text: "They're Back" &#x200B; He pushed firmly on the sewer grate until it popped out. The greasy bars usually made his hands dirty, but this time Ben wore a pair of rubber gloves that he had discovered on his last trip. The butterfly knife in the front pocket of his mud-stained jeans he had found the first time he had come up to search for food. The need for protection had been a more immediate concern than the need to keep his hands clean. As he pulled himself up above ground, Ben quickly noticed that something felt different. The scene of destruction before his eyes was the same he saw every time he emerged. The piles of rubble where houses once stood, the broken glass in the street and the pieces of metal strewn across front lawns were not what caught his attention this time. It was the heat. It should still be cold outside. By his count, it had been seventeen days since the February 5th attack. That would leave at least another month until it normally began to get warm, he thought. The thickness of the air had already begun to form beads of sweat on Ben’s head as he considered his next move. He must go on, Ben decided. He hadn’t determined the cause for the heat, but he couldn’t let it prevent him from finding food. He imagined the disappointment in Angela’s face if he came back empty handed. Only crumbs remained from the bags of peanuts and beef jerky he brought back last time. And Skylar was already complaining about being hungry again. Slowly, he made his way toward the alley that remained between two rows of demolished houses. It didn’t provide much cover, but it still felt safer than walking down Main Street, where some portions of the road remained partially illuminated by flickering street lights. Once in the dark alley, he crept in the direction that had led him last time to the remains of a convenience store. After crossing three blocks and taking a left on Seventh Street, the route he remembered from his last trip, Ben ducked back into the alley. That was when he noticed the noise. Had it been a typical day, he might have overlooked it, but Ben’s senses were on high alert during his scavenging missions. He heard a faint, steady hum that sounded like a machine. It began to get louder as he continued on to the next block. This was the block where he had discovered food last time, and Ben decided he should stick to the purpose of his trip rather than investigate the noise. He looked upon the site where before a Grab ’N Go convenience store had operated. It felt like years since he had walked through its doors to the greeting of the friendly old woman who worked the cash register and exchanged two dollars for a pack of gum, but in reality it had been just a month. Now, mounds of charred wood, steel rods and shards of glass piled high. He stepped around the side toward the back, where the remains of what must have been a storage room sat covered in ash. Black plastic boxes lay under a mess of debris, which he cleared off before opening the closest container. Inside the box, he found dozens of tin cans packed in neat rows. He picked one up and observed the label. *Chunky* *Beef Chili,* it read. They would have to eat it cold, but he knew the meat inside would already be cooked and would satisfy their hungry stomachs. He put two in the back pockets of his jeans and four in the side pockets of his jacket. Walking back to the front, Ben continued on in the direction he had been going rather than turn back. He didn’t like taking more time than he needed to get back to his family, but the noise had piqued his curiosity. It became louder as he continued on. He followed the sound until he came upon a bridge crossing the train tracks. The bridge was illuminated on its left side by a bright, orange light that came from the same direction he heard the noise. When he reached the peak of the bridge and looked out, he saw it. A pulsating red sphere the size of a house filled the clearing in the distance. It looked like a miniature version of the sun had fallen out of the sky and landed on the surface of the earth. Its color changed between shades of red and orange as it throbbed like a heart, sending visible orange waves into the air that appeared to be heating it. Ben wiped the sweat from his eyebrows as he peered out at the strange object. Suddenly, a black figure appeared in front of the sphere’s light. Ben crouched behind the wall on the side of the bridge and looked over. The figure began to get larger, as if it was moving toward him. Frozen with a feeling of dread, Ben knew he should get off the bridge and run back, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from the light and the growing figure before it. As the figure came into view, Ben saw the light reflecting off metal that covered the figure’s body and head. The figure was tall, at least twice Ben’s height. Its head swiveled around and two laser-red eyes beamed directly at him. It saw him. Ben began to run, and a burst of fire shot out of the figure's arm. The flaming ball flew over the bridge where Ben had just been. More bursts followed and he bolted back down the street, his heart pounding. When he had crossed to the next block he looked back. He saw the figure standing on the bridge where he had just been. He gasped and slipped into the alley before it saw him again. Sprinting down the alley as fast as he could, Ben jumped over a piece of rubble and felt one of the cans fall out of his jacket pocket. He couldn’t stop to retrieve it, and he continued to run until he came upon the block where he began. He found the sewer he had emerged from and quickly crawled in, putting the grate back in place behind him. Still panting, he began to scurry back down the tunnel that had brought him there. His knees splashed in puddles of mud that he was in too much of a hurry to avoid. Finally, he returned to the clearing in the sewers that had become his temporary home. Angela and Skylar sat huddled in the corner under a blanket as he approached out of breath. Their eyes wide open and staring at him, he knew they could immediately tell something was wrong. He decided he couldn’t try to lie to them about what he had seen. “They’re back,” he said.