seen Grandma Tara first, not Caitlin.

"Mandy, sweetheart! Oh goodness, you're home!" Tara laughed in relief, swaying back and forth. Amanda nodded against her shoulder and allowed Tara to hold her out in front of her shoulder length.

"You've gotten so tall! Happy Birthday, my dear!"

"Birthday?" she heard Graeme and Clive mutter confused.

"Thank you Grandma!" she winced. Grandma Tara looked her up and down, "And you're in your birthday suit!" she laughed, causing Amanda to nod and raise her brows as high as they could go.

"I know, right? It's so ironic!" she realized.

They both began to laugh and Tara pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Tara suddenly stopped laughing and whispered in her ear, "Why are you with these men? They told me they are with the alien I told you about."

Amanda sucked in a breath and pulled out of the hug, pushing hair behind her ear. Time for the big reveal. "Grandma they—they gave me a ride up here. And they're telling the truth." She quietly shrugged, stepping out of the way. Clive and Graeme parted like the Red Sea to reveal a meek Paul.

"Hey Tara." He waved.

She gasped, "You."

Immediately, Tara wrapped her lanky fingers around Amanda's arm and pulled her into the house, ordering her to go upstairs and change. Extra clothes were already stored in the dresser in the guest room. Granted, what she found was little girls clothes that could pass off as really short dresses on her, but it was better than no clothes. Quietly and uncertainly, she clipped on a flowy pink dress covered in large hot pink roses and small blue flowers. She found a brown belt that must've been left there from someone else, with a matching brown vest. From her Grandma's room she grabbed a pair of worn out sandals that would stay on her feet better.

She descended the stairs carefully, afraid of the sight she might find. A glaring contest or a "don't-look-anyone-in-the-eye" contest. Either way it would be awkward. She reached the bottom of the stairs to find a glaring contest. Nobody moved whatsoever.

Staring at Paul, seeing absolute guilt, just as always, she raised her hand, "I'll make some tea."

Everyone turned to her and her Grandma stood up, "I can do it." Paul stared at Amanda extra hard. She didn't want to look at him, but she could tell it wasn't one of his devilish smile stares. He was trying to read her or something. Like why she never mentioned her Grandma was Tara. Her excuse was that she didn't know.

Despite her Grandma's offer, she rushed over to the kitchen, feeling Paul's eyes follow her. After that, his footsteps followed. Her grandma had pulled out the rusty old tea pot, and began fiddling with matches, already turning on the gas burner to try and light it. Amanda touched her shoulder and pulled her own hair away from the burner so she could look her Grandma in the eye.

"Talk to him." She whispered, hearing Paul enter the kitchen.

Paul dropped his backpack, "Uh, look, Tara—I—" he began, but Tara whipped her head around and glared, angrily flicking a lit match about.

"I only just stopped believing in you, you know. I spent a very long time trying to convince folks about what happened that night." She growled. She gestured to Amanda, "Mandy being the only one to really believe me…because everyone thought I was mad!"

Amanda pressed her lips together and finally looked at Paul, who's eyes looked like they were glistening. Amanda felt bad for this sudden guilt trip, even though she knew he needed and wanted to apologize; but it was all coming at him at once. Pound after pound of guilt about everything.

"They told me it was a meteor that squashed little Paul. And they took me away…and they did tests…said it was for cosmic radiation, said I was c—c—concussed. Hallucinating—but I knew you were real! I pulled you from that spaceship myself!" she ranted, sounding like she was at her breaking point, reliving the memories. All of it made everyone cringe.

"I pulled you from that spaceship myself. I kept you warm and comfortable, I sat with you until the men came to take you away." Tara muttered, leaning on the table. Amanda stared at the floor, knowing Paul was trying not to do the same.

"Pop tried to understand, but, he would just smile and say 'there, there Tara'. And well, word got out about my story, and kids used to come out and throw stones at the house. Call me names. And I just hid myself away." She said ashamed, looking over at Amanda.

Amanda looked up at her grief stricken Grandma Tara and tried to smile. Tara held out her hand and Amanda took it, allowing her to pull her into a hug. "I would spend whole nights up there, staring at the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of you."

Wandering eyes led Paul's gaze to Amanda, right as Tara blew out the match and muttered, "And here you are." Amanda smiled at him, he tried to smirk in return. Tara placed the match in a tea cup. "And the best thing is…is that the one person who believed in me brought you back." Tara muttered, more to herself than Paul, looking at Amanda and stroking her cheek gingerly. Amanda smiled and looked over at Paul, who sighed.

