So, basically, I was planning on just uploading one scene per chapter, and then I realized that some of the scenes are super duper short... like 500 words short. So, my target is about 1500 words per chapter. Right now (I spent an hour last night dividing up the 85+ pages I have written into chapters) most of the chapters are about 1700 words. By which I mean about half of them are right around 1200... Because those just seemed like the right places to stop them. Wait, why am I explaining myself to you? I'm the writer!

'Harlem!' Mariah shouted, pointing. Harlem had just disembarked from the med-bus with Dr. Glass.

'How is he?' Abby asked Dr. Glass as Harlem wormed his way between Colm and Summer.

'He's fine, amazingly,' Dr. Glass shook her head. 'No sign of concussion. I'm shocked. There's just that wound on his head. I'd advise waking him up every few hours just to be safe, though.'

'Sure,' Abby nodded. 'Thanks.'

'Of course,' Dr. Glass replied.

'Hey, here comes Colonel Weaver and Dad,' Hal nodded towards the command tent as the two exited. 'Looks like they've decided whether or not you guys can hang around here.'

'We have,' Tom informed them, catching Hal's last comment as he and Weaver approached. 'The Colonel and I have agreed that unless Jimmy and his friends present a danger to the 2nd Mass, they can stay. And at this point, they don't.'

'So they can stay?' Dr. Glass smiled.

'Yep,' Tom nodded, stepping over kids to settle down next to his wife.

'For now,' Weaver added, glaring down at the kids. 'If anything changes though, you're out.'

'Of course,' Jimmy agreed, hopping up and saluting the colonel. 'Thank you, sir.'

Weaver paused before nodding and smiling at the boy. 'Dr. Glass, do you have some extra blankets you can lend these kids for the night? I notice they didn't bring any with them.'

'Sure thing,' Dr. Glass nodded and smiled. 'And some of them can sleep on the beds in the med-bus.'

'If the little kids can sleep in there, the rest of us can stay out here on the ground,' Abby shrugged. 'We're used to it.'

'There should be room for all but two of you,' Dr. Glass replied. 'And those two can sleep in our tent. There's enough room there for two.'

'Thank you,' Abby nodded. 'Jimmy and Dallon can go with you. I'll make sure Harlem doesn't die in his sleep.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Dr. Glass smiled. 'By the way, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Dr. Glass, and I'd like you to call me Anne.'

'Nice to meet you,' Abby smiled. 'I'm Abby. Going around, that's Mariah, Amanda, Summer, Colm, and this is Dallon. I guess you know Jimmy, and you've met Harlem, so that's everyone.'

'Well, it's wonderful to meet you all,' Anne grinned.

'Where are you all from?' Tom asked as Weaver wandered off and Jimmy sat back down.

'I'm from Chicago,' Colm said immediately, perking up.

'Maine,' Harlem grinned. 'Up where it's nice and cold, unlike this humidity shhhhh-yeah.'

'Yeah, you watch your mouth,' Abby scowled, reaching around Colm to smack Harlem on the back of the head.

'Sorry,' Harlem whined.

'I'm from Virginia,' Amanda smiled. 'I like this weather.'

'I'm from Kansas,' Mariah added.

'New Jersey,' Summer chirped.

'Pssh, easterners,' Dallon teased. 'Whereas I hail from the good-old West Coast state of California.'

'California?' Tom repeated, astonished. 'How did you end up over here?'

'I don't really know,' Dallon shrugged. 'My family was visiting friends in Oregon when the skitters landed. We got separated pretty quick, and I just ran the direction I was facing. I guess I was going east-ish, cos I somehow ended up in this area when I got harnessed. One thing led to another, and I got rescued by the rebellion, deharnessed, and packed up with these losers. Now I'm here.'

'That's a pretty amazing story,' Tom shook his head.

'I'm pretty proud of it,' Dallon grinned.

'Where are you from?' Ben asked, leaning around Dallon to look at Abby.

'Uh, Pennsylvania,' Abby shrugged. 'One of the most boring states in America. Home of the Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch.'

'Actually, the Pennsylvania Dutch aren't Dutch—' Tom started.

'They're German,' Abby grinned. 'From the Rhine Valley region. Yeah, I know. I am Pennsylvania Dutch. My family's from Germany, only a few generations back. But, most people just get confused or correct you if you say Pennsylvania German, so I just stick with "Dutch".'

'Good point,' Tom laughed. 'Should've figured you'd know all about that if you're from Pennsylvania.'

'You'd have been surprised by how few people born and raised in P-A knew about that,' Abby shook her head. 'Kinda sad.'

'As a former history professor, that saddens me greatly, yes,' Tom laughed.

'You were a history professor?' Abby repeated. 'Where did you teach?'

'Boston University,' Tom replied.

'Cool,' Abby nodded.

'As fun as this conversation is, it's getting late,' Anne said. 'It's about time to head to bed. Everyone could use some rest, especially if we're moving out tomorrow, and it looks like we are.' She stood up and looked down at the pack of kids sitting on the ground. 'Whoever is sleeping in the med-bus can come with me and I'll get you settled down, and Tom can take the other two to our tent. I'll bring blankets with me when I'm done in the bus.'

