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“We have to move,” Benjamin whispered. He held out his hand to her, waiting for her to take it so they could run.

Sarah reached out, and Benjamin helped her out of the closet. Before her feet were entirely on the tiled floor, the boy was dragging her toward a window.

“Where is he?” she asked, looking at the door behind them.

“David will be back soon enough,” Benjamin said ominously as he opened the window. He peered over the ledge, judging the distance to the ground below.

Sarah, realizing he intended for them to jump, felt nauseated. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head at him.

“You have to jump,” Benjamin said calmly.

“No,” Sarah whimpered. “We’re so high up. We’re on the second floor. I can’t.”

Benjamin grabbed both of her hands in his and smiled.

“I will help you.”

Before she could protest, Benjamin grabbed her waist and launched both of them out of the window. Sarah cried out briefly, but the boy stifled it by covering her mouth.

And then just as quickly as they were falling, they were safely on the ground. Sarah sat in the grass, confused, and Benjamin got to his feet. He reached his hand out again and nodded. She rose and once again he was dragging her.

On the outskirts of town there was an old abandoned cabin. Her father explained it used to be part of an old railway station that went through town many years ago, and then later the small structure was used as a store and even a power station. Over time, it was just a relic from the past the teens used to hang out and drink in.

Benjamin dragged her to the cabin and pushed open the door. Inside Sarah could see this is where he had made his camp while trying to save her world. There were blankets and papers strewn about. Pens and ink bottles, and in one corner a few of the old pagers they had been using to communicate.

“We have to do this now,” Benjamin said. “Before David finds us. We have to get your world back on course.”

“How?” Sarah asked.

“Well, first, we have to turn the power back on.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. Benjamin paced the cabin, gathering the pagers as well as cords and lines he had stashed in various corners.

“This building has an old power system already built-in,” Benjamin rambled as he moved about. “It’s not enough to power everything in this world, but it’s a start. Once we get a little juice going, we can start making other repairs.”

Sarah’s eyebrows furrowed. Benjamin noticed and stopped his actions.

“What is it?” he asked.

Sarah took a breath and began, “What if David is right? What if we are too into our devices? I mean, my parents always had their noses in a phone or laptop. They barely talked to each other. These last few weeks, they actually seem…I don’t know…happier. Maybe he has a point.”

Benjamin looked worried. He swallowed hard and stepped toward her.

“But this isn’t the way it’s supposed to go,” he said, a slight panic in his voice.

Sarah shrugged, “Who said?”

“What?”

Sarah continued, “Who makes the rules? Who said this is how anything has to go? What if this is exactly how it’s supposed to go?”

“It’s not.”

“But how do you know?”

“It’s not!” Benjamin yelled. Sarah flinched, never hearing him so angry in her short time knowing him.

Sarah stepped back towards the door. Her nerves made her breathing shallow, but she knew she was doing the right thing.

“Maybe we need to let this play out,” she said, reaching the door handle. “Stop interfering, Benjamin.”

Sarah swung open the door and ran as fast as she could. She could hear Benjamin yelling her name from the cabin.