“What does that mean?” I ask confused.


“Go wake up your brother,” he says slowly with a calm voice that seemed to be forced. I didn’t say anything I just ran up the stairs and shook Alex until his eyes opened.


“What’s going on, Pete?” Alex asked me.

I gave him a shoulder shrug and walked him downstairs. My Mom and Dad were waiting by the door with some bottles of water.


“Get in the car, hurry!” My Mom said with a raised and concerned tone. I didn’t question her, we just ran to the car. I wasn’t prepared to go anywhere, I was only wearing some sweat pants and a sweat shirt with my black sneakers. Alex had on his sweat pants and his white t-shirt he slept in. His hair was standing up on the side of his head where he was laying.

I got in the car, a new Honda accord, a company car my dad gets because he works for the government.

“Mom, what’s going on?” I finally asked. As I waited for an answer she gave my dad a stare, he was driving and didn’t turn his head to look back.


“I don’t know, but it must be serious,” my mom said struggling. I could tell she was hiding the truth, but I let it go.


We drove up to my High School, the closest public building around. The Military was out side waiting just like the television said. They had a huge fence going around the school and a gate where cars were lined up. How did they set this up so fast?


“Everyone out of the vehicle,” a Soldier said.

We did as told, Four troops walked around the car with poles connecting mirrors on the bottom searching for something. They walked dogs around, letting them sniff everything. Then two more troops walked over to us.


“Do you have any kind of weapons on you?” one asked.


“No, I work for the government,” my dad said. Then the troops patted us down and hovered a metal detector around our bodies.

“You work for the government you say?” the soldier finally replied.

“Yes and who can I speak to about what’s going on?”

“Sir, we don’t even know what’s going on, were just following orders.”

When the soldiers decided we were clear, they took our car and parked in a designated area. We walked to the school doors where we were again met by two guards, who escorted us into the schools cafeteria, where dozens of people already were. They were filling out paperwork and being interviewed by other soldiers.


“This looks bad,” I overheard my mom whispering to my dad. We walked over to empty section of a long table and sat in silence.
Then coming from outside the school I could hear gunshots, rapidly firing and eventually slowing down to one shot at a time. The entire schools cafeteria lit up in screams, people were panicking, not sure what to do. Soldiers frantically tried to keep everyone calmed down.


A soldier came running around the corner and stopped in the front of the cafeteria where everyone could see him. I followed him as ran into the crowd of people waiting desperately for answer to what had just happened.
“Everyone get back!” He yelled. Then more troops caught on and yelled the same.
I looked over at my dad and then at my mom as if I was expecting them to tell me what just happened out there. They just stared at each other with a worried look. Just as the soldier finished yelling at everyone, something made of glass broke, I turned to see what it was. Everyone started screaming and then another piece of glass broke. What is it!? What is it!? I couldn’t see anything. My parents grabbed me and my brother by the arms and dragged us with them running with the crowd. I turned my head one more time in hopes to see what is going on. There it was, I saw a soldier laying flat on the floor with a pool of blood coming from under him. I turned back and ran quickly with my parents.


Gunfire began going off again outside. More glass breaking and people began to fall from behind me. I held on to my dads arm as tight as he was holding mine. I looked over to find Alex but couldn’t find him or my mom. My dads arm was stretched out holding on to something, reassuring me it was my mom and Alex.


Boom! An explosion went off in the hallway leading outside. People began to scream in horror; I began to scream louder and louder. A shoulder bumped into mine hard, it was Alex. I grabbed his arm tight and held him close. We followed the mass crowd of people down a hallway leading to back of the school. They began running into class rooms slamming doors shut behind them. My family and I ran into the first open room we saw with about a dozen more people, and slammed the door. My dad ran over to the teacher’s desk opening every drawer and cabinet.


“I got them!” He yelled with excitement holding up some keys. He sprinted to the door and locked it. He ran back and sat next to me. Everyone was quiet and soon everyone in the school quiet, gunfire died off and soon it was gone. You could hear a pin dropped from down the hallway. I looked around at the other people sitting with us; some laying down, some with their heads buried in their knees, and some had tears running down their face. One man had blood splattered on the left side of his body, he looked shaky and scared, and he was rocking back and forth slowly, silently speaking to himself by just moving his lips.