'Thanks,' Abby said, standing up. 'We really appreciate it, everything you're doing for us.'

'Of course,' Anne smiled. 'Come one.'

Abby, Summer, Amanda, Mariah, Colm, and Harlem followed Anne back to the med-bus while Tom rounded up his children, Maggie, Jimmy, and Dallon and led them towards a group of tents across the fire circle from the med-bus.

'There is a couch in the back that someone can sleep on,' Anne said as she opened a cabinet and started pulling out blankets. 'There are these two cots, plus the one up there. I figure two of the little ones can sleep in the back, and the other two can sleep on one of the cots, and you and Harlem can take the other two cots.'

'Yeah, that'll work,' Abby nodded. 'If two of them don't fit on the cot, someone can just sleep on the floor.'

'Okay,' Anne nodded. 'There's plenty of blankets in here if you guys get cold, and our tent is the big blue and grey one in the group across the fire circle in case you need anything. I'm going to go and settle Jimmy and Dallon down. You guys can just get comfortable here.'

'Thank you so much,' Abby smiled. 'We really appreciate this.'

'It's no problem,' Anne smiled. 'If you guys decide to stick around, we'll see about finding you a tent.'

'Thanks,' Abby smiled.

'Good night,' Anne waved as she left the bus, bearing several blankets.

'Good night,' Abby called after her before shutting the bus door. She turned to the other kids. 'I'll take the bed in the front. Harlem, you take one of the other beds, and Summer, you can take the other one. Mariah and Amanda, you can sleep in the back. Colm, you can sleep with Summer, Harlem, or me, or you can sleep on the floor.'

'I'll sleep with Summer,' Colm sighed. 'You have to wake Harlem up.'

'That's right,' Abby nodded. 'Thanks for reminding me, buddy.'

The kids scattered to their different beds while Abby pulled blankets out of the cupboard Anne had indicated. She spread one over Harlem, who fell asleep as soon as he laid down, first, then moved over to Summer and Colm, tucking a blanket around each of them. She grabbed two more blankets before moving to the back of the bus to tuck them around Amanda and Mariah. Finally, she grabbed a blanket for herself and settled down on the cot at the front of the med-bus.

'Hey, okay, enough!' Tom scolded. 'Time for bed,' he said, pulling Matt off of Hal after the two had started wrestling. Alexis was already sound asleep in her cot, and Maggie had lain down on the mattress pads she and Hal shared. Ben sat at the end of his cot, laughing at his brothers, while Jimmy sat on the ground next to him. Dallon sat further up on Ben's cot, smirking at the antics of the youngest and oldest Mason boys. All of the boys were shirtless, Ben, Jimmy, and Dallon displaying rough 'Matt, get to bed.'

With a sigh, Matt walked the three feet to his cot, next to Ben's, and sat down on it before pulling off his boots. 'Ben, you too,' Tom said as Hal flopped down next to Maggie and kicked off his shoes.

'Jimmy and I are going to sleep on the ground,' Ben replied. 'Dallon can have my cot.'

'Whatever,' Tom shook his head. Ben slipped off of the cot and onto the ground next to Jimmy, allowing Dallon to lie down on the narrow bed.

Tom sat down on the mattress pads that formed his and Anne's bed and began pulling off his boots. He watched Ben and Jimmy speak softly and trade a few light punches before Ben got his arm around Jimmy's shoulders and put him in a headlock. Dallon joined in the interaction, speaking just as quietly and laughing at the other boys. Tom's smile faltered slightly as he saw Ben and Jimmy's spikes light up briefly and fade.

Anne entered the tent carrying two sleeping bags and a few blankets, the latter tucked under one arm. Her entry put a complete stop to all of the antics going on in the tent, including Matt and Hal surreptitiously throwing dirty socks back and forth at one another when they thought their father wasn't looking. 'So, the sleeping arrangements have changed?' she observed teasingly as Dallon tugged the blanket on Ben's cot further up his body, which was longer than the younger boy's.

'Yeah,' Ben grinned up at her.

'Well, just make sure you guys actually sleep,' Anne smiled, handing a blanket and a sleeping bag each to the two boys on the floor. She joined Tom on their bed as Ben and Jimmy unrolled the sleeping bags and settled down on top of them, snuggling down under the blankets. She watched them whisper for a few more seconds until Tom stepped in front of her, reaching up to turn off the lantern suspended from the center of the tent's ceiling. Tom kicked a stray sock towards Matt's bed and switched off the lantern. Orange light from the dying fire outside seeped through the opening of the tent flaps in the front.

Suddenly, a bright blue light flared up from the floor near the door. There were a few snickers, followed by a stage whisper from Maggie: 'Who's there?'

'It's Jimmy,' Ben replied, sounding half strangled in an attempt to hold in his laughter.

'Jimmy, I hate to break it to ya, man, but you're glowing,' Hal whispered teasingly.

'Yeah, yeah, I'll go outside,' Jimmy sighed. They saw him stand, silhouetted against the glowing firelight outside the tent. 'Where's my shirt?'

BrokenSky49: your reviews are insane. They make me laugh. Keep it up ;P