We Are the Ants

Sluggers are the aliens that abducted Henry. They are multi-colored and leathery, and their arms grow when needed. Henry’s first abduction occurred when he was 13 years old. He had been listening in on one of his parents’ many fights and suddenly found himself away. He believes the sluggers are conducting experiments on him, though he isn’t sure what exactly they’re doing or looking for. When the sluggers released him, he was found almost naked, miles away from home.

Henry worries that the sluggers judge his body’s flaws while they study him.

During one of his abductions, the sluggers show him an image of Earth and point a laser beam at it. Henry spots a button but is electrocuted when he reaches over to press it out as a joke. The sluggers show the image of Earth repeatedly exploding until Henry finally presses the button successfully and feels euphoric. Other times, he presses the button and is electrocuted again. Eventually, he realizes that the sluggers transmit pain or joy to him as a way of communicating. They reveal that Earth will be destroyed in 144 days unless Henry pushes the button.

Henry sneaks back into his house. His brother Charlie accuses him of not being at home the night before. Charlie has recently dropped out of community college but hasn’t told their mother yet. They also live with their Nana, who gets easily confused and needs supervision.

As Henry prepares for high school, he recalls the fishing trips he used to take with his father before his father got annoyed with Henry’s chronic seasickness. For Henry, high school “is like those fishing trips with my dad: I want to be there, I want to enjoy myself like everyone else, but I always end up huddled on the floor, praying for the end” (25-26). Henry doesn’t fit in with the other boys at school, who are mostly straight and wealthy. Henry used to have an ally in his boyfriend Jesse, but Jesse has recently died by suicide.

In Ms. Faraci’s chemistry class, a school bully named Marcus teases Henry and calls him “Space Boy” after Henry refuses to let Marcus cheat off his work. Marcus sneaks up on Henry in the bathroom and kisses him; they’ve been secretly hooking up even though Marcus is mean to Henry in public.

On January 24, 2016, Frieda Eichman spots the meteor through her home telescope. Government space agencies call the meteor 2016BA11. They release public statements that the meteor won’t endanger Earth while privately analyzing the concerning trajectory of 2016BA11. But agencies can’t keep up their lies as the meteor comes visibly closer to Earth. When it hits Earth, this massive meteor causes tsunami waves, massive burning, and destruction, and any survivors eventually freeze to death with the blocking of the sun.

One of Henry’s classmates, Audrey, confronts Henry about what he and Marcus do in the bathroom.

Ms. Faraci’s class is interrupted by a new student named Diego, who is gorgeously handsome and confident. Henry helps him find his classroom, and they chat about writing and painting. Diego tells Henry he’s recently moved from Colorado.

Henry understands that most people would press the button so that Earth can be saved. Henry is not like most people and wonders if that’s why the sluggers chose him to study.

Henry’s mother and grandmother argue over sending Nana to a retirement home. Henry’s mother has too many people to care for, and Nana can’t take care of herself. Charlie and his girlfriend Zooey announce that Zooey is pregnant. As the family fights over these new life changes, Henry contemplates saving everyone from the misery of conflict by not pressing the button.

Even though Marcus didn’t invite him to his party, Henry calls Audrey for a ride to crash the house party. Henry often hung out with Audrey when Jesse was still alive. They both hesitate at Marcus’s mansion. Audrey tells Henry that he deserves better than Marcus, but Henry feels that if he had been worthy, Jesse wouldn’t have killed himself. Henry asks Audrey if she would press a button to save the world.

At the party, Henry runs into Diego, who says he’d been hoping that Henry would be there. Henry asks Diego if he would press a button to save the world. Diego calls him Space Boy, and Henry rushes away from him, believing Diego is making fun of him like everybody else. Henry runs into Marcus and his friends. Marcus eggs on his friends in mocking Henry. Henry finds a quiet corner of the house to be alone, contemplating suicide. His body grows numb, and his mind becomes paralyzed by the sluggers.

