7/27/2019 Chapter One - Rewrite
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Chapter One (REWRITE)
It started out as a normal day. They always do, the calm before
the storm beginning before
you even know theres one out there. Felix and I had spent a few
hours with his dad on
watch the night before, and Jack had had trouble sleeping. We
all woke up about eight-
thirty, and met with the adults that were awake in the kitchen.
I was musing about the
covered windows and about how it had been three weeks since Id
seen sunlight.
The Johnson boy from over the hill came last night, my dad
saidquietly, looking at Alexs
mom, Terry. He always forgot that I had great hearing. What did
he say, Dad? He looked
over at me. Its a grownup thing, Calla. Youre still kids, and
this is a need to know basis. I
huffed. The adults had been hiding the important things from us
kids ever since the whole
thing had started. My opinion was that we were teenagers, and as
he said, what if we ever
had to split up? Hey, Jack, Bailey, Ash,how about you guys go
find Max? Jack, as I said, was
Penelopes 7-year-old brother. Bailey and Ash were Felixs little
brother and sister, whowere 8-year-old twins. Max was my
10-year-old brother.
The three of them nodded their heads and went off to find my
brother. Let me explain: we
had a rule of how many people could be in a room at once, and
another that limited how
much the little ones knew. In the kitchen now were me, my
father, Terry, Alex, Felix, and
Lily. Penelope, Sharon, and the other kids and adults were in
the other various rooms of the
house. I addressed my father with Alex looking interestedly at
me.
Dad, with all thats going on, I dont think that the fact of our
age matters. Were adults
now, for all intents and purposes. He opened his mouth to speak,
a look of sadness on his
face, and I held up a hand. Just hear me out. Youre always
saying that whole thing aboutjust in case and what if you have to,
but you never finish the sentence. We all know what
you mean. You mean just in casewe have to split up. Terry and my
dad looked at each
other, with grief on their faces. My friends faces were
incredulous.
It had been yet another unspoken rule that no one brought up
that fact, a rule that Id just
broken. And youre right. There are things we need to know, like
how to survive in the
wilderness, which Lil, Alex, and I have pretty much down, how to
take watches, which we
all know now. But we dont just need to know how to survive. We
need to know the facts
and the information that could help us, too. Just because were
young doesnt mean we
dont need to know. I sat down, finished. Alex, whose eyes were
like dinner plates, leaned
over to me. Do you realize what you just said? Her incredulous
whisper made my
stomach drop, but I kept up my resolve. Yes, I do. This is
important.
My dad had a quiet conversation with Terry and my mom, who had
just walked in. Terry
addressed me, Felix, Alex, and Lily. Callas right. We were
trying to protect you because
youre young, but we realize know that you need to know this
stuff. From now on, no
secrets. Also, weve discussed a bit of a well, the best way to
put it would be a training
