Miriam was making her rounds at the farm when the bell at the house rung. It was meant to be used to signal the beginning of mealtimes, but they'd just had breakfast and it was too early for lunch. Confused, Miriam began to make her way back to her house.
It was classic colonial style, with white pillars and a balcony in the front which shaded the small porch. In the back, where Miriam was approaching from, was the much larger screened in back porch.
Standing on it was her Ma and Pa. Somehow, Ma was always tan and never had sunburns despite being Irish. Pa on the other hand was an Irish that burned faster than a Californian forest. Miriam and her little brother, Matthew were somewhere in the middle.
Speaking of Matthew, there he was. He had blue jorts and a red-and-yellow striped shirt that made him look much younger then the age that he was at (he was 12). Handled in both hands was a BB rifle.
"Miriam, we're leaving you home alone with Matthew," Ma said, and then paused to nod at her Pa. Miriam was confused. She and her brother were always left home alone.
"He wants to keep his gun out so you're going to have to keep an eye out on him," Pa announced.
"Okay. But why don't you take the BB gun away?" Miriam asked.
"We always do so, and hes been good lately so why not give him a treat?" Ma answered.
Miriam sighed.
"We'll give you some babysitting money if you're worried about that," Pa told her.
"Fine," Miriam worried. It wasn't the money she was worried about. She could hardly stand her brother, and she was the most patient person in the world.
"I am not a baby! Don't call it babysitting!" Matthew hissed. Miriam held in yet another sigh.
Five minutes later, the car rolled away from the farm. Matthew immediately began to walk away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Miriam asked, chasing after him.
"To patrol the farm. See if there's any coyotes and such," Matthew replied.
Miriam didn't want to be constantly chasing her brother, but if she took his gun away he'd complain straight to her parents.
But, an idea popped into her head. One that satisfied both of their needs.
"I know something even better then that," Miriam said.
Matthew didn't even look at Miriam while replying, "What is it?"
"I can take you to the range," Miriam said.
Matthew arched an eyebrow. "What range?"
"Well, you know how Cain is always talking about BB guns with you?" Miriam asked.
"Yes," Matthew replied.
"Well, his mom really doesn't like BB guns so we created a secret little hideaway for BB guns," Miriam told him.
"That sounds great! More guns!" Matthew exclaimed.
"No, you can't touch the guns," Miriam said. "You have to use your own."
Matthew frowned. "Fineeee."
"We'll have to check if your bike is still fueled," Miriam told him.
They filled up both of the bikes and headed out. As they threaded through the woods, worry wormed its way into Miriam's heart. What if they're keeping some of the alien tech out there? She fretted.
She shook the worries out of her head. Asher would never allow that to happen. The only thing Matthew will see are Cain's new bracelets.
Miriam slowed to a stop just before the entrance to tree camp. She leaned her bike against a tree because the kickstand had stopped working a month ago.
She made her way to the range as Matthew trotted beside her. "Here it is," she proclaimed, waving an arm at the collection of bottles.
"Oh gee! This is neat!" Matthew exclaimed.
A look of panic crossed his face, "Are there any BBs here? I forgot to bring any."
Miriam nodded. "Of course," she said, and began to climb up a tree. Matthew then began to glance around the clearing, and Miriam realized he hadn't known there were platforms in the trees.
"This place is so cool. I'm going to stay here all day!" Matthew exclaimed.
"As long as you don't break anything open," Miriam said. At least one of the plastic boxes was sealed shut with duct tape, and inside of it was a stack of armadillo shells PJ and Cain had gathered from roadkill.
A minute later, she heard the flickering of engines. She saw Cain and Adah on their four wheeler, but Asher and PJ were not behind them.
"Hey, Miriam. Why'd you bring Matthew here?" Adah asked as she stepped off the vehicle.
"I didn't want to chase him around the farm," Miriam explained.
"Understandable, ba-" Adah held herself back from expressing affection. She didn't know how Matthew would react, and certainly didn't want him snitching on them.
"Where are Asher and PJ?" Miriam inquired.
"Back at the G2. They wanted to discuss something. Speaking of discuss, Asher found something," Adah tod her.
"What is it. Did you go into the back rooms?"
"Without you? Of course not!" Adah exclaimed.
"Asher found something that could signal them-up-there," Cain said, pointing upwards. "He wants to press the button."
"Why?" Miriam asked.
Cain rolled his eyes, "To advance humanity, or something."
"I don't think its the wisest of ideas," Miriam said. She heard the click of an engine shutting down, and then another click. She turned her head to see Asher and PJ had arrived.
"Have you told her?" the boy with glasses asked.
Adah nodded, "Yes."
"So, what's your verdict?" Asher asked Miriam.
Miriam rubbed her arm and looked down. "I don't think we should," she admitted.
Asher held in a laugh. I thought she was an optimist, he thought.
"Okay," he muttered, finding it hard to suppress his dismay. Well, I'll just have to find another way, he thought.
Meanwhile, Matthew was desperately trying to look like he was focusing on shooting when he really just wanted to know what they were talking about.
It seems like my oh-so-innocent sister has got some secrets. Time to figure out what they are, he thought. Now that he knew where she was hiding out, this would be much, much easier. All he needed to do was wait until they thought no one was looking and let it slip.
He suppressed a laugh. This is just like the movies, he mused.