"I—I'm sorry, you know, if I coulda done it any other way, I—"

Tara reached out, "It's okay."

Gently, she began stroking Paul's head, "You're real. That's all that matters."

A spark in Paul's eyes went off and he smiled. Amanda couldn't help but smile too. Guilt was no longer evident on any part of him. And he wasn't feeling just happiness now. It was love. He really, truly cared about Tara. And that was satisfying enough to know in general. Double closure besides knowing Paul was real and that her Grandma wasn't crazy.

"I was right! And all those folks that thought I was crazy…well they can all just go fuck themselves." To that, both Paul and Amanda chuckled.

Seeing Paul, and her Grandma, finally happy, Amanda slipped her arms away from her Grandma's waist. She turned to look at Clive, Graeme and Ruth all sitting on the couch. Paul began to talk with Tara, giving her something from his backpack, while Amanda just walked out into the living room, standing before the three people who looked at her like she was a stranger.

She played with her fingers, "So…you guys probably have some questions."

Clive nodded, "Yeah."

"Maybe—" Graeme added.

"Kind of."

"—Definitely."

Amanda shut her eyes and laughed, finding their comedic timing perfect. She looked over at Tara and Paul and smiled.

"She's your Grandmother?"

She turned to look at Graeme, "Illegitimate." She answered quietly, trying to keep the noise level down.

Ruth lifted her upper lip in confusion. Amanda sighed, "We're not related by blood, or marriage. When I was growing up, my mom noticed that she lived here alone—having no friends or family or anything. My mom said Grandma would appreciate it if I went over and visited every once in a while. Granted, it took me a while to convince her to let me in—and she eventually gave in because of my being a child—but I don't regret coming here and visiting and talking to her. She became my Grandma Tara." She shrugged, smiling to herself.

They all looked over at Tara and Paul. "And now finding out that Paul was the alien she always told me about…it really makes me want to sing It's A Small World."

Graeme and Clive smirked, "It's a small universe." Ruth smiled, "she's taking this better than we thought she would."

Amanda nodded, "It's easier for her to know that at least one person, in spite of that person being a child growing into her teens and twenties, believing her. Made the voyage to this moment much more…pleasant to handle."

They all made a noise in agreement. Looking towards Amanda, wringing his hands, Graeme smiled, "Amanda." She turned to look at them.

"Happy Birthday." He nodded, a sweet smile still rooted on his face. Clive and Ruth began to smile as well, "Happy Birthday." They repeated.

These people… she thought, grinning. She felt like this was a good moment to cry tears of joy, but she didn't. These people were in the same group as Tara. They were officially her illegitimate family. She had said she was leaving them, she had gotten angry at them, she had gotten them all in trouble with red necks that had nothing to do with the situation at hand, and yet they would smile at her, and forgive her, or help her, or wish her a Happy Birthday, even though they know she lied about it. They were, unconditionally, caring about her.

"Thank you." She whispered, looking each of them in the eye.

The doorbell rang, catching everyone's attention. Everyone grew silent. No one moved. Tara stood up straight and hmphed. "I wonder who that could be."

Approaching the door, the window she had been standing in front of shattered, and a can bursting with black smoke rolled across the floor. Everyone yelped and stood up, Amanda attempting to walk towards it, "Where did that come from!"

"Holy shit, it's them!" Paul yelled, staring out the window, starting to push Amanda away. The doorbell rang again, immediately followed by a gun shot and a yelp.

Just outside the door, an angry voice called out to someone who was coughing madly. Amanda rushed to the door and just stuck her ear to it, just to listen. It was one of the agents she remembered from the town before, and a new one. Someone who sounded like they meant more business.

"GO, GO!" Paul yelled as the window shattered some more. The small agent in a gas mask poked his head in, and all of the coughing residents of the house rushed to Amanda's side by the door. They closed an extra set of doors behind them to protect them from the smoke.

Paul reached up and pushed Amanda out of the way, "Hey!" she gasped.

"Sorry! Excuse me—by the way, you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do!" Paul replied, pointing at her before pulling the door open.

"ME?" she shrieked as they all stared at the back of an agent in all black. Paul tackled him further onto the porch, the two of them grunting and yelling. Tara gasped at the sight and Graeme did his best to keep everyone inside the doorway.

After 30 seconds of struggling the two of them fell to the porch, panting wildly, Paul sounding like he was having heart palpitations, or trouble breathing. Clive pushed past Graeme and scooped Paul up bridal style, only to get a gun in the face.

