All the Space Between Us (A Deathless Series Story)

Episode Thirty-Two: Hopes

"I'm so thankful for everyone who has survived alongside me up to this point, but there are many, many people who deserved more time than they were given."
-Beatrice Blume

ESTHER

Thank goodness Tempest was taught how to drive pods back in our time, because it didn't take her long to figure out how to drive a car. Once she had the hang of it, we made our way out of DC, up north to Pennsylvania, to Hicksmon. 

"What are we going to say?" Tempest asks from the driver's seat. 

We are parked across from a field where, in our time, Hicksmon buildings have been built, but in this time, it's full of tall corn. To our right, just outside my passenger side door, is the house where my mom Eleanor grew up. Down the road to the left is the farmhouse where my biological family, the Hicks family, lives. 

"I just want to meet them, I think," I say, feeling far too nervous now. "Don't you just want to meet your grandfather Drew and his parents?"

We pulled up this far on the street, because when we pulled onto this road, we spotted Drew playing in the front yard and got spooked. He looks just like Tempest's dad Ian, but small. 

Tempest swallows hard. "What if Yuri and Neo don't stop the end of the world? Shouldn't we warn our families?"

"They did alright on their own," I start, but stories my mom used to tell me about growing up in the apocalypse creep into my mind. "They lost my biological uncle and my mom's mom. We could. We could warn them."

"Go ahead," Tempest says.

"Aren't you going to come with me?" 

"I think I should just talk to my grandpa. I don't think we should get too involved in this world."

"Okay. Do you want me to come with you then?" I ask.

"No, I think I need to do this on my own. I think we should both go on our own, and get out of here as quickly as possible."

I nod. "Then let's go."

We both open the doors and head in our different directions, Tempest back down the road to meet her grandpa and great-grandparents, and me up the walkway to my mom's childhood home.

I feel my heart beating in my throat and my mind goes blank. What will I say to them when they answer the door? I'm not sure, but I am sure of one thing: I'm excited, because this is my family. I ring the doorbell.

After a few moments, it opens.

A woman who looks just like my mom opens the door with a smile. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"Hi."

She seems confused. "Hi."

"Mommy, mommy, mommy," a little girl squeals from behind her. "Is it for me?"

The woman, my grandmother, moves to the side to lift a running, princess-dressed girl into her arms. My mom.

"I'm not sure, my love," my grandmother says. "Is there something I can do to help you?" she asks again.