At the time, I had no idea what to expect of him when we got home. Once he acted, I thought myself thick that I couldn’t figure it out before. It ...as shameful to think but it was the truth after a few days of thinking about him. He locked himself in his room. He stayed alone in his thoughts while mom and I remained less phased by him. It was a defense for him to be secluded but it had also helped us. We didn’t have to see him; his mood wouldn’t spread. It was a painful bliss knowing that mom. Itwas as though she had simply vanished. Andy's mother's clothes stillhung in her wardrobe, her bottles of perfume and creams still clutteredher dressing table. He had stayed off school to look after Emma, playingwith the little girl, cooking for her. Any day now, he had thought. Anyday. He began to sleep in his Mom's bed, where the smell of her perfumewas still strongest.*****"You alright?" Zoe asked as she set up her equipment on the diningtable. Mandy paused as she peeled off a false. It used to be home to the Hercules Powder Co, which operated a dynamite plant there until the early 70's, when they closed the plant and sold out to developers. Grandpa Carson said there had been a real boom during the Eighties as homes were built and people moved to the low-density, park-like developments. 'The local economy sucks!!', he says, but as a couple of retirees, he and Grandma don't seem to be all that worried. Still, Mom had been working on them for several years to move to Angel's. Therefore, Jack was forced to attack the soldiers pretty much as he would have back on Earth using his martial arts skills.Well, actually, he was not set back that far, but he was able to grab a solder by his legs and swing him around almost like a mace. This killed the unlucky soldier pretty quickly as soon as the melee started. But Jack kept swinging his body and mowing down the other soldiers in the squad. Jack had retained his great strength, so he was well able to clear out his enemies.