One Day at a Time - (Season One)

Chapter Twelve: Census

The gunshot that followed after the soldiers disappeared into the backyard did not help alleviate any of Marty's fears. Especially not when Lukas started crying nervously in the back while Pingu barked and growled furiously. It probably also didn't help when four gun-clad men surrounded her own vehicle and began examining her.

"Have you been infected!" one of the men growled at her, at least, that was what she thought he said since it was difficult to understand what he was saying with that massive mask covering the majority of his face.

"W-What?" she stammered, hands clenching the steering wheel nervously.

"Have you been BIT!" another man repeated in an equally frustrated tone. Marty could spot some other military personnel dragging her wayward group out of the Trans' backyard. At least, from what she could tell, no one she knew had been hurt.

"No."

"What about the boy? Dog?" the first man that had barked at her incoherently asked.

Marty shook her head, "No."

"Then head back to your home!" the man commanded with a loud smack against the roof of her car. The noise had made her jump and she could see Lukas flinch from the rearview mirror.

With wide, fearful eyes, she turned around to assess her crying brother before shooting him a small grin, "Hey, hey, squirt. It's okay! No more tears. No one's hurt."

The six-year-old sniffled as he wiped away tears and snot from his face with the sleeve of his sweater, "Where's Nicky?"

"We'll see him in a second, squirt," Marty reassured him before going back to inspect the shocked faces of the Clarks and Manawas. Almost immediately, Nick caught her gaze and sprinted over to her window.

"Are you two okay?" he blurted out, the worry evident in his eyes as he inspected them before a relieved sigh escaped from his lips when Marty nodded.

"A-Are you?" she countered shakily, her eyes roaming up and down his frame for injuries, "We heard a gunshot."

Nick ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous manner as the rest of his family started heading back to the cars, "They shot Susan. Look, they're telling us to head back to the house."

"Okay," Marty whispered as she warily watched all the military personnel scanning the street. Nick eyed her for a moment before going around to the passenger's side and opening the door. He quickly moved the heavy box with canned foods into the back seat by a restless Pingu, before sitting down and making himself comfortable.

"Come on. The others have already started driving," he instructed softly.

A shaky breath escaped from Marty's throat before she could stop it. "Okay," she mumbled before shifting the car into drive and following Mrs. Clark's car back down the street. Once she had parked into the driveway, before she could unlock the car and walk out, Nick grabbed her hand in a comforting manner.

"Hey," he whispered, "Everything's gonna be okay."

She smiled at him nervously, squeezing his hand before turning to look at her still sniffling brother, "Do you want to watch the Avengers with me, Lukas?"

Her brother sniffled again before shooting her a tiny smile, "Nah. I wanna see it with Nicky instead."

Nick burst out into amused laughter, "Of course you do, little man." he crowed as he exited the car and opened Lukas' door, "I'm awesome."

Marty rolled her eyes but allowed a small, content smile to grace her face as she let Pingu out and followed her two favorite boys into the house. After making sure that Lukas was settled in, with Nick acting as his emotional security blanket, Marty peeked through the blinds in the front of the house to see an entire convoy slowly make their way up the street.