text: “This is where you live?” Liam asked, eyes wide as he looked around the library. “Yep,” Madeline said. Her gaze followed his as she took in the familiar sights of home. “No one else was using it. And it made a kind of sense. There aren’t many possible entrances but there *are* a lot of places to hide. There’s also plenty to read.” She tore her eyes away from her beloved library to glance back at him. “So what do you think?” “It’s great! Perfect, actually.” Madeline smiled. It was the most animated she’d seen Liam since she’d met him. The wonder on his face was almost child-like. Something that was painfully absent the rest of the time. You couldn’t last long in this world if you didn’t grow up fast. “I’m afraid I only have one mattress at the moment, but there are a few sofas around the place with cushions,” she said as she led him through. “Why don’t you pick a room and we’ll get you all set up?” He nodded eagerly and raced off to search for a spot. Madeline watched him go, wondering if she’d made the right decision. Giving him freedom and choice seemed a good way to gain his trust. And if they were going to survive together she *needed* his trust. She needed to be certain that if she barked an order at him he would obey it no questions asked. But having him roaming around the library, *her* library, felt wrong somehow. Like letting him rifle through her drawers or read her diary. It was a violation of the privacy she had grown so used to. Shaking her head, she dismissed the foolish thoughts. Like it or not, Liam was here now. This was his home too. She was just going to have to get used to it. \ After she’d away the supplies they’d brought back, Madeline went in search of Liam. She found him in what must have once been a meeting room. Or perhaps a room for group study. There was a large table surrounded by ten chairs, a whiteboard, and a projector screen. He’d already acquired a pile of cushions that he was in the process of forming into a bed. She rapped her knuckle lightly against the door to announce her presence. Liam’s head whipped around, eyes wide and body stiff with tension, but he seemed to relax when he saw her. “How are you getting on?” she asked. “We can probably bring a sofa in here if that would be good? Or find another mattress for you from a nearby house?” “I think this is good for now,” he replied. “It’s like having my own, permanent pillow fort.” “You know, that does sound good,” she chuckled. “I’ll leave you to finish settling in. When you’re finished you can come and find me in the kitchen. We can have a nice, *hot* meal for a change.” The excitement that flitted across his face made Madelin’s smile widen as she turned to leave the room. \ It wasn’t long until she heard his footsteps approaching the kitchen. When he reached the room, he stopped in the doorway, keeping his usual wary distance. “So what are we having?” he asked. “Well, that’s up to you,” she replied, gesturing to the array of foods. “We’ve got pasta or rice for something nice and carby. There are tinned soups, beans, tomatoes, a few different types of vegetables--” “Pasta and tomato sauce!” “I think we can manage that,” she said with a smile. Soon, Madeline was dishing up the steaming pasta. The smell made her stomach rumble. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed *hot* food. Seeing as she had company, she decided they might as well make use of one of the many tables in the main section of the library, rather than eat on the kitchen floor as was her usual custom. Liam trotted along behind her, eyes fixed on the full bowls. She headed toward a table large enough that they could both sit down while keeping the distance between them Liam seemed to require and set his portion down before retreating with hers to the far end. The sight of him descending on the pasta, devouring it with a speed she wouldn’t have thought possible, made laughter bubble up from within. She found herself wondering if this is what she looked like when she ate. With a shake of her head, she dismissed the thought and started on the bowl in front of her. After all, who cared about table manners anymore? When the meal was done, Madeline considered her companion. He was sitting back, flopped against the chair, eyes closed in satisfaction. It was nice to see him so relaxed, so comfortable. And perhaps it was something she could use. “Did you enjoy the meal?” she asked. “Yes, very much. Thanks!” “Has it been a while since you had hot food?” “Yeah.” “Since before the Poiloogs came? Or more recently?” He considered this for a while, before answering, “A bit more recently. But not by much.” “Was it when you were somewhere else? Before the shop?” “Yeah. At one of those centres the military set up.” “You made it to one of the centres?” she asked, eyes wide. “How? And how did you get out?” “I- We were nearby I suppose,” he said, eyes darting around as he spoke, looking everywhere but at Madeline. “And the one we were in... it just disbanded before they came for it.” “Would you mind telling