Silently Screaming (A Quiet Place Fanfic)

3: Flames

The alien slowly turned its head towards Lila, ticking uneasily as it listened intently for any sound at all, any trigger that would allow it to bring more death and destruction to the world that it had just flipped upside down.

Lila gazed up at the unearthly creature, frozen with fear. The sight of it crouching on top of Grandma's crumbling house sent a shiver through her bones. She knew that if she let one gasp, one loud breath, one mistake escape from her lips, it would be the end of her. One sound was all it took to get slaughtered. Who knows, maybe Elle and Louise had come to that very end just moments before. Maybe Lila had come too late. Maybe her sibling's bodies were waiting to be discovered inside. Maybe...

Lila stopped her thoughts in her tracks when she realized that tears were welling up in her eyes. Two of them spilled over onto her cheeks and splashed onto the broken concrete below her.

No.

She had to snap out of this. She couldn't give up. Not yet. Elle and Louise might still be alive. They might need her. And she might be able to save them.

So Lila took a quiet, trembling breath, and forced herself to focus on the mission before her, not the monster ahead of her and the possibilities that it had flooded her petrified mind with.

She had to stay alive. She had to get inside. She had to find Elle and Louise.

Grandma had the same idea. She grabbed Lila's hand and unhesitatingly strode towards the front door, which was crooked and slightly ajar.

The alien let out a louder click and took one uncertain step towards them, stumbling slightly on the rubble of the roof.

Lila stopped abruptly. She shook her head and motioned to the alien. "Too dangerous," she mouthed.

Grandma paused, frustrated. She jerked her head at the door. "They need us," her lips read.

Lila gently caught onto Grandma's hands. "I know. But careful. Slow." She glanced back up at the alien. It shifted slightly.

Lila took an unsteady step forward.

The alien remained motionless.

Lila turned to her Grandma again. "Slow," she repeated, with all the seriousness she could muster. Her hands began to shake as she realized the insanity they were about to attempt.

Together, the two clutched at each other's hands and cautiously took one step in front of the other. Lila tried not to focus on the unbearable amount of fear coursing through her veins, but instead centered her attention on lifting a shoe up, then bringing it down. Step by step. Inch by inch. Breath by breath.

The house came ever nearer, as did the alien waiting on top of it. Before Lila knew it, they were 10 feet from the door. And the alien was directly above them.

It leered over them, its grotesque head expanding slightly and pulsing with its every breath. But it didn't move to attack.

Lila swallowed and took another faltering step forward, praying that the creature couldn't hear her terrified, racing heart. She watched her foot as it slowly placed itself upon the rubble-strewn ground.

And then they were at the door.

Lila examined it, simultaneously focusing on keeping her breaths even and silent. She felt despair well up inside of her as she realized that the door wasn't open wide enough for either of them to fit through.

So Lila and Grandma put their hands on the door and began to gently push at it. It didn't budge under the slight pressure that they applied to it. Something must have gotten lodged behind it.