This Isn't the Zombie Apocalypse

34. I Enter the Coolest Man Cave Ever

Not only did it have to be a basement, but it also had to be a dark basement.

The steps were creaky (of course), the room was musty (of course), and the couches were set up nicely in front of a huge fifty-five-inch flat screen television (not of course). Against the far wall a Ping-Pong table was folded up, and a foosball table stood next to it. There were baskets of toys pushed together, each overflowing and spilling over into the one next to it. A mini-fridge hummed in a back corner.

I nudged Calvin with my elbow. "Is this some sort of play room?" I asked. "I would've made a man cave."

"There were four children," Calvin deadpanned.

"Still, man cave," I stressed.

Sighing, Calvin stepped off the staircase, peeking around. "There's still no one here," he pointed out.

"They're here somewhere," I said. Wandering around, I checked around the, admittedly, small room. There wasn't much to check, to say the least. Even the foosball didn't have any answers, but behind the Ping-Pong table... "Hey, Calvin, wanna turn on any lights?" I whisper-called.

"Not particularly," he whisper-called back.

"Any reason you particularly don't want to?" I moved the Ping-Pong table and felt along the wall.

"They might notice a light." Calvin, old man with failing eyesight that he was, was walking around the room without really looking at anything.

There was a click, and then a wall slid open. Secret doorway. Cool. "Good decision. Let's go."

oOo

In the new room, it was even darker, and for a moment I worried that someone might notice the super-secret doorway sliding open.

There was no reason to worry, though: everyone in the room was pretty occupied.

"How did we not hear the screaming?" Calvin asked himself, but I still shrugged in return.

"Soundproofed room," I guessed.

We slid along the wall, trying to avoid notice. It wasn't likely that anyone would. The man who abducted Ana, Jonah, was waving around his gun, pressing the gun to her forehead despite his shaky hands, barking question after question in a hoarse voice—mostly along the lines of how she couldn't die and how to trade her life for his daughter's. A woman on the ground, presumably his wife, was screaming and crying, clutching a small child in her arms—the daughter who was dying. And dying looked like a good description: the pale, shivering pile of bones could barely keep her eyes open despite the cacophonous noise going on around her.

A bruised and bleeding Ana was tied to a chair.

I made to move forward, get closer, but Calvin stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. "Shhh... Watch," he mouthed. Then, strangely, he tucked the car keys into my front left pocket. I clutched the baseball bat tighter and moved back into the shadows, worried at what Calvin was thinking about, but I kept my eyes glued to the scene unfolding in front of me all the same.

Jonah was pushing the gun between Ana's eyes, growling, "How come you're alive? Huh? Why you and not my daughter?"

Nearly going cross-eyed, Ana minutely shook her head as she tried to shrink back. "I dunno," she croaked. "I don't know why I'm still alive while Liz"—at this the gun dug deeper into her skin—"while Elizabeth is dying. I've told you before. I don't know." Jonah's finger hovered over the trigger. "I don't know. I don't know!" Ana shrieked, eyes wide.

"Jonah!" the woman shouted. "Stop this!"

Jonah whipped around to glare at her, gun pointed to the ground. The safety clicked on. "Why? Why should I? Our daughter is dying and you don't want to stop it?"

The woman took in a fortifying breath. "Of course not. I want to save Liz as much as you do. But taking a life will not make hers any better." She eyed the gun warily; bullets going off in this small space was dangerous for everyone, not just Ana.

Jonah scrambled down to kneel before her, empty hand clutching at hers; his other hand clutched the gun like a lifeline. "But don't you see? I can protect us. I can save us." He paused, stroked Liz's pale cheek. "That girl can't die, Sophie. I can make Liz like that." He leaned down to press a lingering kiss to Liz's sweaty forehead. "I can save our baby girl."

The woman—Sophie—ran a hand through Jonah's hair, over his shoulder, down his arm. "Taking a life isn't the way to do that, Jonah.

Jonah turned away with a snarl, standing up to stalk behind Ana. His gun trembled in his grip as he circled around her. "Liz is only eleven, Sophie."

"So is the girl you're planning on killing."

Jonah swallowed, looked indecisive for a moment, before his mouth settled into a grim line. He raised the gun to Ana again, and I heard the click of the safety switching off. "But this is to protect my family."

I came out then, swinging the bat in a dangerous arch. Stupid, yes, because the safety was off and Jonah could still pull the trigger, but time was running out. The metal dinged his arm, knocking the gun out of his grip. It didn't go off, but Jonah looked ready to dive for it and aim at me next. I swung again, thumping against his back. Someone screamed. He stumbled, and I hit him again until he hit the ground. Someone cried.

I didn't want to do it again—yes, I was thinking of the dogs—and so I hesitated. Too long, because Jonah reached and grabbed my ankles, dragging me to the ground in one swoop. I landed with a crunch on top of my backpack. My head cracked against the ground, the bat skittered out of my hand, but Jonah didn't let go. No, he was pulling me closer, bringing his face closer to my leg, and then I really thought of the dogs because—"Calvin, he's trying to bite me!" I panicked, kicking and flailing and squirming and, overall, trying to escape. It was a shame my trusty backpack was hindering the movement of my arms.

Calvin, apparently trying to untie a crying Ana—sorry that I didn't notice earlier; just a bit busy having a guy trying to bite me—shouted, "You're—"

"I know!" I snapped. "Still don't want to get bitten!"

In a move from P.E., I lunged forward enough to almost touch my toes and punched Jonah in the schnoz. He didn't release, but I did stun him enough to wriggle my way out of his iron grip. A kick to the head helped.

I popped up, kind of prepared for another attack, but not really, because when Jonah shot up and punched me in my nose, I went down. Really, really down. Back on the ground down. I blinked the spots out of my eyes and looked up to give Jonah a dirty look, but he was already off to stand in front of his red-faced wife and child, gun firmly in hand.

I stood on shaky legs, used the wall as I stumbled over to Calvin. Picking up the fallen bat, I stood over him as he finally freed Ana. I watched as Sophie, eyes red and puffy, dark makeup trailing down her cheeks, clutched at Jonah's shirt, tried to get Jonah to let us go, to let this be. I heard Ana get up, Calvin half-carrying her to the other side of the room. I saw Jonah rip his wife's hand off, saw him finger the trigger before raising it to me.

I felt the world shudder as Life and Death both decided to drop in for an impromptu visit.