I could hear something in the hallway it sounded like men talking back and forth and yelling out occasionally. My dad pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He whispered something into it. It sounded like a code of some kind and then hung up. I was about to ask him what that was for, but I got interrupted.
“Ahhhhhhh!” A scream from down the hall, louder than anything I've ever heard. Bang!...The screaming ended. I looked around as if I was trying to find something when really I was trying to hear. Clunck, clunck, clunck, the sound of footsteps down the hall. Bahh! Someone kicks open a door, more screams filled the hallway and gunshots ended it again.

My dad got up, grabbed Alex and I and dragged us over to a door that connected to another classroom, followed by my mom. We could hear someone trying to get into it, everyone was screaming and yelling. Why is my dad making us stand here? Is he making us listen to people die? I decided not to ask and stay quiet. Suddenly the door in the other room is kicked open and gun shots go off. Everything goes quiet again. My dad put ear against the door and then quickly opened it and shoved us through it followed by my mom and then my dad finally, no one else follows us. I’m not sure I would have either if it wasn’t my dad. Now were in a classroom with about six dead people. My dad walked over to the dead and waved us over to follow he laid down next to one and put half the dead body on his. He’s using his military experience to survive, I know what he wants us to do now we were going to disguise ourselves to look dead and they would just leave us alone. Then another door breaks down, the one of the room we were just in. Screams filled the silent hall ways followed by seven more gun shots. I quickly lay down and copy my dad, as did my mom and Alex.



“Do think were safe now?” I whisper to my dad so quietly I could barely hear it myself.


“No,” My dad says very simply and quietly. I feel like we have been laying here for days, but it’s only been an hour because I can see the classroom clock from where I am. As I lay here I think about all the other people here who thought that they would be safe with so many soldiers guarding them.
Clunck, clunck, clunck, someone quickly runs in our room, my heart starts rising and my breathing gets deeper. He’s going to notice I think, and he’s going to kill all of us, because of me. The man takes one more look and then walks out. I exhale deeply, louder than should, but know one notices.
“Give it just a little more time,” My dad whispers.

Once we decide it’s safe to go we roll the bodies off us I’m soaked in blood and so is everyone else. My dad peaks around the corner to see if it’s clear, he waves us onward. We run as fast as we can to the first exit we can find. The hallways throughout the school have blood streaking across the floors, the walls have hand prints and streaks as if they were taking live ones with them. Who would they take with them? There wasn’t anyone here valuable to them, was there? Once we get outside we see the dozens of dead soldiers lying on the ground. My dad takes one of their guns and some ammo, I do the same. All the cars appear to be tampered with in someway making them undrivable. We run as fast as we can down the streets that just this morning were perfectly fine. Now they have exploded cars and some that have been flipped over, causing roadblocks. There are dead people everywhere along the streets, who have been dragged from their homes and shot or stabbed.


“We need to turn on a T.V and see what’ going on’” my dad says.


“But we need to be in a basement it’s too dark now to turn on up stairs,” my throws back. We run into a few houses before we find one with cable in the basement. When we turn it on we flip to the new channel. It’s off the air, my dad changes it to the world new channel this time and people appear on the screen. They are talking about the attacks where we are. The news reporters then go on to say that we have been invaded by Russia, along with Finland. For the first time in 200 years Sweden is going to war.
Tonight we stayed in this basement. Attempting to sleep, but it never happens. All four of us are awake. My dad sneaks up stairs and gets some food, some fruit, bread and lunch meat. He grabs some bottled water from the fridge in the basement. I’m not hungry but I know I need to eat so force it down anyway. I can tell by the look on Alex’s face he is doing the same thing.
“Maybe if we stay here we will be safe, we can wait for soldiers to come and get us,” my mom thoughtfully says.
“Maybe you're right, how far could we get out there anyway? The news said the entire east side of Sweden is over run,” my dad says agreeing with my mom. I agree with them also, I don’t want to go out there and try to run in hopes of us finding some soldiers who will help us. The odds of us making it are very low.