North Korea grows angry that a TV show called Bunker gets canceled. They threaten the U.S. with a missile that detonates too early. Dennis Rodman is sent to North Korea as an ambassador of peace and is immediately arrested and killed. North Korea fires a missile at Japan, killing thousands in Osaka, Japan, and the United States declares war on North Korea. On January 29, 2016, the United States invades North Korea. Russia retaliates by hitting Universal Studios Florida with a nuclear missile. The U.S. responds by destroying Moscow. China unleashes its nuclear weapons, and the world becomes an inhospitable planet. The only survivors are the final cast of Bunker, who have been hiding out in a bunker for the show, unaware of the nuclear war.

Henry wakes up nearly naked next to a canal. The sluggers had again offered him the button, but he did not press it. Henry recognizes his former elementary school and sees that he’s too far from home to walk. He finds a pay phone to call collect, but he can’t disturb his family and doesn’t know his father’s number. He calls the last person he wants to see: Marcus. In speaking with Marcus, Henry discovers that the sluggers had kept him for two days. Marcus agrees to pick Henry up.

In Marcus’s car, Henry confronts him about humiliating him at the party. Marcus tells him he should take things less seriously. They pull into the parking lot of a Taco Bell, and Henry decides to get out and walk. Marcus tries to get Henry back in the car, telling him that their connection is more than just sex to him. But when a pickup truck with their high school’s bumper sticker pulls in, Marcus drives away. As he walks home, Henry decides not to ever press the button to save Earth.

Two weeks later, Marcus has stopped hooking up with or speaking to Henry. Marcus doubles up his bullying at school. Audrey tells Henry about a new rumor at school: that Henry gives blowjobs for nickels. Ms. Faraci stops Henry after class about his failed exam, a surprising grade for a good student like Henry. Diego asks Henry to eat with him at lunch, and Henry wants to believe that Diego is sincere and didn’t know how badly Henry would be hurt over being called Space Boy.

Diego reveals little about his past in Colorado and becomes tense when Henry asks him why he moved. Diego says he likes the beaches in Florida and proposes that they skip school and go to the beach. Diego asks Henry about his aliens. Diego is an artist who advocates for self-awareness as a way of appreciating the beautiful world around them.

Henry goes grocery shopping with Nana. He asks her why his mother quit being a chef, and Nana explains that cooking is too painful for her because it reminds her of Henry’s father. Henry asks Nana if his father left because of him. Nana changes the conversation to something happier. She forces Henry to think about something positive, and he tells her about lunch with Diego, which has become a regular occurrence.

When Henry doesn’t open the bathroom door for his brother, Charlie puts Henry’s homework in the trashcan and pees on the papers. Henry insults Charlie’s unborn child, and Charlie grabs him by the throat. Charlie declares that their father left because of Henry and that everyone Henry gets close to either leaves or dies.

Henry starts isolating himself from Diego and loses interest in school. Marcus sneaks Henry into an empty classroom and attempts to get him back, as a secret, of course. When Henry refuses, Marcus says he’s not surprised Jesse hanged himself.

Henry opens his gym locker, and tons of nickels pour out. Marcus’s friends sneer and laugh at him. Henry feels something inside of him break. He attacks Marcus’s friend Adrian. They’re pulled apart by an adult, and Henry is pleased that Adrian’s nose is bleeding. Henry is given a month of Saturday detentions. His mother picks him up from school, frustrated with him. Henry wishes she would ask him about his life; he would tell her everything. But they never talk about Jesse or his absent father, and his mother refers to his alien abductions as sleepwalking.

Two scientists invent nanobots, called the Fixers, designed to repair any damage done to the human body. The Fixers cure the world of cancer and other diseases. On January 26, 2016, Fixers are called in to assist in an injury due to an arrest in Georgia. The police use a Taser but accidentally pass the electric current into the Fixer. The Fixer malfunctions and uses the arrested man’s body to replicate. The Fixers all become malfunctions and repopulate the planet with their own replications, destroying human beings in the process.