The Last Safe Place

The start of it all.

*A/N: Picture of Emma's apartment ^ *

"Stay inside to stay alive. This is not a drill. Stay inside to stay alive." The ominous message echoed from the small TV nestled in the corner of Emma's modest living room.

How it all escalated to this point remained a chaotic haze for Emma. The past few hours all seemed to merge into one gigantic mess and Emma's tony apartment had unexpectedly turned into a refuge for a group of people that she barely knew - some she'd never even laid eyes on before. The shouting, screams and distant gun shots seemed to echo through her brain like some sort of sadistic playlist on repeat, and Emma found herself whilst sat pressed against the cool, paint covered bricks, spectating the heated arguments unfolding among the group.

"Are you crazy? Have you seen what's out there?" Shane cried, a tall, athletic man with brown permed hair. He was the one who had practically yanked Emma out of her yellow bug when those... things were closing in on her.

"My family is out there! And you can't stop me,"Mary Margaret asserted. The short-haired woman had been sobbing and flailing her arms around since she stepped foot into the apartment. Normally, Emma would have felt sorry for her, but she couldn't shake the numbness that settled over her.

Shane surrendered, holding his hands up while stepping away from the white-stained door. "You'll regret it, you crazy bitch," he muttered defiantly.

"Mary Margaret, wait," Andrea, who appeared to be in the same age group as Emma, and one of the last to step foot in the apartment, pleaded with a large kitchen knife held in the palm of her hand. "At least take this with you."

Emma observed numbly as Mary Margaret nodded through tears and accepted the gesture with a small thanks. Shane cracked the door open slowly, and the woman slipped through the small space between the door. The noise had quieted significantly as everyone watched on in sheer terror.

The faint sound of hushed words of reassurance from the other side of the room was the only thing that pulled Emma from her state of paralysis. When she turned her head towards the sound, she witnessed the brunette woman continuing to speak.

"Mommy, I don't want to go back out there," the small child whimpered in his mother's arms. She had one stroking his hair, the other wrapped tightly around her small son.

"We're not, not if we don't have to, darling," reassured the brunette woman, whose name she hadn't quite caught.

She wore a black and white pantsuit, the expensive kind, which was now blood stained and crinkled. She was no longer wearing her heels that she had stumbled in with. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair, almost black, framed a face with reddish-pink blotchy lipstick, as if it had been licked and bitten off through pure anxiety.

She watched as her eyes slowly made contact with hers. Emma realised how bloodshot her eyes appeared, and Emma knew all to well why. The blonde offered her a small, understanding smile that didn't quite reach the eyes and, for some unknown reason, found herself scooting towards the pair.

"Hi."

She observed as the young boy, who couldn't have been more than five or six years old, remained tight against his mother. He lifted his head curiously before hesitantly holding out his hand.

"My names Henry," he stated, his eyes wide and fixated on the tiny hand held out in front of him. Emma felt her eyebrows raise in surprise, taking his hand in hers, and her gaze flickered towards his mother, who had the tiniest of smirk on her face, though her eyes looked full of sorrow.

"Wow, kid, you have better social skills than me,"she attempted to joke, adding, "I'm Emma."

"Regina Mills," the mother stated in a cigarette-velvety voice, a tone that screamed power and authority. She looked like the kind of woman that Emma had spent her whole life avoiding - the one that would come knocking on her door holding an expensive briefcase, demanding rent money she didn't my have. Her hand was held outright, just like her son's moments ago, and this time, Emma didn't hesitate to cooperate.