We continue watching the news throughout the entire night; they continuously show videos of attacks. Then they show a phone number and under it says this is the number for rescue. The news man says also, “If you are trapped somewhere and need rescue call this hotline now.” My dad has already tried calling for help but the emergency lines just beep.
“Dad, dad, wake up,” some how he has fallen asleep. “There a rescue number on the television.” I finally say. He rolls over a takes a glance at the television, then as if some lit a fire under him, he jumps up and grabs the phone.
“Hello? Hello? Yes hi, my name Henrik Galestrom , I work for the Government in recon and analysis, I am a satellite photo analysis expert. We are in Flemingsberg and we need to be rescued!” A few seconds go by. “There are four of us and yes we are on Alfred Nobels Alle, I don’t know the address but it was a light brown house I think, third or fourth on the right, it was dark I’m not positive.” Another couple second delay. “Yes thank you so much.” He looks at us with a glow in his eyes. “They're coming for us, they said they could be here with in 5-6 hours,” he says with a smile creeping up his cheeks.
“It should still be dark by the time they’re here so there probably going to use the dark as cover.” My dad looked at us. “They need me to help them find these people; I am one of their best analyses.” No one said anything after that, we just turned and continued to watch the news.
“Dad who did you call back in the school?” I ask.
“Work to tell them what was happening and we needed rescue, but obviously they never made it,” he says with a sigh.

The phone rings and my dad answers it, I’m close enough to him still hear it. “Is this Mr. Galestrom?”
“Yes,” my dad says easily back.


“Sir we need you to be ready to move, we have an E.T of 5 minutes. When I turn down that street I’m not going to know which house it is, so I need you to go to the window facing the street and place something that will signify it’s you. Do you have anything to signify where you are?” the man on the phone asks.


“Umm I can go flash my phone in the window?” My dad says.


“Yes that will work, start doing it now. Are you ready to mobilize?”


“Yes we are set.”


“We have now an ET of 3 minutes, we are coming in by armored vehicle, be ready to move.” The phone hangs up and my dad runs up stairs we follow him also. He places his hand with the phone in the window sill and squats down.


The sound of brakes squealing comes to a halt outside the front door. We open the door and run out. Just as we are moving down the front porch the soldier five feet in front of me is shot through the head.


“Contact!” A soldier yells. The squad of soldiers opens fire on the top a house 100 yards down the street. I jump to the ground and cover my head, until a soldier grabs me by the collar of my shirt and drags me up, pulling me toward the armored vehicle. I turn my head to see my dad running toward me, just as he is a few feet away he bends his back and looks straight up, he then falls to his knees and finally collapses. What just happened, why aren’t you running? I start thinking hard. I open my mouth trying to say something.


“Dad get up!” This is the only thing that comes out. I get shoved up into a seat followed by Alex who is screaming and crying. The door is slammed shut.


“Where’s mom?” I demand to no one. I jump to the window and start franticly looking back and forth, but the darkness hides everyone to well. Then a soldier jumps in the over sized truck and turns the ignition. Two more jump in, one goes for the gun on the roof but falls, just as he reaches it, onto the floor with my feet and Alex screams. We start moving fast. I don’t know where we are or where we're going but the man driving seems sure. A soldier looks back at me and Alex who is still crying.


“Are you alright kids?” He quickly asks. I look up at him and then look back down to the spot on the floor I was staring at.
“Where’s my mom?” The vehicle rocked back and forth, bouncing up and down.
“She didn’t make it,” he says with a slight sigh.
I attempt to say something but I can’t find the words. Alex starts to cry and tucks his head into his knees. I try to cry too, but nothing happens. Screaming seems like the only thing to do.
“Ahhhhh!” I finally let out, but it doesn't help. It doesn't change anything.

We come to a sudden stop. It was raining now; the sky was grey and cloudy, perfectly fitting my mood. I put my feet down on the ground and water splashes onto my blood stained pants. I took a few small steps before I looked up to see where we were. A military base with high fences and barbed wire at the tops. Soldiers marching through it and giant trucks carrying supplies roamed around. The soldiers walked us toward a building with a red cross on it.


