Get up and Atom!

Chapter Two: The Fall

"Alright Hannah, in the car." He said.

She opened the back door of the car, and he jumped in the front, starting up the car and following after Ellie. The roads were rather quiet, which was a nice respite to the traffic of earlier, and after a little bit, he turned on he radio, just to hear the news.

"Today is a glorious day, for the American troops serving overseas have completely take back the sovereign nation of Taiwan from the Chinese fully. A full retreat has been issued by the Chinese government, and the island has been secured."

"Daddy?" Hannah asked from the back seat. "What are the Chinese doing?"

"Uhhhh, don't worry about it sweetheart, okay?" He said. "It's far away from us, and thats nothing for you to worry about!"

"Are you sure?"

Truthfully, he wasn't sure at all, but it was better than having her and Ellie worry about it. Hell, they worried about everything, so anything they didn't worry about was a welcome relief to him. He knew, after being married to Ellie for years, that she as a pretty tough woman, especially on the outside, but, like a pop tart, she was softer on the inside. And that made her vulnerable to panicking.

"Honey, everything is going to be alright." He said. "Listen, even if a bomb hits, we have the shelter. And what do we do if we can't get in the shelter?"

"Get into the house, hold up there, and don't go outside. Wear a gas mask at all times." She recited.

He looked up at her in the rear view mirror, giving her a wide grin. "I'm so proud of you." He said. "You've learned so well from us."

"And don't look at the nuke if you a help it!!" She added. "It'll blind you."

Hannah was only ten, and a little slower than the other girls her age, but she learned from them so well that he didn't care how far behind she was. As long as, come the end of days, he knew how to take care of herself, that was all that mattered to him.

"Listen, about what happened today, I know what she called mom, okay?"

Hannah was silent.

"And I know that you think impulsively sometimes, but its not okay to hit someone-"

"What would you have done daddy?"

Now, it was his turn to be silent. "I'm not entirely sure. I think I would have done the same had they said that about your mother."

Silence followed them again, and he smirked.

"How did it feel?" He asked. "Just to slug her?"

She smiled. "It felt good."

"I bet it did kiddo." He said. "I used to fight with bullies all the time. It's really the only way it'll stop."

He muttered that last part, quieter than she could hear, add she stared out the window, at the lights of Chicago, which were miles and miles away at this point. He sighed, tiredly resting his hand against his hand, and when they pulled into the driveway, he saw Ellie already out of her motorcycle gear and unlocking the door to the house. The motorcycle was already in the garage, which was built into the ground, and was separate from their fallout shelter. He pulled into the driveway, then shut the car off and turned to Hannah.

"Don't tell mom that I said that, okay?"

"Is that a Dad Secret?"

He had to stop himself from laughing, then smiled at her and nodded his head.