Another Way

~Chapter 1~

"Alexa! Alexa! ALEXA!" I screamed out as I pounced inside our tiny apartment excitedly. The message we had sent into space was a success! Someone, somewhere received it a month after my thirteenth birthday (December 12).
Soon enough, Alexa comes sprinting into the front hall all out of breath. "What? What is it Jillian?!" Her eyes glimmered with excitement and fear all in one. Ever since I told her that day in the pastry shop, which is now boarded up, she has always seemed older and fear in her eyes was practically apart of her now.
"The message! It worked!!!" Alexa dove in for a hug as my words seeped out. We squeeled and danced with the music in our heads, like little kids on Christmas morning. This was the first happy moment for us since the world began to die. Giggles and smiles were plastered into my head for later use whenever I was upset or down. Then the moment just faded. Alexa and I both plopped onto the sofa and let our brains begin to ponder on the thought of extra terrestrials coming here, to earth.
"What happens now?" I ask looking towards Alexa who stares out the frosted window.
She faces me and grasps my hands in hers. "Well... looks to me we might not die, but..."
I wait for her to continue, but only she doesn't. The way her face turns firm and focused tells me that the wheels in her head are turning and turning and turning. What is she thinking about?
"Alexa what are you thinking? Please, tell me."
"I don't want to scare you, but what if the aliens aren't... friendly? What if all this hope we have on them saving us is just a waste of time? For all we know they could be carnivores!" Her words confuse me. In the message, it says: "To anyone who receives this. Our world, our food, our animals, ourselves the human race is all dying and we need your help. This is the LAST HOPE message from earth, a planet in the inhabitly zone, circling a yellow star, in the milky way. If you accept the burden of helping us, you may decide what to do but only if you help us. If not accept this large burden, then earth and everything on it will, most certainly die. Yours truly, The Prime Minister of Canada, an earth resident." I want to scream at her, I'm so mad. It won't matter if the aliens are friendly or carnivores! We're all going to die anyway, so who should care? I know I don't... I guess.

~~~
The school was all quite, to quite.
Our movie on human history had suddenly shut off as well as the lights, my friend's phone, the bathrooms, and other electronics, appliances and power sources that were all linked to the school generator. The substitute teacher told us to sit and stay put, but just after he left minutes ago all eight of us scrambled to the windows to see if anything was different. Nothing was different, just the same old playground I grew up on and the soccer field where I use to play as goalie.
We wait about twenty minutes for the teacher to come back and the power is just starting to flicker on and off. The teacher tells us to follow him in a single file line to the gym and then sit quietly, waiting for further instructions. So, the remaining students that actually still go to school (which is only about 50) sit in the scarcely lit gym.
It's usually always cold in the gym, but for the past week since the electricians and power grid workers that have either passed on from the Ender disease or just decided to be with their families for the end, have left everyone else shivering at night in the dark. Lucky for our school the generator hasn't lost power yet, well except for now.
Two hours of sitting on the bone shivering hard tiled floor and listening to my friends worrying and crying about how the end is coming, has become nothing but a headache. I don't want to fret over the end... at least not yet. My sister and I already have to worry about getting food into our stomachs day in and day out, and not to mention getting the money to get those meals. Even though it's the end of the world, some people still have to work to feed themselves.
"Hey! Jillian! Look at this!" My friend, Rachel, yanks my forearm towards where she sits in the middle of the gym. Her and her brother, Nathaniel who is in the 11th grade, both take out their cell phones to show me a blurry picture forming on the screens. It looks like a symbol of some sort, maybe even a crest like the Canadian military ones.
"What's this?" I ask as she hands me her cell.
"I have no idea what this is. My phone screen was black just a minute ago, then here it is filled with some image of... something." Rachel shrugs then grips her elbows making her knuckles turn white. "Are you scared, Jillian?"
I look up from the screen at her then question what she means, "Scared? Scared of what?"
"Oh come on, Jillian. You're not even a tiny bit scared?"
"Scared of what? I don't even know what to be scared of!" I practically yell. Worried looks and tear streaked faces all turn to me. Why does everyone these days look at me like I just murdered someone? The stares of sympathy, anger, and terror seem to be the only emotions I see of people... well, except me. I don't want to fret over aliens coming to help us, and comparing that to dying from Ender seems a lot more comforting then the thought of my organs solidifying to mush.
"Dying of course Jillian! Do you really think the E.T's will be able to save all 9 billion of us?!" Rachel emphasizes with her hands. She gasps, like a light bulb just went off in her head. "My god. You actually think they can save all of us, don't you?"
I didn't want all this attention from my peers, so only directing the conversation back to Rachel do I say,"Well... yes."
"I can't believe you. There is 9 billion people on earth. What made you think such a large amount could be saved by... aliens?"
I actually didn't think, I just hoped. Maybe what Rachel is saying could be correct. I am only thirteen. A kid. I won't think about anything, I just hope, and well, maybe I should be scared. This is the end, after all.