me about it?” she asked more gently this time. “Maybe you could start at the beginning, from the day the Poiloogs came. If you remember that is. And if it isn’t too hard for you.” Liam leant back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded across his stomach. Madeline was beginning to wonder if he’d drifted off to sleep when he finally spoke. “I was home sick from school that day. It wasn’t anything bad. Just a cold, really. Dad stayed home with me but Mum went to work like usual.” He paused, shifting in his chair to sit forward and lean on the table. “The first we heard about anything strange was the emergency broadcast on the TV telling us something was approaching the planet at speed and to find shelter underground if possible. “Of course, Dad didn’t want to go anywhere without Mum. But he couldn’t get a hold of her. And I suppose he wanted to know I was safe. We lived in a small-ish village in the middle of nowhere. Something I constantly complained about.” He paused, a wry smile flashing across his face before he grew serious once again. “But it probably saved us. The only thing nearby apart from countryside and cows was a military base with an airfield. “Dad packed a bag and we set off. We were outside when the ships first became visible in the sky. Luckily they targeted more populated areas at first.” A look of horror mingled with disgust crept into his features, nose wrinkling as if the words tasted foul. “Luckily for us I mean. Not for everyone who lived there. Who worked there. “We reached the base without much trouble. Other people in the area had the same idea, so there were a few of us turning up. The officers on duty organised us all into shelters. By then they seemed confident we didn’t need to worry about crashing ships or bombs or any other high-tech weapons. It was the creatures from the ships that we needed to watch out for. “Over the weeks, more and more people arrived - fleeing the carnage in the cities. We kept waiting for my Mum to show up but she never did.” His voice cracked slightly, forcing him to swallow before continuing, “The base became a refuge centre. A place of sanctuary from what people had started calling the Poiloogs. The soldiers patrolled the perimeter. Set-up defences. It felt safe.” Madeline stared across at him, but he kept his eyes fixed on his hands, fingers twisting around each other on the table in front of him. Though nothing had been particularly unexpected so far, there was something about watching a child say these things that would never *not* be shocking. After a deep, shaky breath, he started speaking again. “There weren’t many attacks for the first few months - I suppose the Poiloogs were spread pretty thin across the world - but they started becoming more and more frequent. The soldiers started teaching us how we could block them out when they came - by filling out heads with something else. They suggested singing a song or repeating a mantra. “I think they taught the adults other things too. We - the children I mean - weren’t allowed in all of the meetings. But after one of them, my Dad came out all in a panic saying we had to leave - that the centre would become a major target with this many people here. Others were fleeing too. And the military just let us all go. With supplies and everything. I thought it seemed silly, leaving the place with all the guns and soldiers. Surely nowhere would be safer than that. But Dad wouldn’t listen. “We walked and walked after that, stopping in houses along the way. We never stayed anywhere long though. None of them was ever safe enough, apparently. Every now and then we’d bump into someone else. We wouldn’t stay together long but they’d pass on information. That was how we learnt that the centres had fallen - everyone in them rounded up and shipped off by the Poiloogs. Or dead, if they were lucky. “As the months went by we bumped into less and less people. And as the encounters with humans decreased, the ones with Poiloogs increased. Soon we hardly went a week without a near miss. Dad was quite good at fighting them off but he was starting to struggle. He wouldn’t get a chance to properly rest and heal before the next one showed up. And the next one. “It was after another near miss, where he’d hidden me in a wardrobe before going off to hide elsewhere, that we found the shop. It was well stocked and had plenty of hiding places. He said it was perfect. That I’d be safe there. Safer than with him. He explained that...” His eyes flicked to her and the glaze that had entered them as he spoke vanished. “Anyway, that’s about it. You know the rest.” “I do,” she said softly. Something inside her yearned to reach out and fold the boy into her arms. To shield him from the horrors of his past. But she knew that no one could do that. “What about you then?” he asked with a forced cheeriness. “How did you end up here?” Madeline's mouth hung open, caught off-guard by the question. She cursed herself for not seeing that one coming as she cast her mind back to that day.