THUMP

Her eyes snapped open as her arms unexpectedly encountered a wall.

"What?" Blinking, Maria found herself in a small, gray room. "Where am I?" she asked the empty bedroom. "Kyle." It all suddenly became clear to her. "You're playing a joke on me. Ha ha ha. Very funny, now come let me out so I can kick your ass."

Furious with her brother's immaturity, she stood up and looked for the hidden camera that had to be somewhere in the room. All of a sudden, memories of the night before assaulted her one after another. Maria staggered to a nearby wall for support only to realize that it wasn't a wall at all. It was rock. "I was shot!" she exclaimed, finally remembering. Quickly, she examined her chest. Nothing was there, not even a tear in her tank top.

A scraping sound erupted from the wall beside her and Maria turned to find a tall, brown-haired young man staring at her. He radiated waves of stress and Maria instantly felt sorry for him.

"Good, I'm glad to see you're up. I'm Max."

"I'm confused," Maria started but did not know how to continue. She had so many questions, which one did she ask first?

"Where am I?" She said, settling for blurting out the most predominant one.

Max smiled tightly. "I know that you have a lot of questions but before I answer them, I have one for you." He gestured to the thin padding on the floor which she had slept on. Watching Max pace nervously, Maria complied with his silent request, and sat down at the bottom end.

He took a deep breath and made eye contact. "Who are you?" he asked hesitantly.

This confused Maria even more. They didn't know who she was? Then it hit her. She must be at the military base.

***

When Max healed her the night before, he had connected with a human for the first time in his life. He never thought that humans were all innately evil or anything but he was still surprised at the emotions he had felt from her. He saw the day her mother got married and died, and the loneliness that followed; the day her brother saved her from drowning and the love that she felt for him; the moment she saw Michael at her school and the curiosity and attraction that arose; and lastly, the events of the night before and the irony of her boyfriend shooting her.

Max took a liking to the blonde instantly. Now came the hard part, getting her to like and accept him... them.

He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. The first thing he needed to know was who she was. Why was Michael drawn to save her? Max found it funny that he knew some of her most intimate feelings yet he only knew her first name and that was from Michael.

"Who are you?" he asked, observing the flashes of confusion on her face.

"I'm Maria. Maria Valenti. My dad's the sheriff."

"Valenti's daughter," he said aloud. That explained so much.

"Where's Kyle?" Maria asked, her voice taking on the tone of a lost child's.

"Umm," Max stammered. "I'm not really sure right now. Probably at the military base."

"But isn't this the..." she trailed off and stood up. Stepping close to Max, she quietly said, "You're an alien aren't you?"

Shit. What should he say? How would she react? "Yes," he admitted. He was surprised when she remained thoughtful.

"Then I really was shot, wasn't I? You healed me..." He was sure her mind was working overtime right now.

"Yes. Michael found you and-"

"Michael..." Max could see the recognition register. "I know him! I gave him food. He's an... an alien too?"

Max couldn't help but smile. He really liked this girl. "Yes. You know, I wondered how he got that food. Speaking of food, you must be starving. Let's get you something to eat." He held out his arm and she took it willingly.

***

Michael grimaced at the taste of the reheated fast food. "Don't tell me we're out of Tobasco again!?" Last time we were out, I almost got killed!"

Isabel looked at him in disgust. "Michael, she was like seventy years old! What was she gonna do? Gum you to death?"

Michael glared at her and cast an irritated glance around the group. "What are you all looking at? Eat your congealed animal parts."

The other ten aliens turned back to their small portions of greasy human fodder and Michael ignored the obvious snickering. He did enjoy living in a community without "parental supervision" but he sometimes wished they had an older leader. Max did his best but he was just as inexperienced as the rest of them.

Once again, the aching loss of Sol overwhelmed Michael. Though he never admitted it, the old geezer had really been great. Michael missed Sol's guidance and his oft-told stories of their far distant home.

Michael was jerked precipitously out of his reverie by a stirring and murmuring in the room. He raised his eyes to the door where Max stood with a supporting arm around Maria's waist.

An unexpected flash of jealousy surprised Michael and he looked at the petite blonde in a whole new light. Why was he so weak? He didn't need this right now. He now agreed with Isabel. Maria was human. Human. He repeated it silently, hoping to convince himself of it's truth but pretty soon it only became an incomprehensible chant. Who was he kidding. She was gorgeous. What was Max doing?

Maria hesitated and turned into Max, whispering delicately in his ear, causing Max to smile. Michael couldn't take this. Max got EVERYTHING. He rarely ever got jealous but when he did it was of his brother.

Suddenly, Michael became very interested in the remaining food in front of him.

***

As Max guided her into the room the first person Maria noticed was Michael. He was even cuter than before, if that was even possible, but there was also something different about him. He had an edge to him. He seemed closed off and unapproachable. Before, he was probably just being nice to get food. Putting on a show. Maria tried to mask her disappointment.

Realizing that there were only a dozen or so others in the room and all appeared to be under the age of twenty, Maria wondered where the rest were. "Is this all of you?" she whispered in Max's ear.

Max smiled faintly in return. "Yeah," he murmured back. "We're all that's left. Everyone else died in the war."

"I'm sorry." What else could she say? Maria had never been known for her eloquence.

"Well, let's go eat and I'll introduce you." Nudging her forward, Max acknowledged the others. Even without speaking, Maria could tell that Max was the leader of this small group of misfits. He embodied power... control. "Everyone," Max started, needlessly pausing to gain everyone's attention. "I'd like you to meet Maria. Maria Valenti."

The room stopped altogether. Maria didn't think it was possible but she didn't think anyone was breathing. After what seemed like an eternity, a tall blonde spoke. "You mean she may be the... she's the..."

Max cleared his voice loudly. Maria wanted to know what the girl meant, but it was obvious that Max wanted to drop the subject. Later, when they were alone, Maria would ask him about it. "Let me introduce you. This," pointing to the girl who had just spoken. "Is my sister Isabel. The two girls over there are Kriya and Faran. That's Shayla, Nathan, and Tevin. The blonde over there is Tess. This is Ethan and the pregnant couple in the corner is Karly and Cris. And, of course, from what I hear, you already know Michael."