Trust the Little Sibling

Miriam gasped. It was Matthew, combat boots, bb-gun wielding Matthew. 

He was patrolling. That's how he caught me the first time, Miriam thought. For once, my brother's odd habits are useful. 

"Get off my sister right now," he demanded.

"BB-guns don't hurt," PJ said, looking at him.

"They sure hurt when they hit your eye," Matthew threatened, leveling his BB-pistol right at her. She squeaked and rolled off of Miriam, putting her hands up.

"Are you alright?" Matthew asked, rushing over and helping his older sister up.

"Yes," Miriam said.

"Now you have to tell me what's going on," Matthew told her.

"Not right not. But Asher's gone crazy," Miriam said. "I promise I'll tell you later."

"You better," Matthew said.

He hadn't noticed PJ as she stepped to the side. She yanked the gun from the small 12-year-old's hand and smirked as she pulled him in close for a headlock. 

I'll bring him to the barn. A hostage might help level the fight, PJ thought. At first she aimed the BB-gun at his head but then remembered Matthew's own words and put it up to his eye.

She called into the barn. "Give up, or I'll shoot."

She could barely see that Asher was in the hayloft, looking like a scared cat that had been chased by dogs. There was no ladder so Cain was trying to climb up one of the posts. She held in a laugh which formed despite the severity of the situation. 

Adah and Cain turned around to see her standing in the doorway. Asher used this distraction to climb further back into the hayloft, which made PJ confused. Until she saw what he was holding. Two bundles of rope.

Oh, so we won't have to worry with them following us! She thought. But then she saw him lasso a half-broken piece of the roof and swing down from the hayloft. Her eyes widened as she saw Asher knock both Adah and Cain down onto their stomachs with his feet.

"More hawk than I thought," Asher remarked, while PJ was staring there with her jaw dropped from shock. Eventually, she realized that she had Matthew in her arms who seemed just as shock and she pushed him over, still staring in shock at Asher.

As he walked past her, he used her arm to spin PJ around. "Keep your mouth open for much longer and you might catch something."

"You're crazy," PJ said.

"I know," Asher replied and began to race towards the bikes. Only they weren't there.

"PJ, where's the bikes?" Asher asked.

"Oh, we had to move them," PJ said, and then went to the correct area. 

When he got to the bikes, Asher realized all of them still had keys in. Grinning, he took most of them out. 

PJ, who was already on her bike, asked, "What are you waiting fore?" In response, Asher held up his hand and jangled the keys. 

"Ohhhh! Nice one," PJ replied. 

As they zoomed away, the rest of the group were struggling to recover. Cain groaned as he lifted himself from the ground, sparks of red still flying out of his vision. 

He heard the faint roar of a motor and sighed, "We'll never be able to catch up with them!"

"They're low on gas - they don't know how to re-fill their own bikes. I was going to refill their motorcycles tonight but I got sick and… you know," Adah said. 

"Alright, then let's get moving!" Cain exclaimed, rushing upwards and pumping the air with his fist. He cringed and bent over due to the headrush. 

They raced outside. Miriam and Matthew were already at the bikes. 

"There's no keys!" Miriam exclaimed. 

"Besides this one," Cain said, and took out a lock pick. He'd gotten faster and faster at picking locks and it only took a minute for him to get all of them unhooked. 

Matthew took the back seat on Adah's four wheeler. Adah could barely hear him shouting questions at her over the wind. 

"So where are we going?" He asked. 

"Past the Tree Camp," Adah deadpanned. 

"Wow, that's what you call it? You guys suck at naming things," Matthew remarked. 

"Our group is called the Apples. Don't keep us to high standards - you might trip," Adah sarcastically said. 

They drove through the Tree Camp and as they approached the crash site, Matthew gasped in awe at the leveled trees. Then, his eyes raised towards the dark obelisk which seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. 

"What is that?" Matthew gasped as they rolled to a stop.

Adah shared a glance with Matthew, which read as if I tell him, will he ever shut up? Miriam shook her head, but then put a thumbs up. 

"A spaceship," Adah sighed. 

"A what?" Matthew shrieked. 

"Shh, quiet down, they'll hear us coming," Adah said, clamping a hand over his mouth. 

"Sorry," Matthew wheezed. "But it's a spaaaceship."

"I know," Adah grumbled. "Now let's stop Asher."

"Why are we doing that?" Matthew asked. 

"No questions, just follow," Adah told him. "There's too much at stake."

His eyes round as the moon, he nodded and follow Cain in scaling the side of the ship.