“We just need to get you checked out, and then we are going to airlift you boys to lower Europe.” This was the same soldier from the armored vehicle who gave us the news about mom.


“What’s down there…for us?” I ask shaking.


“Safety,” he says and continues to walk.

What’s safety? I almost say. It seems nothing is safe anymore, how much different could it be in lower Europe, we would have to start over, buy a new house, get a new car, find a new school...then it hits me. Alex and I would be by our selves, there is no safety for us.




Alex and I walk over to a giant grey plane with a giant door on the back that is already open. Alex walked in front of me taking a seat on the right side. I sat next to him. In the plane were about 10 other men. Some who looked to be rich and smart, men who were important to the government like my dad was. It was like sitting with 10 different versions of my dad, staring back and forth with them all. I can’t handle them being there in front of me; I put my head back and close my eyes trying not to think about everything that has happened. I focus in on the sound of wind passing by the outside of the plane and eventually I am asleep.

My eyes opened again to plane shaking hard. Alex looked over at me. There’s a loud beeping noise coming from the cockpit.


“What’s going on?” Alex asks quietly.


“I don’t know, put your seatbelt on though.” I replied.

A soldier came into the rear where we sat.


“Hold on to something!” He yelled out.
Alex and I both grabbed on to some metal bars under our seat. I could here what sounded like small rocks hitting the plane rapidly. I look out the window and see flashes of light all around us. Then something big hits the plane causing a whole to open up straight across from where I sat. One of the men who aren’t wearing a seat belt is sucked out instantly. I begin the feel weight less as if there is no gravity, but I quickly realize we are going straight down. The plane begins to pull up slightly, but not enough. The plane nose smacks into the ground hard and shifts me sideways toward the front violently allowing my seat belt to catch me. My breathing begins to become painful; I must have had the wind knocked out of me. As I sat there trying to get any air I could past my mouth, Alex was screaming and yelling again, and the plane was bouncing up and down sliding across the earth until it took a violent turn sideways and began to roll. My head bounced back and forth off the metal wall behind my head. My hands were locked down on the bottom of my seat. Everything was happening so fast I couldn’t look over at Alex. Screams filled the plane joining in with Alex, until finally, the plane stopped remarkably right side up.
I moaned out at the pain in my head, the only relief I gained was being able to breathe again. I looked at Alex who he seemed perfectly fine, minus his red face and the tears that ran down his face, I couldn’t find anything wrong with him. I unbuckle my seat and stand up looking around. The only thing allowing me to see is the emergency light illuminating everything red. Two of the men who were once sitting across from me are now at the front of the seating area, their seat belts ripped open and they flew to wall in the front. Four more appear to be dead as well sitting in their seats, two for sure, their heads were split open on the back from it smacking the metal wall behind them, just as mine did. I put my hand to the back of my head and find it is bleeding, but not bad. The last two are moaning in their seats and eventually unbuckle themselves and stand up. I walk slowly to the front where the soldiers were with the pilots. I take small steps, trying not to fall; I feel dizzy and have head ache.

I walk through the doors into the tiny seating area just behind the cockpit. Both soldiers are dead. They don’t appear to have been buckled up. I open the door to the cockpit and see one pilot with his head back and his eyes closed, I assume him to be dead. The other is moaning and holding his leg. I move close to him and unbuckle his seat belt. Not one word is said I just put his arm over my shoulder and help him walk out to where the other survivors were. The two men, who once looked rich, clean, and smart, now look like they have walked through a fire. One of them opens the hatch on the side and jumps down, everyone else follows. I set the pilot down on the edge of the hatch and jump down, it hurts a little, even though it’s only about 5 feet down, I am sore from running all the time. The pilot positions himself to wear he is holding the plat form of the plane and then lowers himself down, as if he was doing a pull up.
“What happened up there?” One of the rich men asked.
“We were attacked.” The pilot replied.

“How?” The other rich man demanded.


“Small arms fire and eventually a rocket.”


“Well, where are we?” the first rich man asked.


“Somewhere over eastern Sweden still.”


“So we’re not even close to safety,” he says as if he already knows the answer.