"FREEZE MOTHA FUCKA." The agent, Haggard, yelled.

"Gimme the alien—gim—gimme the FUCKING alien!" the agent commanded, advancing towards Clive. He could only back up into the house. Clive protested and then smacked Paul's head against the doorframe. Amanda cringed.

"Give me, the alien!" the agent yelled again.

"—GET YOUR OWN ALIEN." Clive said desperately. Amanda gasped as the agent lifted up his gun and began screaming madly, looking ready to pull the trigger. But, with a swing that Amanda didn't even see coming, Graeme smacked the agent in the face with one of her Grandma's clocks.

Like a klutz, the agent fell backwards over the other one and into the dirt. Ruth and Amanda shouted in triumph before taking Tara by the hand and dragging her out the door behind Graeme and Clive. Paul moaned.

"Oh—is Tara with us?" he called.

"I got her Paul!" Amanda called back, letting Ruth rush ahead.

"Oh man balls, it's my dad!" Ruth suddenly shouted, and Amanda looked over her shoulder to see the truck. Her Grandma tightened her grip on her, carrying a teddy bear in the other hand.

"Oh God!" Amanda groaned.

"Who's that?" Tara asked, looking back at the truck, which had stopped.

"Not anyone you wanna know!" Amanda answered, her voice almost raising an octave when gun shots were fired in their direction.

None of them even cared who it had came from, they just wanted to get away as soon as possible. Tara even sped up when she heard the gun shot. Ruth and her dad began yelling to one another and Amanda and Tara kept looking over their shoulders, just to keep track of where everyone was. Amanda could hardly hear anything anymore, her heart was pounding in her ears.

"Why the fuck didn't we park closer!" Amanda screamed at the top of her lungs, despite being out of breath.

Finally, Amanda and Tara caught up with the rest of them and were close to all gathering in the RV when the unthinkable happened.

An explosion blasted wood and people in every direction. From their distance they just fell back against the RV, only to gaze back and see Tara's house flying in every direction from a large, orange mushroom cloud. Amanda and Tara just stared in agony at the wrecked home that rained down upon the fields around them.

Ruth began yelling, calling out her dads name, running towards the blast, Graeme in pursuit of her. Amanda was close to screaming at her, but when she got the chance, Ruth had already turned around and was signaling for them to start the RV and go. Tightening her grip, Amanda thrusted Tara into the RV, right after Clive set Paul down on the couch.

The RV started up and she spun around to see Ruth was not too far. Amanda waved her hands around, "Come on, hurry!" she yelled. Graeme on the other hand was pretty far behind.

"God damn it." Amanda grumbled. At full sprint, she sped past Ruth to Graeme who was limping. The moment she grabbed his arm to pull him along faster, not even slowing down, a bullet lodged itself into the ground by their feet.

Screaming bloody murder, Amanda stumbled forward while Graeme flew to the side. With all her courage, panting like a mad man, she pulled him to his feet and they were off again. If she didn't feel like they were about to die, Amanda would've called this an ideal thing to do when you hang out with friends. She would've felt like a kid again. And, like a kid, Amanda easily hurled herself into the RV.

"Don't leave me!" she heard Graeme yell. She spun around and crossed her fingers, seeing that Graeme still hadn't gotten inside yet. She set her footing, so she could stand at the ready to help. But she didn't need to. Clive pulled him in just in time, smiling and giving him a faithful "Never."

Amanda let out a deep sigh and bent over them. Ruth knelt beside them, Tara peering over her shoulder, "Graeme you scared the shit out of me."

Happily, Graeme smiled. But Clive stared at her like she was a ghost, "Ruth why aren't you driving?"

Everyone turned to look at the drivers seat and saw Paul, who looked over his shoulder proudly. "See? I told you it was easy!"

"Paul look ouuuuuut!" Amanda screamed, pointing out the windshield at Tara's windmill coming straight at them. In unison, everyone else began screaming as they crashed into it and Paul began swerving all over the place. Paul was even screaming; about roads, about small corrections, about how easy it was.

Amanda had shut her eyes tightly, prepared for the RV to just flip over. In no time, though, everything smoothed out, and she was glad to open her eyes and find them back on the road. A deep sigh was shared between everyone and Amanda stood up straight, walking up next to his seat.

She reached down and smacked him, receiving a growl in response.

"Hey!"

"What were you thinking? You could've gotten us killed!"

He laughed, staring at her devilishly, his grin prominent.

"Babe, trust me, I would never let you die."