Dean

We've been traveling for a few hours, and the sun is beginning to set. I'm not exactly sure where we are going, but it's nice to have some quiet, for no one's said anything since I told Carol off and she started crying. I don't feel any remorse for what I said, she needed to be put in her place, I was far tired of hearing her whine and yell at everyone. What's that saying the humans always say? "You can dish it but you can't take it." That sounds about right.

"Mark?" Ella speaks up, startling us slightly from breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Where did all the automobiles go? I don't remember seeing one in your town. Did they take them all?" She asks, pushing a few strands of brown hair out of her eyes.

"Yes, they took them all when they left. I also looked for those as well, hoping I could find one and drive to this base or whatever," he shrugs, and I have to ask him the question that's been on my mind since he's told us that everyone evacuated.

"Why did you stay? Why didn't you go along?" I ask, not understanding why he would stay in meteor territory instead of go somewhere safe.

"It's kind of a funny story," he dryly laughs, and I can tell he doesn't find it as amusing as he's letting on. "I like the stars, watching them makes me feel closer to home," he begins, and I can't help but sigh, understanding exactly where he's coming from. "So I sneaked out, and there's this rocky ledge that's only about a mile from the town. I climbed it and laid there all night, just watching space. I eventually fell asleep, and when I woke up, everyone was gone."

"They didn't even try to look for you?" Ella questions, and I can hear the disgust in her voice. I didn't really realize until recently, how much she truly cares too. We both are full of emotions, something that neither of us realized we each possessed.

"I'm sure they did," he whispers, but I can hear the doubt in his words. "It's okay, I'm sure they had their reasons to leave me behind. I'm sure they were forced to leave, my mother wouldn't leave me on purpose, Ella, I know that she wouldn't. I'm not even a teenager, she wouldn't just abandon me. What I can guess, is that the people from the base showed up and decided to evacuate the town, and whoever wasn't present, didn't matter. That's what I'm going to believe, that's what I'm going to hold on to, the fact they forced my mother to leave me behind, her heart breaking as she drove away, probably thinking that she'd never see me again. That's not going to happen, though, I will see her again, I won't give up."

We stop walking, the sun leaving a streak of grey across the sky as it kisses the Earth goodnight. "You'll see her again, Mark, we won't give up on you," Ella promises. I look over at her, but her eyes are fixed on the boy, and he gives her a small smile. She returns the gesture, and I find myself hiding my own smile.

"Because I'm a part of this team, right?" He questions, his face much brighter then what it was only moments ago.

"That's right, you are," I assure him. "And we'll get you back to your family. I know where we're going now," I announce, before sitting on the cool road, not wanting to stop, but knowing that we need our rest.

"The base?" Ella asks.

"Yep," I mutter as I look up at her, the rest of the group following my lead as they all sit down on the road. "We know that people are there, right? And if it's a haven to keep us safe or whatever, so why not try? I'm sick of this desert, being around a group of people will be good for all of us, and Mark needs to let his mother know that he's alright. My mom would want to know if I was okay." I can feel Ella's eyes on me, but I can't force myself to look at her. She knows how I felt about my mom, and I can't bring myself to comprehend why I would even tell her as much as I did. I told her about my family about my planet about the one secret that we Norovians like to keep, our extra eye. I'm sure other humans know about that too, from them trying to do experiments on us, but not all of them do. I guess I really do trust her, as weird as that sounds.

"Are we even going in the right direction, then?" Carol asks, and I can feel the annoyance build up inside already, and she's not even being rude.

"Yeah, they wouldn't go the other way, for that's where Dean and Ella came from, and there was no base up there. Besides, this is the only road around, it's not like it spits off anywhere. I'm positive we're on the right track," Mark assures her.

"I hope," she mutters, and despite how much we may not like this, I'm pretty sure we all agree with her.

"I'm just glad that is wasn't any space debris that took out your town, that it survived and the people inside did as well. Not only does that give us hope, but we were able to get more supplies from it, and there wasn't any death to invade our nose. It's so nice to be able to breath in air without choking," Ella says, and I have to agree. I remember when she told me she took so much for granted, and I can't help but be reminded of that as I breathe in the fresh air, the smell of dust penetrating my nose.

"I wasn't able to get anymore supplies," Carol whines, and I roll my eyes.

"Who's fault was that?" I ask. "You're the one that was acting like a child because you wanted to stay. You could have come along with us, no one told you to stay in the house while we went out and looked for supplies."

"Stop, Dean, okay? I'm not blaming anyone, I'm tired of being put down by everyone on this so called team. No one's a team here except you and Ella, and everyone knows that," she huffs.

"Why do you have to bring Ella into everything? She didn't even do or say one thing to you. Leave her out of this, and this is a team. Mark," I address him. "Aren't you apart of this team?"

"I feel like I am, yeah," he replies softly.

"See? The only one that feels like that, is you." I state, before letting out a deep breath.

"I have more then enough supplies," Ella speaks up. "If you run out, we could share." The night sky has enveloped us all in darkness, but I still look over in her direction, despite not being able to really see her. I'm in awe that she volunteers to help this girl that can't even stand her. But then I have to remember that they're the same species, and that Ella isn't conniving.

"I don't want to have anything of yours," she snaps. "I don't want to be more of a burden then I already am."

"Shut up," Mark barks. "You are really the most ignorant person I have ever met, and I've met a lot of ignorant people. Ella does nothing but try to help, and all you do is snap at her. What is your deal?"

"Snap at her? Everyone, and I mean everyone is on her side! They all come to her aid, acting as if she can't fight her own battles. Know what? She's almost an adult, she can defend herself without the two of you butting in. Besides, you're like what? Twelve?"

"Stop," Ella speaks up, her words coming through grit teeth. "I am beyond sick of the arguments. I am beyond sick of being thrown into conversations that I don't even need to be in. Carol, leave me out of your petty reasons to act like a brat. I can defend myself, but you know what? I just want it to stop and I think that maybe if I keep my mouth shut, it will, but it doesn't! I've argued for over a week with Dean. We fought for two years, then we argued some more during this whole team thing. You want to talk about not being a team? We were nothing close to being a team when we first started out, we wanted each other dead. But you know what? We got over it. Get over it, I am so tired of fighting with everyone. The only person I can truly, truly stand is Mark. He's both stood up for me, and we get along." I'm beginning to shiver from the cold, my teeth chattering slightly, but Ella seems unfazed. She's burning under all those layers, acting like a beacon in this moment of darkness among us. I wish it would stop, I wish we would just be there now and I would make sure that I'd never see Carol's face ever again.

I hate her more then I've ever hated anything in my entire life, including the meteoroids that took out my planet and the asteroid that destroyed my family. Multiply that times ten, and you have my feelings for Carol.

No one else says anything, we all just lay down, using our packs as a pillow. I can hear crying, and I know it's not Ella's. I know how Ella sounds when she cries, but this is different. It's Carol crying, and I'm tempted to tell her grow up, but I don't want anymore tension between us.

Closing my eyes, I hug my body close to me, hoping that I'll get a good night's sleep, and wishing I had someone next to me, to keep me warm. And with everything, I can't help but wish that someone was Ella.