“Couldn’t you radio for help,” I ask puzzled on how that was not asked. Everyone looked at the pilot with their eyebrows raised slightly, waiting for an answer.


“I already tried, but nothing went through, there was too much damage to the cockpit. We’re stranded out here.” The pilot looked down. No one said a word.

After one of the men help me bandage up my head. Alex and I are recruited to go collect firewood while the others try to salvage supplies. I carry a flashlight with me; I can see my breath in the light. It’s beginning to get cold, Alex and I both have a heavy tan jacket on that we took from some of the dead men’s luggage on the plane.


“Pete?” Alex says softly like he had to fight himself to say it.


“Yeah?” I say back.


“I’m scared, I miss mom and dad,” he doesn’t cry this time or even stutter when he says it.


“Me too,” I say back. I still have a hard time believing all this, none of it feels real, but it’s happening right in front of me. “You have me, always remember that,” I find one more thing to say and the conversation dies off.
Suddenly from behind us I hear shouting, Alex and I both turn to look, we cant see anything through the dense woods we are in, but we look as if we can.. We hear yelling in another language and then gun shots. I turn to start running, but Alex does not follow he stands and stares. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and wake him from his daze. We are running south I know that much for sure because I was looking at the North Star a little earlier. The sky is remarkably clear, every star is visible, they illuminate the ground just enough to see obstacles in our way. We just keep running at a steady pace, unaware of how far or long it’s been. We know no one followed us or even knew we existed but running felt like the thing to do. We reach a road and follow it for a few miles, knowing that it must be near the coast. The only thing I can think to do is get to Europe it’s our only way out of this.


“Look Pete a sign!” Alex yells.


“Yeah I see it.” On it, it says Marina, We must be close. “There,” I say pointing at a dock with a few boats left on it. “We need to take one of those boats,” I demand. I run into the building in front of the dock and move behind the desk that says rentals. I grab as many keys as I can find. Alex grabs some bags of food that were once for sale there. I’m starving and very thirsty so I don’t object to the extra supplies. I run out to the boats, jump in the first one I see and start trying keys. None of them fit. As I jump out to go to another boat, I hear something chopping through the sky above me.


“A helicopter!” Alex yells. I can’t tell if it’s here to help us or kill us, but I don’t want to wait to find out. Key after key, boat after boat nothing works, I can start to see the lights from the helicopter through the woods now. Finally, vroom! One of them starts.
“Alex, run!” I yell to him, who is still standing on the land before the docks, staring into the woods, looking for the helicopter. “Alex, run now!”

He turns his attention toward me and starts to sprint toward me. The helicopter is emerging from the wood lines now. Its spot light illuminates a huge circle below, finding Alex. A man emerges from the side of the helicopter and fires his gun. “No! Alex, run faster!”


“Ahh!” Alex yells.

“Alex, no! Get up!” He falls to ground and doesn’t move. Now the helicopter searches for me. With out thinking I jump into the freezing ocean water and hide. I can see its spot light through the water above me and quickly passes; I come up slowly and take another breath. The helicopter is turning to make another pass. I go back under and repeat the same thing, but now the spot stays above me, I feel like I might pass out. How long have I been under? Why won’t you leave? Go away! I want to yell but I can’t, I need to focus and stay calm. It feels like I’ve been under for hours, maybe I can just poke my lips out and get some air. No! The light is still there, they will surely see me. But why is it still there? They can’t see me and then I remember I left the boat running. They know I’m here or maybe they don’t, they might just think that. Maybe I can convince them that it was just Alex, but I need to hold my breath longer. I start counting, 1…2…3. I reach 60 seconds, 61…62…63, the light finally passes and I throw my head out of the water and breathe. The helicopter flies back to the cover of the woods out of sight. I pull myself up on to the wood dock and sprint to Alex who is shot in the side. I run and grab a first aid kit from inside the building. I wrap him a few times, the bullet passed all the way through; I think that’s a good thing. I walk him to the boat and start driving. I head straight south, I know I will hit land that way. The boat is a small speed boat and I’m not sure how far we are going. All we can do now is hope, but what is there left for us now? Where would we go? What would we do? This isn’t the life I hoped for and worse, this is the life that is given to Alex.