“You’re sure this is your grandparents’ house?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m sure,” Byron said.

Byron hadn’t recognized the house until we were almost on top of it. We’d overshot our landing considerably, and had to spend a half-hour fighting our way through farm fields and ashes to get back to the building.

Now that we were getting close, I could see why he’d had trouble: it wasn’t really a house any longer. The roof was completely gone, as were some of the walls and almost all of the siding. What remained was stained with soot.

Byron glanced back. Seeing my skeptical expression, he sighed and gestured to our right. “The duck pond over there. I know the shape.”

“Do you think it’s safe to go inside?” Davi asked. “It looks like it’s about to collapse.”

Byron twitched in something that might have been a shrug. He didn’t look at Davi, and when he spoke, his words were clipped and impatient. “The fire must have taken place days ago, before the rain. I didn’t see anything still burning on our way over. If the house falls to pieces on our heads, Vince and John should be able to heal us. If you want to stay out here, stay.”

Byron stalked inside.

The rest of us jogged after him.

The inside of the house was a horrible mess, like a giant trash heap. It made no sense to me at first until I realized that, although some of the structure above us was still intact, the majority of the roof and second floor had collapsed down onto the first. Chunks of drywall and wood were mixed in with clothes, books, and broken knicknacks. Almost everything was burned, waterlogged, or both.

Byron stooped down and grabbed an oddly-curved and ornately-carved piece of metal. “This was the top of my grandpa’s cane. He started needing help walking about five years back, but he was being stubborn about it. Mom got him a fancy one, knowing he always used gifts from family.”

“Well, he probably doesn’t need it anymore,” John said.

Byron shot him a horrified look.

John hastened to elaborate, flexing an arm. “I just mean the alien shenanigans made us older folks a whole lot stronger! Some little stick ain’t got nothing on that, no matter how fancy it is. Um… hold up a sec…”

John held up an arm, blocking Byron from walking through the rest of the debris. “Yeah. Uh. I don’t know about your grandpa specifically, but I just triggered Analyze. Someone’s been through this house since the fire. Wait. At least two people - one heavier, and one lighter. Look at the marks on that drywall.”

I wasn’t even sure which chunk of drywall John was talking about, and I definitely couldn’t see something as obvious as footprints, but it wasn't the first time he'd picked up on near-invisible signs with his Analyze ability. If he said there’d been two people here, I trusted that.

Some of the tension left Byron. “Well, if they’re alive, they wouldn’t stay here. My cousins’ house isn’t far. South along the road.”

We headed outside and started walking, but didn’t make it far before a voice rang out. “Hey! You! Stop! Explain what you’re doing here.”

Even with my Infrared Vision, it took me a moment to pinpoint the source of the voice, a blue bike helmet on a short woman’s head, just barely visible over the top of the drainage ditch she’d been traveling along.

“I saw your blimp landing. What do you want? Why are you heading this way? What were you doing in m- that house?”

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Byron tore off his helmet. “Granny Annie?”

The woman stood up straight, most of her torso becoming visible as she left her crouched position. “Bye-bye? Is that… really you?”

“It’s me, Granny!”

Byron’s long stride ate up the ground, and in seconds he was lifting the diminutive lady off the ground. She wrapped her arms around him, laughing. “Careful! You’ll break my old bones!”

Byron spun her around. “I doubt it, not if you’re running over from Uncle Andrew’s house by your lonesome. If you can handle monsters, you can handle a little hug. You’re amazing, Granny! How did you guys survive?! Where’s Pappy?”

“Oh Byron…” The sadness in the old woman’s voice was answer enough, and Byron’s delighted smile crumbled.

“You’re kidding.” Byron said. “What… what about everyone else? Why are you here by yourself? Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kenia and my cousins and everyone… someone should be here with you. What about Aunt Liz and Lottie, weren’t they staying with you? Don’t tell me they’re all… that you..”

“Well, I hope Andrew and Kenia and the kids are okay. They’re not here. Don’t you remember? They always take a family trip to Disney World at the end of the summer.”

“I thought that was in July.”

“End of July, start of August. They were still gone when this all kicked off.”

“And… Pappy? Liz? Lottie?”

Byron’s grandmother sighed. “We took over your cousins’ house. Lottie is sleeping there. It’s… just me and her.”

“What… how did they…”

His grandma’s voice was strained. “Your granddaddy died getting us through the first Mandatory Trial. He and Liz fought through like heroes, but, well, they both got pretty hurt and you know your grandpa. He healed Liz and ignored his own wounds. The three of us were doing pretty well for a while there, but then Liz got stolen by the aliens a week or so ago and they haven’t given her back. A Challenge, the Announcement said. Lottie was being a real little trooper until her mama vanished, but she’s been… out of sorts since. I didn’t know what we’d do the next time there’s a Trial. Liz was there to help me with the last one and Lottie’s not… reacting to much. I wasn’t sure if I could do it alone. Oh, Bye-bye, I’m so glad to see you. Come on, we got to tell Lottie you’re here!”

Annie stepped out of Byron’s grip and grabbed his hand, tugging him back in the direction she’d come from.

Byron stood in place, not moving.

“Bye-bye?”

“We can’t go see Lottie right now,” Byron said. He sounded sick.

“What? Why not?”

“There’s another Challenge in an hour or so,” Byron said. “We’re all eligible.”

“Oh. Oh no,” Annie said. Her hands moved to cover her mouth.

Byron grabbed her shoulders. “It’s not that bad! Probably. We’ve all been to a Challenge before and come back just fine. Hell, Vince has been to two! I just don’t think… if Lottie’s… We should just go see her afterward. You know?”

Annie gave a wavering nod. “Yes. Of… of course.”

“Are you okay on food?” Byron asked. “Water?”

“Oh, bless you. Yes. I had a good amount in our pantries, and we’ve been boiling the water from the pond. Then we moved to Andrew’s house a couple weeks ago and it was just the three of us in a house made for eight. Plus the apple trees were ripe. Liz made some applesauce and apple preserves, actually, and we sliced and dried as much as we could.”

“Okay. Good.” Byron seemed to steel himself. “You go back to Lottie and we’ll be there later today, okay? If we’re not back by tomorrow, you should bring a wheelbarrow over to where the blimp is tied down. There’s a weird machine in there that’ll duplicate whatever you put in the top compartment. Takes a day, but with that, you can keep eating those apple preserves for years if you need to.”

“Don’t you make me do that, Bye-bye,” Annie said. “Don’t you dare die on me. You… you be home in time for dinner, okay? I can’t make you a pie - no butter - but a lot of the chickens are still alive and laying. I can make eggs-over-easy and applesauce cookies. You’ll be there.” She turned her gaze to the rest of us. “You and all your friends. Promise?”

“We’ll be there, Granny,” Byron said.

Annie nodded sharply and turned, hustling back through the ditch, which was still clear of monsters from her journey over.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I sighed. “The casualty rate in the last Challenge was a lot higher than for the ones we’ve gone to, according to Albuquerque leadership. ”

Byron kept his eyes on his grandmother’s back. “I know. You guys better not make me a liar.”