Birds circle overhead, shrieking their warnings as the storm picks up in swirling, malevolent gusts, stirring the sea so it folds in on itself. Land is near, thank the heavens if there are any, but the coast is so jagged it’s unlikely we’ll be able to land without being torn apart by the cutting rocks and the crushing waves. Though we hardly have the choice to continue on sea.

The raft jolts back and forth, bleeding splinters of wood and with each sudden movement. Threatening to swallow us whole, the water spits at our faces, stinging us with its chill. I can feel the familiar blood rushing in my veins, each heartbeat sharp as the tick of a time bomb. We have to get out or we’ll be pulled underneath.

Otto’s yelling to me, but his words are lost to the crying wind. I reach for him, and it feels like reaching for my sister all those years ago. Reaching for her, as the primordial asteroid plunged through Earth’s atmosphere, setting fire to the ground and choking the air with its dust. For a moment, I see her face instead of Otto’s, her penny red curls, her freckled nose, her angled forehead. Her panicked eyes as she pushed me through the old storm shelter doors, then fell, struck down by hurtling debris. And I see myself reaching, arms too short, distance too great, as the doors slam shut by the impact of her limp, bloodied body.

A wave surges up, knocking both me and Otto into the sea. My mind darts away from my sister and straight into hyperdrive; somehow, I convince myself to stay calm. Treading carefully, I manage to keep myself afloat. Otto is not as lucky. I see his arms flapping wildly from about ten feet away, and I know he can’t make it alone. But the shore is so close, and if I go out again I might not make it back. These storms are not normal, I remind myself, they’re the asteroid’s children, weather gone awry now that Earth’s orbit has been altered beyond repair. Absolute killer forces to be reckoned with.

But I can’t leave Otto.

I make my decision. Swimming parallel to the churning waves, I inch my way toward him, then pull him to me. He latches onto my shoulders and I do for us the one thing I never did for my sister: I fight.

We’ve both already lost everyone after all; we can’t lose each other too.